On Property

Every Communist says they strive to abolish private property. What does this mean? Well, it surely does not mean we want to take away something as essential as your toothbrush or any other standard possession. What we mean by privet property is capitalist rule over means of production, enforced by law.  Means of production is defined as “the facilities and resources for producing goods.” Examples of means of production include farms, factories, natural resources, land use, etc.

    “Why is this bad?” you might ask. The capitalist rule of the means of production is described as the dominion of human needs for profit. The capitalist control means that instead of things necessary to the society, produced by means of production (that the private owner also has absolute rule over), it is merely distributed for profit and not according to the needs of those in the society. This could limit the use for many to get access to something as basic as housing, food, or healthcare of any kind. This is what creates the need for these goods to be collectivized according to the communist.

    What is the alternative? We must create a planned economy in which all things are produced with the good of the people in mind, then freely distributed. This will be done by a dictatorship of the proletariat (working class). After the proletariat are finished serving the purpose of administrative and defensive tasks, the state in which they are ruling, will wither away. Then we will have achieved a classless society in which the means of production, and the goods it produces, will belong to the society as a whole. This will improve the conditions of society and the environment.

    In conclusion, the abolition of private property, as described by other communists, does not mean the collectivization of things such as a toothbrush, but of the means of production. The society we need to create will humanize the process of distributing goods and will not limit the number of people who can be provided for. Furthermore, we can end the system of exploitation and force that the capitalist system is reliant upon. Only this can save the world, the environment, and ourselves.