How Does Communism Work?
“In fact, the realm of freedom does not commence until the point is passed where labor under the compulsion of necessity and of external utility is required.”
Marx wrote this in the third volume of Capital and it very accurately summarizes the actual purpose of communism, albeit in a way that isn’t always easy to understand for laymen. In this article we’re going to break down what exactly Marx meant and expand upon it to address the modern day.
To summarize his point, freedom can only happen when the proletariat is no longer forced to have a job just to survive. “Work” and “labor” have different meanings when talking about socialism and it's important we understand what they are.
“Labor” in this instance, means having a job. Toiling away for a wage that goes more towards the things you need to survive rather than things that bring joy or mutual aid. You can enjoy your job but the simple fact of capitalism is that you only have a job to pay your bills.
“Work”, simply put, can be equated to a hard day’s work. Gardening, crafting, even working a trade can all be considered work if it's done for the love of doing it. Many critics of communism argue that systems would collapse without people having jobs. It could also be argued that people do certain jobs because they like it.
Ask yourself, what would you do if you didn't have a job and a wage? Would teachers still teach? Would cooks still cook? Would an electrician still work their trade? Some will likely say no but our passions drive us. Without work, the proletariat can pursue their passions. Passions that allow the wheels of society to keep turning.
There is a class of job that people don’t have a passion for or shouldn't even be jobs we have for but are integral in the operation of day-to-day life. The warehouses, cashiers, call centers, and field workers just to name a few. What do we do with these jobs then? I argue that the answer can be AI.
Many communists throw around the famous quote, “seize the means of production.” One hundred years ago, those were factories. Today, most of those jobs have been shipped off to other countries, most of those industries had either unionized or were in the process of doing so. Where does that leave the American proletariat? Retail, culinary, sex work, laborers, warehouse workers, and customer service and educators are what’s left of the unionized proletariat. Not all of these professions can be replaced by AI. Warehouses and factories are already utilizing AI and the CEOs are discussing how to go further with it. The combination of AI and robotics is going to reshape the entire workforce. It’s here to stay. How we live with it can be up to us.
The environmental aspects of AI and the datacenters that are needed for AI cannot go ignored. In Germany, many of the datacenters are already switched over to renewable energy. AtlasEdge has developed a modular design for their centers that utilize sustainable construction practices. windCores has integrated wind turbine towers so their centers are self-sustaining. Other companies have systems for closed loop cooling, which allows for water to be used once in a continuous cycle.
But if these technologies exist, why aren’t we using them? The answer is capitalism. A large part of how socialism works is through something Marx and Engles described as “the dictatorship of the proletariat.”
This is not a dictatorship in the way Russia is or Germany was. Marx is not talking about a strongman who takes power, or even a leader who is temporarily granted power. He is using the term to describe a transitional period between capitalism and communism where the proletariat holds power via a party. I hold no party affiliation but think of it as the DSA holding total power, with no head of state, until the old system can be replaced with the new.
In Soviet Russia, kulaks were repressed, jailed, and at times killed. This is where the “millions” come from in capitalist propaganda. But we also must understand who the kulaks were. They were the wealthy, land-owning class during the fall of the Russian Empire. They were part of the bourgeois. It must be remembered that a revolution is a war. In a communist revolution, the bourgeois is the enemy.
This is a lengthy, and albeit wordy, article. With the ever growing disdain, or support, of AI, I felt that it needed to be discussed in the context of socialism and a socialist revolution. In the coming weeks and months, we are going to learn about the successes of various socialist movements, leaders, and nations. In that regard, this piece can be viewed as a primer.