The issue of communism: A blind alley or a new dawn?

Abstract

The paper suggests that ruthless dismantling of social achievements of the welfare state brings about exactly the same situation as that described by Marx in the mid-nineteenth century: the conditions of the communist movement result from the premises now in existence. Reservations regarding the term ‘communism’ are more of a political nature; the term seems inappropriate only as long as it is associated with the Soviet system; this is why the author prefers an ‘anti-capitalist alternative’. The current crisis of capitalism can be interpreted in the context of Marx's model as a conflict between production forces and relations of production, while new political economy will involve new forms of communization. With a certain level of education and dissemination of mass information on a global scale, what is badly needed is participation in political decision-making in response to the crisis, coupled with the conviction that the ruling elites have lost their legitimacy. This is a common feature of sudden political upheavals in various parts of the world, regardless of the difference in conditions.

Keywords:

• alternative
• communism
• general crises
• scenario
• participating

Notes

¹The economic system does not produce the required extent of values for consumption, the administrative system does not generate the required extent of rational decisions, the legitimizing system does not produce the required extent of generalized motivation, the socio-cultural system does not produce the required extent of sense that would motivate action.

²Bio-politics controls the population through ‘bio-power’ (it is the exercise of political power and influence in all aspects of human life).

³For the alternative to use algocracy as a means of rescuing existing socialism, i.e. combining labor theory of value with cyber-coordination of participatory democracy, see Cockshott and Cottrell (1993).