A conventional understanding of socialism and communism, of what motivates us, is that we are hostile to capitalism because of the extremes of economic and social inequality. There are people who work hard and are destitute, especially but not limited to the Third World countries. And then there are people who do nothing, who are strictly parasitic, and live in the lap of luxury. Well, certainly an important goal of communism is to eliminate that. But that is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal lies in a whole other sphere of human activity, the sphere outside consumption, and it is precisely this sphere that requires a much higher level of labor productivity than exists in even the most advanced capitalism. In other words, if our goal were simply to provide everybody in this country with a decent standard of living, say, equivalent to $80 000 or $100 000 for a family of four, we could do that with the existing American economy just by a little rearranging. That is not what we're ultimately about. What we're ultimately about is providing all members of society, here and elsewhere, with the capacity to do creative work, what Marx called free or unalienated labor. We are not basically in the business of equality of consumption.
Now precisely because of this aspect, Marxism, the concept of communism, is fundamentally different from earlier socialists and anarchists. For the pre-Marxian socialists, the ultimate goal was equality. The first revolutionary communist organization, derived in the last stages of the French Revolution, was called the "Conspiracy of Equals." If you ask an anarchist what his ultimate goal is, he would say "freedom." When Kropotkin formed a journal in England in the later 19th century, he called it freedom. Although we recognise that equality and freedom have a value in themselves, ultimately for us these are a means to an end. What does equality mean under communism? It certainly doesn't mean that people have the same living standards, or utilize the same material resources. Equality simply means equal access. There'll be a huge range of lifestyles, consuming very differently.
People will be free to do what they want. It's not merely that there won't be a coercive state, but that most time will be what is now called "free time." The question for Marx was, how will people utilize that free time? Will they do it like they do now, which is mainly entertainment, sports, games, socializing, vegging out, hanging out, you know, not working? Marx envisioned most people spending their free time in "free labor," that is, creative, artistic, scientific or related work, which he described this way:
"Really free labour, the composing of music for example, is at the same time damned serious and demands the greatest effort. The labour concerned with material production can only have this character if (1) it is of a social nature, (2) it has a scientific character and at the same time is general work, i.e. if it ceases to be human effort as a definite trained natural force, gives up its purely natural, primitive aspects and becomes the activity of a subject controlling all the forces of nature in the production process"
Well, to control all the forces of nature in the productive process involves the expenditure of very considerably resources. First, there is the question of acquiring the knowledge of the resources of nature. Consider the vast resources necessary to acquire a PhD in physics or chemistry or biology--not for the privileged few, but for anybody who wants to. Also, many spheres of scientific research require vast expenditures of material resources--space exploration, genetic engineering, robotics, paleontology, on and on. The point basically is that Marx's conception of communism is one in which all the progressive achievements of civilization are fully utilized, made available to all members of society and vastly expanded. It is a concept quite alien to the Rouseauean idea of some kind of primitive economic harmony or communal values.
Now precisely because of this aspect, Marxism, the concept of communism, is fundamentally different from earlier socialists and anarchists. For the pre-Marxian socialists, the ultimate goal was equality. The first revolutionary communist organization, derived in the last stages of the French Revolution, was called the "Conspiracy of Equals." If you ask an anarchist what his ultimate goal is, he would say "freedom." When Kropotkin formed a journal in England in the later 19th century, he called it freedom. Although we recognise that equality and freedom have a value in themselves, ultimately for us these are a means to an end. What does equality mean under communism? It certainly doesn't mean that people have the same living standards, or utilize the same material resources. Equality simply means equal access. There'll be a huge range of lifestyles, consuming very differently.
People will be free to do what they want. It's not merely that there won't be a coercive state, but that most time will be what is now called "free time." The question for Marx was, how will people utilize that free time? Will they do it like they do now, which is mainly entertainment, sports, games, socializing, vegging out, hanging out, you know, not working? Marx envisioned most people spending their free time in "free labor," that is, creative, artistic, scientific or related work, which he described this way:
"Really free labour, the composing of music for example, is at the same time damned serious and demands the greatest effort. The labour concerned with material production can only have this character if (1) it is of a social nature, (2) it has a scientific character and at the same time is general work, i.e. if it ceases to be human effort as a definite trained natural force, gives up its purely natural, primitive aspects and becomes the activity of a subject controlling all the forces of nature in the production process"
Well, to control all the forces of nature in the productive process involves the expenditure of very considerably resources. First, there is the question of acquiring the knowledge of the resources of nature. Consider the vast resources necessary to acquire a PhD in physics or chemistry or biology--not for the privileged few, but for anybody who wants to. Also, many spheres of scientific research require vast expenditures of material resources--space exploration, genetic engineering, robotics, paleontology, on and on. The point basically is that Marx's conception of communism is one in which all the progressive achievements of civilization are fully utilized, made available to all members of society and vastly expanded. It is a concept quite alien to the Rouseauean idea of some kind of primitive economic harmony or communal values.
