Marx generally gave few specific or detailed descriptions of the conditions of the new society after the eventual demise of capitalist society. For Marx, this process is the process of the continuous emancipation of mankind.
In The German Ideology, Marx and Engels said, "As long as man is in a naturally formed society, that is to say, as long as there is a division between the special and the common good, that is to say, as long as the division of labour is not voluntary, but naturally formed, then man's own activity becomes for man an alien and opposing force, which oppresses man, and does not control it." ”
That is to say, as long as the division of labor is naturally formed, that is, produced by natural needs in the process of production, and is not organized by human beings themselves, then every individual is an individual who unconsciously carries out activities within this special scope. No one can escape the environment, and no matter what industry he is in, he will basically work in the same industry for the rest of his life. A worker will always be a worker, a farmer will always be a farmer, a herdsman will always be a herdsman, and a fisherman will always be a fisherman. As long as he wants to survive and he has to support his family, it is impossible for him to get rid of such an environment, it is impossible to get rid of such a division of labor that is imposed on him by force.
"In a communist society, on the other hand, no one has a special sphere of activity, but can develop in any sector, and society regulates the whole of production, so that it is possible for me to do this today and tomorrow according to my own interests, hunting in the morning, fishing in the afternoon, animal husbandry in the evening, and criticism after dinner, so that I will not always be a hunter, fisherman, shepherd, or critic. (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, 1995, People's Publishing House, p. 85)
Marx and Engels believed that in the capitalist society before communism, people did not have the freedom to choose their jobs and occupations, because the capitalist relations of production and exchange determined that people could not make so-called free choices. It is only after the demise of capitalist relations of production and exchange that it is possible for people to get rid of this forced division of labor and thus have the possibility of free choice.
In the view of Marx and Engels, the development of human society is mainly the development of social productive forces. The key to whether the development of the social productive forces has stagnated or developed slowly, or whether they can be developed more fully, lies in whether the social productive forces have been resisted or impeted. Capitalist society, in Mark's time, was obviously a great resistance to the social productive forces, and the productive forces were destroyed by the frequent occurrence of economic crises. So such resistance must be removed.
In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels said: "The characteristic of communism is not the abolition of ownership in general, but the abolition of bourgeois ownership. The modern bourgeois shortage is the most complete expression of the production and appropriation of products based on class antagonisms, on the superiority of some over others. In this sense, the Communists can summarize their theory in one sentence: the abolition of private property. (Ibid., p. 286)
Because bourgeois private ownership hinders the development of the social productive forces, and bourgeois private ownership deprives people of the opportunity and possibility of free development, such bourgeois private ownership must be eliminated.
From the perspective of Marxism, the development of the social productive forces of mankind is closely related to the development of man, and without the development of the social productive forces, the development of human beings is impossible. The reverse is also true, without human development, there can be no development of social productive forces. However, with regard to the relationship between the development of the social productive forces and the development of human beings, it is obvious that the development of the social productive forces is decisive.
This idea is also the core idea of Marxist historical materialism, or historical materialism. The social mode of production is the decisive factor in social development, but human development is not optional. Human development must be subordinate to the development of the social mode of production, and it must be constantly emancipated and grown in the development of the social mode of production.
In the third volume of Capital, Marx speaks of the kingdom of necessity and freedom in the sphere of production. In a sense, the kingdom of necessity in production is still an inevitable state of capitalist production, and the kingdom of freedom in production is free from this inevitable state of capitalist production. This state of freedom is the communism of mankind after it has come out of the capitalist system.
Marx said, "In fact, the kingdom of freedom, though it begins only where the labour prescribed by necessity and external ends terminates, exists on the other side of the realm of real material production, by the nature of things." ...... This kingdom of natural necessity expands with the development of man, for needs expand, but so does the productive forces that satisfy them. Freedom in this realm can only be that socialized people, united producers, will rationally regulate the material transformation between themselves and nature, bringing it under their common control, and not allowing it to rule freedom as a blind force". However, such a field is still a kingdom of necessity. Why is this still the kingdom of necessity, because people at this stage of production are still to satisfy some of their own needs, in order to achieve some external ends. Only "the development of human capacities as an end in itself, the true kingdom of freedom, begins." (The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 25, People's Publishing House, p. 927)
What does that mean? That is to say, when human production is no longer only for any external purpose or need, but only for the sake of one's own constant right to choose and develop one's own creative capacity for labor, then production at this time truly enters the kingdom of freedom in production.
We used to say that labor is the first need of life, and this concept cannot be truly realized in the real human society, mainly in the capitalist society, and in the society that is still under the influence of capitalism. Because production at this stage is still inseparable from the so-called external purpose, from the so-called ever-expanding material needs of human beings. It is only when the basic needs of man have been satisfied, when human labor is no longer carried out for the purpose of satisfying this type of need, and only when the purpose of human labor is only to develop the more and more complex capacities created by his own labor, that this is the beginning of the kingdom of freedom. Such a kingdom of freedom can only flourish if it is built on the foundation of the kingdom of necessity.
This is the basic situation of Marxism's understanding of the future human society and the understanding of the future communist society. Obviously, this is a necessary condition for the emergence and existence of a future society, nor does it emphasize the abolition of exploitation and class, which is another necessary condition for the emergence and existence of a future society. Marx's emphasis was on emphasizing the freedom and development of the creative capacity of human labor, which is the real return to the question of the essence of human beings.
Therefore, communism as understood by Marx and Engels is not just a completely new social form in the future, but a realistic mass movement to abolish the capitalist system that has always existed in today's reality and is still developing. For Marx and Engels, communism was a great revolutionary practice, a revolutionary movement led by the working class and participated by millions of people to overthrow the capitalist system. The nature of this movement will never change until capitalism is on its way to extinction.
There was a long historical period between the dictatorship of the proletariat and the advanced stage of communism, as Marx talked about in his Critique of the Gotha Program. In this period, it is still necessary to reconcile the old order of production, that is, the contradiction between the old relations of production and the constantly developing advanced productive forces. Communism is by no means something that can be achieved overnight after the demise of capitalism. This still requires a relatively long process. That is to say, at this stage, there are still many contradictions in the field of production methods that need to be resolved. At the same time, it also tells us that even if the lofty goals of communism are finally realized, the inherent contradictions of human society will still exist. Without the impetus of the inherent contradictions of human society, it is impossible for human society to continuously develop and progress.
The main achievement of communism was the abolition of the capitalist system and the opening up of an unprecedentedly beautiful prospect for the development and progress of mankind itself. However, communism is not an "absolutely perfect" future society, communism is only a stage in the general process of the development of human society, and human society will certainly not stop at such a stage. The development and progress of human society requires the efforts of every generation and the arduous struggle of every generation, which is absolutely an unbreakable truth.
(The author is a senior researcher at the Kunlun Ce Research Institute; source: Kunlun Ce Network [author's authorization], revised and released; the picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted)