What is wrong with discussing "alternative systems"? When you post an article about the hypocrisies of the agri-food multinationals for instance, are you not implicitly calling for reform of the agri-food business? It seems to me, you are only claiming "little interest in alternative systems", because you want to avoid being criticised for utopianism. And in any case, an utopian vision seems to me to be better than no vision at all. -raghu.
I think you can discuss alternative systems but only in the most general fashion, not as a blueprint. Generally speaking, I favor the abolition of capitalism and the introduction of economic planning. I also favor sustainable agriculture and careful husbandry of natural resources, both animate and inanimate. I also favor that wages be narrowed to within a range in which the most skilled worker earns no more than twice the pay of the least skilled worker. But what I don't have in mind is the Rube Goldberg contraptions of Parecon, Jon Elster's share-based market socialism, etc.
