José Martí was a prophet, calling all useless businesses “leprotic”. But, then, he did not know what E.S.O.P. means. E.S.O.P. is a financial instrument designed to include employees as participants in the companies where they work.
It stands for: Employee’s Stock Ownership Plan. It was the first but not the most important instrument invented by Louis Otto Kelso to broaden capital ownership in the means of production among as many people as possible. He and his co-workers later extended the basic E.S.O.P. logic to other instruments which literally includes all people in capital ownership. By the application of Kelsonian principles, every individual man, woman and child will become the owner of a “capital estate”, which will provide them with a second income from capital on top of their income from labor.
This does not mean that everybody will own an equal amount of stocks and shares. In a Kelsonian economy there will still be rich and poor people. But even the poor will be sufficiently well-off to be financially independent.
Promises, Promises…
This is quite a promise! We stand by it. It is not a Ponzi scheme. The blue print for transition to a Kelsonian society is ready. Its designers are eagerly looking for any government, anywhere in the world, willing to try the experiment. This could be Cuba, if it wants its people to progress. If it wants to include its citizens as private owners of the means of production and natural resources. Not indirectly via the state, but directly as owners of shares and stocks in privatized businesses, owned by all Cuban citizens.
The solution is there.
José Martí would rejoice. There would be no need to maintain the leprosy of a standing army. In five years’ time the Cuban people would experience much relief. In ten years’ time confidence in Cuba’s future would be completely restored, real wages having risen sharply if not doubled or even tripled. In twenty-five years time Cuba could possibly overtake the U.S.. Admittedly, Solidarism on a national scale has never been tried before, but even if the experiment should fail, Cuba would be much better off than it is now. One cannot lose.