The Crux of Communism

Imagine a world where social classes ceased to exist, where money wasn’t a problem, where you were in possession of all that you needed, and where oppression was something that was unknown to all. A society where the rich weren’t getting richer and the poor weren’t getting poorer because neither existed. A society where everyone was equal in the true egalitarian sense and all of the power was in the calloused hands of no one else other than the people. This all might sound great to many people, albeit probably only to those who might not have as much as some and dislike the status quo, but what lies beneath this quasi-Utopian society isn’t love, happiness and individualism, but instead blandness and a bad case of true homogeneity. This is what Karl Marx envisioned as the final result of the close of capitalism, the sayonara to social classes, and of course the progression of the proletariat. This is the definition of the French word communisme, which was created in the 1840s. This is  communism. Despite the fact that many throughout history perceived communism to be the holy grail of all societies and political practices, it could never work on a scale larger than a small isolated community due to the fact that it goes against what human nature–in the 21st century sense–has become.

I was inspired to write about communism from a car ride through the villages of Southampton and East Hampton. I had only been through those villages no more than seven times in my life, and I was never able to really observe them until that car ride. I was amazed that the streets were lined with relatively expensive designers stores, benches, elegant looking outdoor restaurants, and almost little or no trash on the ground. There were people old and young walking around and leisurely conversing about I don’t know what. Everyone looked so happy, and seeing these people made me happy too until I realized that it was 1:00 pm on a Monday and it seemed as if none of these older people in their mid forties needed to be at work, or doing anything extremely arduous that would require stopping mid-stroll and hurrying back to get it done. I thought about it for a little longer, as I saw more and more people walking their dogs or laying under a tree with the shade blocking out more than just the sunlight from their lives. I was puzzled and then came to the obvious conclusion that these people were able to just hang around and live so seemingly worry free because they weren’t plagued by the problems of money, cursed with the existence of high crime, or the saddened by stories of struggle. This is when I said to myself, “Damn, imagine how the world would be if everyone just had what they needed, crime was at an all-time low in most places, no one was exploited by anyone else, and money wasn’t a problem since everyone shared everything or did it for free?” I have to admit that I got caught up in those thoughts for a while and even thought that communism was a good idea and that everyone should adopt it. This was until I snapped out of all of it and came to the realization that communism wouldn’t be able to work in our society today for a multitude of reasons, with them all boiling down to the fact that the crux of communism is that it goes against what human nature has become.

Although I’m saying that communism can’t work now, or really ever for that matter unless the world as we know it ceased to exist, I won’t go as far as saying that it could have never worked. Maybe communism could have worked if many people in the world had never become so attached to money and greed, and maybe it could have worked if people didn’t care about being recognized as being an individual. Even attempts at communism have strayed from what Karl Marx envisioned it as, with communist governments (which could be more accurately seen as the dictatorship of the proletariat) having state ownership of productive resources, which is a ruling class (Tisk, tisk, Marx would be rolling in his Marxist grave), a planned economy (Marx wouldn’t have liked that either), and the nationalization of industry (Not good either since all private industry is put into the hands of the state, which could still lead to exploitation and the creation of an elite class, which Marx really wasn’t down with). Communism was supposed to be the final result, it was supposed to be as Marx defined,  “A classless, egalitarian and stateless society,” which is definitely not happening today.

I previously stated a couple of times that communism wouldn’t work because it goes against what human nature has become and that it might be able to work in some isolated are with a small population, but I want to explore those two ideas a little further. If you asked someone what they wanted, whether it be what they wanted out of life, what they wanted in that moment, or what they just wanted in general, you would probably get an endless amount of answers. People could say they want a job, they want money, they want a pony, they want to be better looking, or anything else, but what it all really means is that people want more. Whether it be more ponies or more good looks, people usually want more than they have and that is what human nature has become. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it (I want a lot of stuff too), but I am saying that that is why communism wouldn’t be able to work today. Communism is founded on the premise of people having just what they need and nothing more, which is perfectly expressed in the words of Karl Marx himself when he said, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

People in an isolated society with a small population would be able to afford the time and lack of recognition to make communism work because they would most likely be doing it to survive, which all leads to the realization that communism, like many other radical political theories and ideas, are engendered and can work only by and with necessity.

It’s clear that there’s no social mobility and that there aren’t any classical Andrew Carnegie rags to riches stories in communism. I’m definitely not for communism, but I’m also not judging you if that’s you’re thing. I just want to do what I want without having to farm land or work at the steel mills for everyone else if that’s not what I’m really into doing.