What Is Communism, Really?

I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion.

Communism is probably the most mystified and most frequently abused concept in the history of political ideas. Today, when we say “communism,” most people immediately think of the Stalinist dictatorships of the last century.

Yet communism is something quite different. It refers to a more just society — a world without classes and without privileged owners. This idea was born in the nineteenth century, initially under the name of socialism and later communism. Its founders lived at a time when the capitalist system and the modern state were being established.

Unlike earlier societies, in which people mostly produced goods for their own needs, capitalism is characterized by mass social production and mutual dependence. For example, a worker who spends his life in a tire factory will never eat those tires, while a baker comes to work in a car made by someone else. That “someone else,” in turn, consists of a chain of scattered factories, each of which must produce its own part for the car to be complete. No one can truly say: “This is my product.”

And yet, although production has taken on a social character, under capitalism a specific group of people controls all productive capacities. These are the capitalists — individuals and corporations who own the means of production, while employees work for them. Capitalists pay wages, but they also profit from other people’s labor — they generate profit by not paying workers the full value of their work.

In this sense, the capitalist system stands between people and obstructs the rational management of the world. Under capitalism, goods are produced in order to be sold, rather than to satisfy human needs. For this very reason, people in early capitalism began to imagine a different and more advanced social order: what if all means of production were socially owned? What if social production were complemented by social ownership, and resources were allocated according to a democratically determined plan?

Such social relations are called communism.

Collective Control over Social Wealth

On a planet that has more than enough resources to satisfy human needs — and in a society where technology is advancing faster than ever — enormous global inequality and social inequality within individual countries still persist. In a world governed by a global regime of social ownership, however, we would collectively manage all resources and distribute them rationally through planning so that everyone’s needs were genuinely met.

How would this work in practice? When one community produces something, it can give it to another without receiving anything in return. But that other community, in turn, is obliged to do the same when a plan determines that some of its resources or products should be allocated back to the first. Under communism, people do not sell their products, nor do they revert to barter — instead, through planning and collective decision-making, all wealth is rationally distributed.

If we truly abolished the capitalist mode of production, we would not only completely eradicate poverty but also create a world in which average working hours were much shorter. Capitalist society produces vast quantities of unnecessary goods, market competition generates artificial crises, and people spend far more time working than is actually needed. Communism, by contrast, would imply that all inhabitants of the planet work only a few hours a day, with the rest of the day reserved for creative activities and rest.

The Two Phases of Communism

The basic communist slogan, formulated by Marx in Critique of the Gotha Programme, is: “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” This is a sketch of a communist society in which everyone contributes as much as they can and receives, through social distribution, according to their (reasonable) needs.

Of course, such an idea cannot be realized overnight — time is required for people to develop the necessary consciousness and to learn to contribute to society without coercion.

In its first phase, communist society has completely abolished money and private ownership of the means of production. There are no capitalists, and profit cannot be generated through exploitation. However, producers still work in exchange for a form of social compensation, and resources are still “earned.” Although remuneration is paid in vouchers based on labor performed and democratically determined rules, people are still under pressure to earn and do not yet see work as a calling.

Equality under communism differs from the idea of a basic income. It is not about everyone receiving the same pay — nor does anything like “pay” even exist under communism. Different people — young and old, sick and healthy, physically weaker and stronger — have different needs. A fulfilled and dignified life actually requires unequal distribution. Moreover, not everyone is equally able to contribute through labor.

The higher phase of communism therefore refers to a stage of communist society in which individuals receive resources according to their needs rather than their merits. Such a social order would be possible thanks to automation in production, transformed human consciousness, and the abundance resulting from technological progress.

It may sound fairy-tale-like to allocate resources “according to needs.” But in today’s world, this is a fairly realistic idea. Natural scarcity has long been overcome — modern society has achieved astonishing advances in science and technology. Existing inequality and growing poverty are not the result of limited natural resources, but of social relations that have failed to develop alongside technology.

Socialism as a “Transitional Period”

The lower phase of communism must necessarily be preceded by a transitional phase from capitalism to a classless communist society. This is the socialist state — a regime established through armed revolution, involving the nationalization of the entire economy and a one-party state that suppresses resistance from the old ruling class.

In many ways, the socialist state resembles capitalism: laws, money, police, prisons, and political authority still exist. However, the capitalist class has been expropriated, and the bourgeoisie can no longer exploit workers. Of course, exploitation is not truly abolished — instead of capitalists, the owner and boss becomes the state.

Although socialist society is more egalitarian, it cannot achieve its goal — the transition to communism — without a world revolution. A socialist state with nationalized industry and communist rule is still part of the capitalist system: it is surrounded by capitalist countries and therefore dependent on the world market. If capitalism is not overthrown globally, such a state adapts to the laws of capitalist economics and gradually loses its socialist character.

By isolating itself from the world, a socialist state cannot reach communism. The point is not to create a “self-sufficient” country — something impossible in modern society. A globalized industrial economy is a crucial precondition for communism. The goal is not to retreat into the narrow boundaries of a single country, but to take over the entire world order.

The first phase of communism therefore begins only when socialism is established worldwide and the conditions for global and centralized planning of socialized production are created. If the global wave of revolutions is defeated, socialist countries turn into ordinary state capitalism with a dictatorial mode of rule. Nationalized economies initially promote industrialization and growth, but soon enter a decadent phase — state capitalism cannot function in the long run. Crisis follows, along with the gradual dismantling of nationalized industry, privatization, and the disappearance of socialist achievements.

Communism as a Historical Necessity

However unrealistic communism may seem today, it was the ultimate goal of revolutionary movements that swept across the world in the twentieth century. The Russian, German, and Chinese revolutions — all of these movements were driven by the idea of communism.

Yet socialist states never experienced a world revolution. Instead, Stalinist socialism prevailed, and these countries turned into despotic states. By the end of the twentieth century, communism had lost all real meaning, and mass communist parties disappeared from the political map in much of the world.

Today, communism is advocated only by obscure and marginal sects, often led by equally obscure figures and exhibitionists. Such groups mostly attract young social outsiders from affluent middle-class backgrounds — workers are absent from their ranks.

And yet communism remains a historical necessity — even if our century will certainly not be a century of revolutions. Whether it will be called communism or something else is not especially important. It is difficult today to imagine a distant future in which capitalist relations of production still dominate.

All socio-political systems have their beginning and their end — their progressive and their decadent phases. Capitalism long ago outlived its progressive phase — yet it is still far from collapse.

Feudalism and the old aristocratic class were overthrown by the bourgeoisie and the Third Estate, strengthened by capitalist economic growth. The division into bourgeoisie and proletariat is the final and simplest form of class society. No class has emerged within capitalism that possesses greater economic power than the big bourgeoisie. Therefore, overcoming capitalism necessarily results in some form of communism — a system in which society as a whole takes control of existing wealth.

Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future

Enormous changes in human consciousness will almost certainly be accompanied by high levels of automation and the development of artificial intelligence. Relevant studies predict that within fifty to one hundred years, more than half of today’s professions could disappear. These are new living conditions in which people will be able to do only the jobs they genuinely want to do — while being freed from most repetitive daily activities.

The very progress of artificial intelligence demonstrates how irrational the capitalist order is in an environment of massive technological advancement. Instead of enjoying a world that frees us from tasks robots can perform, people fear losing their jobs. Under communism, no one’s survival depends on wages (the very concept of “earnings” does not exist). “Work” is not a forced activity but a voluntary one, while the means for a dignified life are guaranteed to all.

Will humanity use the information revolution and universal digitalization to overcome every form of inequality and oppression — or will technological development merely accelerate the end of the planet? The answer to that question will probably be glimpsed by our grandchildren.