Private Property in a Communist Society

[Maxim-Tokarev]

Hello Comrades! I am a very recent Marxist convert, and I was wondering. In a Communist society, would a persons house and such be considered his private property, or would it still be the property of the collective whole? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[kahimikarie]

private property refers to the means of production.
things like houses are referred to as personal property.

[The Man]

Welcome Maxim-Tokarev (Great pistol by the way)

If I am correct:

Well, we believe in the dismantling of private property that produces something, and replace it with common ownership of the means of production. Your house is your personal property and you live in it. Personal Property such as your house, is as like your bed. It's personal property.

[Frosty Weasel]

Hello Comrades! I am a very recent Marxist convert, and I was wondering. In a Communist society, would a persons house and such be considered his private property, or would it still be the property of the collective whole? Any help would be greatly appreciated. You'll get varying opinions on this, but my position is that the house should be owned by the state to ensure equality but with certain rights afforded to its occupants to ensure that no one goes without a home.

As well as full collectivization of production properties to the community of course.

Personal Property is something that all communists/anarchists/marxists believe in.Not true. Not all Communist and Anarchist factions see private property as an individual right, as not everyone can get the same amount/quality of land.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

This quote by Marx pretty much cleared up that question for me:

I possess private property only insofar as I have something vendible, whereas what is peculiar to me [meine Eigenheit] may not be vendible at all. My frock-coat is private property for me only so long as I can barter, pawn or sell it, so long [as it] is [marketable]. If it loses that feature, if it becomes tattered, it can still have a number of features which make it valuable for me, it may even become a feature of me and turn me into a tatterdemalion. But no economist would think of classing it as my private property, since it does not enable me to command any, even the smallest, amount of other people’s labour. A lawyer, an ideologist of private property, could perhaps still indulge in such twaddle.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch03d.htm#p229

[Veg_Athei_Socialist]

You'll get varying opinions on this, but my position is that the house should be owned by the state to ensure equality but with certain rights afforded to its occupants to ensure that no one goes without a home.
I hope you don't mind me asking but why are you in the revleft group "Libertarian Socialist" and here say something should be owned by the state?

[Amphictyonis]

Read this to start and focus on the difference between private property and possession-

http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ProProp.html

[The Man]

You'll get varying opinions on this, but my position is that the house should be owned by the state to ensure equality but with certain rights afforded to its occupants to ensure that no one goes without a home.

As well as full collectivization of production properties to the community of course.
Not true. Not all Communist and Anarchist factions see private property as an individual right, as not everyone can get the same amount/quality of land.


Owned by the state to ensure equality? Excuse me, but Communism's end goal is to achieve a Classless, STATELESS society. And how in any way would it be unequal if it's according to need?

And for personal property, this discussion really isn't about land. Your house is personal property, as much as your bed, shoes, clothing, and computer are. I believe in private ownership of personal property that you use for your own use, which is again what most leftists believe in.

[red cat]

Hello Comrades! I am a very recent Marxist convert, and I was wondering. In a Communist society, would a persons house and such be considered his private property, or would it still be the property of the collective whole? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The concept of ownership is most likely to vanish from a communist society. If someone needs something, he will be able to use that commodity. So the term "ownership" will become practically meaningless and will only remain in history books to describe the insane system of class oppression of today.

[Victus Mortuum]

Hello Comrades! I am a very recent Marxist convert, and I was wondering. In a Communist society, would a persons house and such be considered his private property, or would it still be the property of the collective whole? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What kind of reading have you done that you call yourself a Marxist? Do you know what that entails? It doesn't seem you do. While I encourage your interest in the radical left, you should do some reading before a) embracing a tendency and b) calling yourself what you know little about.

The best place to start with Marxism that I can find is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism

and a great place to start with Anarchism is:
http://www.infoshop.org/page/AnAnarchistFAQ

After you get the basics of those two philosophies of socialism, you can decide if you fit into one or the other or if you are an independent socialist of sorts

EDIT:

There's no need to be hasty in finding a label for yourself. They're more restrictive than you can imagine.

[Amphictyonis]

Private property essentially means the private ownership of the means of production/distrobution not a tooth brush or home, those would be possessions.

[Unclebananahead]

I think it's important for us socialists to be clear on this issue, because quite often the fearmongering right tries to scare people away from socialist ideas by suggesting that we would place everything and anything under public ownership. This gives people the false impression that you'd have to share ridiculous things such as your toothbrush with the people in your neighborhood. None of us AFAIK are in favor of that. What we wish to place under common ownership, are the things used to produce the necessities and amenities of life, that is to say, the means of production (the stuff we use to make more stuff).

Of course, the sticky wicket is in drawing the exact line between personal and private property. I once had an exchange some years ago with a Randist who argued that the oven in your kitchen could be defined as 'means of production.' I think we can all agree however, about mines, mills, and factories.

[Hexen]

All forms of Property is theft therefore it would not exist in a post-revolutionary society.

[Victus Mortuum]

I think that the anarchist distinction between possession and property can be useful in that regard.

Possession is democratic control based on use and occupancy.
Property is despotic control based on ab-use and vacancy.

That, I think, clears up the distinction pretty well.

Incorporate that into the marxist theory of historical materalism and the class struggle's development with capital/MoP as the dominant form of property in capitalism and you have a dangerous recipe.