Question: How does Communism work?

Communist society












Part of a series onMarxism
Theoretical works
Economic and Philosophic
Manuscripts of 1844
Theses on Feuerbach
The German Ideology
Wage Labour and Capital
The Communist Manifesto
The Eighteenth Brumaire of
Louis Napoleon
Grundrisse der Kritik
der Politischen Ökonomie
A Contribution to the
Critique of Political Economy
Das Kapital
Critique of the Gotha Program
Dialectics of Nature

Philosophy
Economic determinism
Historical materialism
Marx's dialectic
Marx's method
Philosophy of nature

Economics
Capital (accumulation)
Crisis theory
Commodity
Exploitation
Factors of production
Means of labor
Means of production
Mode of production
Asiatic
Capitalist
Socialist
Law of value
Productive forces
Scientific socialism
Surplus product
Surplus value
Value-form
Wage labor

Sociology
Alienation
Base and superstructure
Bourgeoisie
Class
Class consciousness
Class struggle
Classless society
Commodity fetishism
Communist society
Cultural hegemony
Dictatorship of the proletariat
Exploitation
Free association
General intellect
Human nature
Metabolic rift
Ideology
Immiseration
Lumpenproletariat
Proletariat
Private property
Relations of production
Reification
State Theory
Social metabolism
Working class

History
Anarchism and Marxism
Philosophy in the Soviet Union
Primitive accumulation
Proletarian revolution
Proletarian Culture
Proletarian internationalism
World revolution
Young Marx

Aspects
Aesthetics
Archaeology
Criminology
Feminism
Film theory
Geography
Historiography
Literary criticism
Marxism and religion

Variants
Classical
Analytical
Austro
Budapest School
Democratic socialism
Eurocommunism
Frankfurt School
Freudian
Hegelian
Humanist
Impossibilism
Instrumental
Libertarian
Autonomism
Council communism
Luxemburgism
De Leonism
Left communism
Bordigism
Leninism
Trotskyism
Marxism–Leninism
Maoism
Neo-Gramscianism
Neo-
Neue Marx-Lektüre
Open
Orthodox
Political
Post-
Praxis School
Social democracy
Structural
Western

People
Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels
William Morris
August Bebel
Eduard Bernstein
Daniel De Leon
Karl Kautsky
Eleanor Marx
Eugene V. Debs
Keir Hardie
Georgi Plekhanov
Clara Zetkin
Maxim Gorky
James Connolly
Vladimir Lenin
Rosa Luxemburg
Karl Liebknecht
Alexandra Kollontai
Antonie Pannekoek
Joseph Stalin
Albert Einstein
Leon Trotsky
Ber Borochov
György Lukács
Karl Korsch
Antonio Gramsci
Josip Broz Tito
Walter Benjamin
Mao Zedong
Max Horkheimer
Dolores Ibárruri
Wilhelm Reich
Louis Aragon
Bertolt Brecht
Herbert Marcuse
Erich Fromm
Henri Lefebvre
Theodor W. Adorno
Jean-Paul Sartre
Maximilien Rubel
Simone de Beauvoir
Salvador Allende
Raya Dunayevskaya
C. Wright Mills
Eric Hobsbawm
Louis Althusser
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Howard Zinn
Ralph Miliband
Zygmunt Bauman
Che Guevara
Fidel Castro
Guy Debord
David Harvey
Richard D. Wolff
Terry Eagleton
Slavoj Žižek
John McDonnell
Cornel West
Yanis Varoufakis
Aaron Bastani

Related topics
Criticisms of Marxism
Communism
History of communism
Socialism
Revolutionary
Libertarian
Utopian
Left-wing politics
Old Left
New Left
Critical theory
Social anarchism
Anarcho-communism

Related categories
►  Karl Marx

 Communismportal
 Philosophyportal
 Socialismportalvt
In Marxist thought, communist society or the communist system is the type of society and economic system postulated to emerge from technological advances in the productive forces, representing the ultimate goal of the political ideology of Communism. A communist society is characterized by common ownership of the means of production with free access[1][2] to the articles of consumption and is classless and stateless,[3] implying the end of the exploitation of labour.[4][5]
Communism is a specific stage of socioeconomic development predicated upon a superabundance of material wealth, which is postulated to arise from advances in production technology and corresponding changes in the social relations of production. This would allow for distribution based on need and social relations based on freely-associated individuals.[4][6]
The term "communist society" should be distinguished from the Western concept of the "communist state", the latter referring to a state ruled by a party which professes a variation of Marxism–Leninism.[7][8]
Economic aspects








Part of a series onEconomic systems
By ideology
Anarchist
Capitalist
Corporate
Dirigist
Laissez-faire
Mercantilist
Neo-mercantilist
Protectionist
Social market
State capitalist
Democratic
Fascist
Feminist
Georgist
Green
Religious
Christian
Islamic
Socialist
Market socialist
Mutualist
Participatory
Socialist market
Socialist oriented market
Syndicalist
Social credit
Traditionalist
Communalist
Corporatist
Distributist
Feudalism
By coordination
Closed (autarky)
Decentralized
Digital
Dual
Gift
Informal
Market
Mixed
Natural
Open
Planned
Robinson Crusoe
Subsistence
Underground
Vertical archipelago
Virtual
By regional model
Asian
East Asian
Chinese
Singaporean
European
Anglo-Saxon
German
Nordic
Rhenish
Soviet
Latin America
Socialism of the 21st century
Sectors
Common ownership
Private
Public
Voluntary
Property types
Collective ownership
Commons
Private property
State ownership
Social ownership
Transition
Collectivization
Communization
Corporatization
Demutualization
Deregulation
Expropriation
Financialization
Liberalization
Marketization
Municipalization
Mutualization
Nationalization
Privatization
Socialization
Coordination
Barter
Market
Free
Open
Regulated
Planning
In kind
Cybernetics
Indicative
Material balancing
Price
Self-managed
Peer-to-peer
Sharing
Open access
Other types
Commons-based peer production
Expeditionary
Hunter-gatherer
Inclusive Democracy
Information
Manorialism
Newly industrialized
Palace
Plantation
Plutonomy
Post-capitalist
Post-industrial
Post-scarcity
Resource-based
Token
Traditional
Transition
World
 Business and economicsportalvt
A communist economic system would be characterized by advanced productive technology that enables material abundance, which in turn would enable the free distribution of most or all economic output and the holding of the means of producing this output in common. In this respect communism is differentiated from socialism, which, out of economic necessity, restricts access to articles of consumption and services based on one's contribution.[9]
In further contrast to previous economic systems, communism would be characterized by the holding of natural resources and the means of production in common as opposed to them being privately owned (as in the case of capitalism) or owned by public or cooperative organizations that similarly restricts their access (as in the case of socialism). In this sense, communism involves the "negation of property" insofar as there would be little economic rationale for exclusive control over production assets in an environment of material abundance.[10]
The fully developed communist economic system is postulated to develop from a preceding socialist system. Marx held the view that socialism—a system based on social ownership of the means of production—would enable progress toward the development of fully developed communism by further advancing productive technology. Under socialism, with its increasing levels of automation, an increasing proportion of goods would be distributed freely.[11]
Social aspects
Individuality, freedom, and creativity

"In fact, the realm of freedom actually begins only where labor which is determined by necessity and mundane considerations ceases; thus in the very nature of things it lies beyond the sphere of actual material production."
— Capital, Volume III, 1894[12]

A communist society would free individuals from long working hours by first automating production to an extent that the average length of the working day is reduced[13] and second by eliminating the exploitation inherent in the division between workers and owners. A communist system would thus free individuals from alienation in the sense of having one's life structured around survival (making a wage or salary in a capitalist system), which Marx referred to as a transition from the "realm of necessity" to the "realm of freedom." As a result, a communist society is envisioned as being composed of an intellectually-inclined population with both the time and resources to pursue its creative hobbies and genuine interests, and to contribute to creative social wealth in this manner. Karl Marx considered "true richness" to be the amount of time one has at his disposal to pursue one's creative passions.[14][15] Marx's notion of communism is in this way radically individualistic.[16]
Marx's concept of the "realm of freedom" goes hand-in-hand with his idea of the ending of the division of labor, which would not be required in a society with highly automated production and limited work roles.
In a communist society, economic necessity and relations would cease to determine cultural and social relations. As scarcity is eliminated,[10] alienated labor would cease and people would be free to pursue their individual goals.[17]
Politics, law, and governance
Marx and Engels maintained that a communist society would have no need for the state as it exists in contemporary capitalist society. The capitalist state mainly exists to enforce hierarchical economic relations, to enforce the exclusive control of property, and to regulate capitalistic economic activities—all of which would be non-applicable to a communist system.[10][17]
Engels noted that in a socialist system the primary function of public institutions will shift from being about the creation of laws and the control of people into a technical role as an administrator of technical production processes, with a decrease in the scope of traditional politics as scientific administration overtakes the role of political decision-making.[18] Communist society is characterized by democratic processes, not merely in the sense of electoral democracy, but in the broader sense of open and collaborative social and workplace environments.[10]
Marx never clearly specified whether or not he thought a communist society would be just; other thinkers have speculated that he thought communism would transcend justice and create society without conflicts, thus, without the needs for rules of justice.[19]
Transitional stages
Marx also wrote that between capitalist and communist society, there would be a transitory period known as the dictatorship of the proletariat.[10] During this preceding phase of societal development, capitalist economic relationships would gradually be abolished and replaced with socialism. Natural resources would become public property, while all manufacturing centers and workplaces would become socially owned and democratically managed. Production would be organized by scientific assessment and planning, thus eliminating what Marx called the "anarchy in production". The development of the productive forces would lead to the marginalization of human labor to the highest possible extent, to be gradually replaced by automated labor.
Open-source and peer production
Many aspects of a communist economy have emerged in recent decades in the form of open-source software and hardware, where source code and thus the means of producing software is held in common and freely accessible to everyone; and to the processes of peer production where collaborative work processes produce freely available software that does not rely on monetary valuation. Michel Bauwens juxtaposes open source and peer production with "market production".[20]
Ray Kurzweil posits that the goals of communism will be realized by advanced technological developments in the 21st century, where the intersection of low manufacturing costs, material abundance and open-source design philosophies will enable the realization of the maxim "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".[21]
In Soviet ideology








Part of a series onCommunism
Concepts
Communist society
Social revolution
Anti-capitalism
Class struggle
Class consciousness
Classless society
Collective leadership
Collectivism
Common ownership
Commune
Commune (model of government)
Free association
From each according to his ability,
to each according to his needs
Gift economy
Planned economy
Proletarian internationalism
Labour movement
Stateless society
Wage slavery
Workers' self-management
World revolution
Aspects
History of communism
Communist revolution
Communist symbolism
Communist party
Communist state
Variants
Pre-Marxist
Utopian socialism
Anarchist
Marxism
Libertarian
Leninism
World
National
War
Religious
Christian
Primitive
Internationals
Communist League
First International
Second International
Third International
Fourth International
People
Thomas More
Tommaso Campanella
Gracchus Babeuf
Robert Owen
Wilhelm Weitling
Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels
Élisée Reclus
Peter Kropotkin
Errico Malatesta
Rosa Luxemburg
Clara Zetkin
Karl Liebknecht
Vladimir Lenin
Alexander Berkman
Emma Goldman
Sacco and Vanzetti
Leon Trotsky
Nestor Makhno
Alexandra Kollontai
Antonio Gramsci
Joseph Stalin
Buenaventura Durruti
Antonie Pannekoek
Sylvia Pankhurst
Wilhelm Reich
Palmiro Togliatti
Ho Chi Minh
Mao Zedong
Josip Broz Tito
Albert Camus
Herbert Marcuse
Jean-Paul Sartre
Enver Hoxha
Simone de Beauvoir
Che Guevara
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Kim Il-sung
Enrico Berlinguer
Cornelius Castoriadis
Guy Debord
Murray Bookchin
Fidel Castro
Subcomandante Marcos
By region
Colombia
France
Kerala
Korea
Nepal
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Russia
Sumatra
Vietnam
List of communist parties
List of anti-capitalist and communist parties
with national parliamentary representation
Anthem
"The Internationale"
Relatedtopics
Anarchism
Social
Socialism
Revolutionary
Libertarian
Democratic
Revolution
Anti-communism
Anti anti-communism
Anti-communist mass killings
Anti-fascism
Anti-globalization movement
Anti-nationalism
Capitalism
Communitarianism
Crimes against humanity
under communist regimes (Mass killings)
Critical theory
Internationalism
Intentional community
Left-wing politics
Old Left
New Left
Marx's theory of alienation
Red Scare
Social democracy
Socialist economics
Socialist mode of production
Syndicalism
Trade union
Worker cooperative
 Communismportalvt

The communist economic system was officially enumerated as the ultimate goal of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in its party platform. According to the 1986 Programme of the CPSU:
Communism is a classless social system with one form of public ownership of the means of production and with full social equality of all members of society. Under communism, the all-round development of people will be accompanied by the growth of the productive forces on the basis of continuous progress in science and technology, all the springs of social wealth will flow abundantly, and the great principle "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" will be implemented. Communism is a highly organised society of free, socially conscious working people a society in which public self-government will be established, a society in which labour for the good of society will become the prime vital requirement of everyone, a clearly recognised necessity, and the ability of each person will be employed to the greatest benefit of the people.
The material and technical foundation of communism presupposes the creation of those productive forces that open up opportunities for the full satisfaction of the reasonable requirements of society and the individual. All productive activities under communism will be based on the use of highly efficient technical facilities and technologies, and the harmonious interaction of man and nature will be ensured.
In the highest phase of communism the directly social character of labor and production will become firmly established. Through the complete elimination of the remnants of the old division of labor and the essential social differences associated with it, the process of forming a socially homogeneous society will be completed.
Communism signifies the transformation of the system of socialist self-government by the people, of socialist democracy into the highest form of organization of society: communist public self-government. With the maturation of the necessary socioeconomic and ideological preconditions and the involvement of all citizens in administration, the socialist state—given appropriate international conditions—will, as Lenin noted, increasingly become a transitional form "from a state to a non-state." The activities of state bodies will become non-political in nature, and the need for the state as a special political institution will gradually disappear.
The inalienable feature of the communist mode of life is a high level of consciousness, social activity, discipline, and self-discipline of members of society, in which observance of the uniform, generally accepted rules of communist conduct will become an inner need and habit of every person.
Communism is a social system under which the free development of each is a condition for the free development of all.[22]

In Vladimir Lenin's political theory, a classless society would be a society controlled by the direct producers, organized to produce according to socially managed goals. Such a society, Lenin suggested, would develop habits that would gradually make political representation unnecessary, as the radically democratic nature of the Soviets would lead citizens to come to agree with the representatives' style of management. Only in this environment, Lenin suggested, could the state wither away, ushering in a period of stateless communism. [23]
In Soviet ideology, Marx's concepts of the "lower and higher phases of communism" articulated in the Critique of the Gotha Program were reformulated as the stages of "socialism" and "communism".[24] The Soviet state claimed to have begun the phase of "socialist construction" during the implementation of the first Five-Year Plans during the 1930s, which introduced a centrally planned, nationalized/collectivized economy. The 1962 Program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, published under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, claimed that socialism had been firmly established in the USSR, and that the state would now progress to the "full-scale construction of communism",[25] although this may be understood to refer to the "technical foundations" of communism more so than the withering away of the state and the division of labor per se. However, even in the final edition of its program before the party's dissolution, the CPSU did not claim to have fully established communism,[26] instead claiming that the society was undergoing a very slow and gradual process of transition.
Fictional portrayals

The Culture novels by Iain M Banks are centered on a communist post-scarcity economy[27][28][29] where technology is advanced to such a degree that all production is automated,[30] and there is no use for money or property (aside from personal possessions with sentimental value).[31] Humans in the Culture are free to pursue their own interests in an open and socially-permissive society. The society has been described by some commentators as "communist-bloc"[32] or "anarcho-communist".[33] Banks' close friend and fellow science fiction writer Ken MacLeod has said that The Culture can be seen as a realization of Marx's communism, but adds that "however friendly he was to the radical left, Iain had little interest in relating the long-range possibility of utopia to radical politics in the here and now. As he saw it, what mattered was to keep the utopian possibility open by continuing technological progress, especially space development, and in the meantime to support whatever policies and politics in the real world were rational and humane."[34]
See also


Common ownership
Commons-based peer production
Digital commons (economics)
Anarcho-communism
Lower-stage communism
Marxism
Open source
Post-scarcity economy
Socialization (economics)
Technological determinism



Further reading
Ollman, Bertell. , Dialectical Marxism, New York University.
Rigi, Jakob. , Journal of Peer Production.