Can someone describe what a communist society would be like?

[TheWhiteStreak]

Hey everyone, I'm in highschool and I was wondering, if I were a highschool student in A REAL Communist society what my life would be like? Also, dumb questions maybe but...

1. Would there be currency? I've heard some people say there would because of taxation and some say we'd have a gift economy. What would this taxation be like?

2. Would my life be similar with how it is now or would there be huge changes? Would I be able to come home and watch TV, play video games and use a computer?

3. How would having a job be like? I've seen one person say people wouldn't need jobs, others say you can be whatever you want, and I've heard other people say you'd have to be what you're assigned to be?

[Die Rote Fahne]

1. No. Gift economy home skillet.

2. Different yes, the whole of society is changed. Youd still have TV, a computer, etc. We arent going back to the dark ages.

3. There would be a lot less demand for work. You could easily be what you want. But there will be positions that people may not want to fill, the answer to that is setting up agreements within the unions to share the work.

[Savage]

Hey everyone, I'm in highschool and I was wondering, if I were a highschool student in A REAL Communist society what my life would be like? Also, dumb questions maybe but...
No questions are dumb in learning.


1. Would there be currency? I've heard some people say there would because of taxation and some say we'd have a gift economy. What would this taxation be like?
There is no state, no commodity production, no wage labor etc. Without commodity production, products don't have an exchange value, and there is no money (therefore no taxation). Also, everything is made of chocolate.


2. Would my life be similar with how it is now or would there be huge changes? Would I be able to come home and watch TV, play video games and use a computer?
You'd be able to do that stuff.


3. How would having a job be like? I've seen one person say people wouldn't need jobs, others say you can be whatever you want, and I've heard other people say you'd have to be what you're assigned to be?
Basically, you can do whatever you're able to do, you wouldn't be forced into particular jobs.

[lines]

Hey everyone, I'm in highschool and I was wondering, if I were a highschool student in A REAL Communist society what my life would be like? Also, dumb questions maybe but...

1. Would there be currency? I've heard some people say there would because of taxation and some say we'd have a gift economy. What would this taxation be like?

2. Would my life be similar with how it is now or would there be huge changes? Would I be able to come home and watch TV, play video games and use a computer?

3. How would having a job be like? I've seen one person say people wouldn't need jobs, others say you can be whatever you want, and I've heard other people say you'd have to be what you're assigned to be?

There would be currency

Society would be similar except stuff would change less, there wouldnt be competition between corporations and so there would be more stability in terms of what is sold to people and stuff in the media

Jobs would be easier to get and there would be more job stability

In short a communist society would be better

[robbo203]

There would be currency

Society would be similar except stuff would change less, there wouldnt be competition between corporations and so there would be more stability in terms of what is sold to people and stuff in the media

Jobs would be easier to get and there would be more job stability

In short a communist society would be better

Er ..no . Communism would mean there would be no currency or money. Money is a means of exchange. Exchange implies sectional or private ownership (it's really an exchange of property rights to those things being exchanged) Sectional or private ownership of the means of production is incompatible with common ownership (communism). Therefore communism is incompatible with exchange and hence a means of exchange like money. It as simple and as logical as that.

There wont be corporations either which are institutional forms of economic organisation under capitalism and jobs in the sense of paid employment would cease to exist. We would work for free and take what we need for free as well.

[RedMarxist]

Not to sound like a pessimist here, but doesn't a society need some form of currency or barter system to function? Kid, how do you expect to play your video games when the society has no money to offer with which to buy the games? If everything is free, then who makes the games(making computer games takes a lot of time and effort, even in a communist society I'd sure has hell want compensation, btw I program and it is very hard work!)

Of course you'd still own a computer/tv/Xbox360 but everything would be 'public," which is to say your Xbox360 wasn't manufactured by a private company. Microsoft would be controlled by the people, Bill Gates would be disenfranchised and probably end up condemned as an "Enemy of the People" in the early dictatorship of the proletariat. That goes for those no good BP execs too.

Anyways, I'm sure in the communist society religion would play a smaller role, and I could totally believe that some form of atheism would be considered socially acceptable for the majority of the population. Not to say that it'd be forced like in Eastern Europe.

Whoever told you you'd have no jobs is a retard. Whoever told you you'd be "assigned" a job just went full-retard. You can/will choose what ever job you want even in a communist society. Just expect to be compensated according to the "From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs" line of thought. No greedy corporate fatso handing out bags of cash to you if your a BP/corporate exec.

As for High School life, just expect a lot less glorification of the free market system in the high school text books. Just expect those textbooks to be public and issued by society. Expect everyone to agree with communism and actually know their shit, not saying things like "Janitors get payed the same as doctors in communist society. I know because I know!" High school wouldn't change otherwise, well except for student/teacher democracy of course. No top down bureaucratic system to govern the schools.

That's my two cents. btw I'm a Marxist-Leninist. What sub-ideology do you adhere to? Power to the People.

[Gorilla]

Not to sound like a pessimist here, but doesn't a society need some form of currency or barter system to function? Kid, how do you expect to play your video games when the society has no money to offer with which to buy the games? If everything is free, then who makes the games(making computer games takes a lot of time and effort, even in a communist society I'd sure has hell want compensation, btw I program and it is very hard work!)

Of course you'd still own a computer/tv/Xbox360 but everything would be 'public," which is to say your Xbox360 wasn't manufactured by a private company. Microsoft would be controlled by the people, Bill Gates would be disenfranchised and probably end up condemned as an "Enemy of the People" in the early dictatorship of the proletariat. That goes for those no good BP execs too.

Anyways, I'm sure in the communist society religion would play a smaller role, and I could totally believe that some form of atheism would be considered socially acceptable for the majority of the population. Not to say that it'd be forced like in Eastern Europe.

Whoever told you you'd have no jobs is a retard. Whoever told you you'd be "assigned" a job just went full-retard. You can/will choose what ever job you want even in a communist society. Just expect to be compensated according to the "From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs" line of thought. No greedy corporate fatso handing out bags of cash to you if your a BP/corporate exec.

As for High School life, just expect a lot less glorification of the free market system in the high school text books. Just expect those textbooks to be public and issued by society. Expect everyone to agree with communism and actually know their shit, not saying things like "Janitors get payed the same as doctors in communist society. I know because I know!" High school wouldn't change otherwise, well except for student/teacher democracy of course. No top down bureaucratic system to govern the schools.


What you are talking about is socialism, or society under dictatorship of the proletariat. Stateless and moneyless communism is a development still beyond that.



That's my two cents. btw I'm a Marxist-Leninist. What sub-ideology do you adhere to? Power the the People.

Congratulations, bro.

[red cat]

Not to sound like a pessimist here, but doesn't a society need some form of currency or barter system to function? Kid, how do you expect to play your video games when the society has no money to offer with which to buy the games? If everything is free, then who makes the games(making computer games takes a lot of time and effort, even in a communist society I'd sure has hell want compensation, btw I program and it is very hard work!)


In communism you wouldn't have to buy anything. You'd just have to go to a store and take whatever you needed. With a sufficient demand for games, people would automatically volunteer for making them.

[wolverine]

In communism you wouldn't have to buy anything. You'd just have to go to a store and take whatever you needed. With a sufficient demand for games, people would automatically volunteer for making them.

see, to me this is not possible. not realistic.greed, apathy, lack of incentive for hard work all would come into play. these reasons are why communism as an economic model failed miserably in russia and the ddr. look at the standard of living in western germany, then cross the border and look in east germany. like night and day. im not saying it SHOULDNT work, it sounds great. im saying anytime its been tried the standard of living suffers overall. there was still a have versus have nots.....greed greed greed. you will never eliminate that from mans persona. everyone will never agree to do for society instead of doing for themself. sad, but true. already been tried.

[Gorilla]

these reasons are why communism as an economic model failed miserably in russia and the ddr.

Those societies did not even claim to have achieved communism. At the very best they were socialist. The wage system was still in place.

Capitalism hasn't been a runaway success in Russia, either, by the way.

As for the DDR, it didn't help at all that they were paying exorbitant reparations to Russia while the DFR was being subsidized up their necks by America.

[#FF0000]

see, to me this is not possible. not realistic.greed, apathy, lack of incentive for hard work all would come into play. these reasons are why communism as an economic model failed miserably in russia and the ddr. look at the standard of living in western germany, then cross the border and look in east germany. like night and day. im not saying it SHOULDNT work, it sounds great. im saying anytime its been tried the standard of living suffers overall. there was still a have versus have nots.....greed greed greed. you will never eliminate that from mans persona. everyone will never agree to do for society instead of doing for themself. sad, but true. already been tried.

You haven't read a word of Marx if you think people need to suddenly become saints for communism.

Also the "already been tried" argument is dumb and old.

[red cat]

see, to me this is not possible. not realistic.greed, apathy, lack of incentive for hard work all would come into play. these reasons are why communism as an economic model failed miserably in russia and the ddr. look at the standard of living in western germany, then cross the border and look in east germany. like night and day. im not saying it SHOULDNT work, it sounds great. im saying anytime its been tried the standard of living suffers overall. there was still a have versus have nots.....greed greed greed. you will never eliminate that from mans persona. everyone will never agree to do for society instead of doing for themself. sad, but true. already been tried.

Similarly, someone living in an early medieval monarchy applying the social parameters of his surroundings would think that bourgeois democracy or even the separation of religion from the state is impossible. And how many times did the attempts to achieve these fail ?

[MilkmanofHumanKindness]

Problem with all answers to this question is no one is sure. We have no reliable information on which we can say a Communist society would look like, except for the Soviet Union, and even that's debatable.

So all the answers you get are going to be Utopian. Perfect world. All desires fulfilled, perfect equality etc.

[comrade_cyanide444]

Then how will a nation trade on an international scale? Would it just be that printed currency did not exist, but currency used to play in international trade exists as a gold standard or something? It's hard to imagine a nation trading a truckload of fertilizer for a hundred barrels of oil.

[ckaihatsu]

Puppies and bunnies would never grow old and die, and there'd always be a rainbow in the sky. Also -- this just in -- turns out the *meek* (of all people!) will be running things -- !


x D

[red cat]

Then how will a nation trade on an international scale? Would it just be that printed currency did not exist, but currency used to play in international trade exists as a gold standard or something? It's hard to imagine a nation trading a truckload of fertilizer for a hundred barrels of oil.

There will be no nations in communism. Trading will also have no meaning. A commune needing fertilizers or oil will just inform other communes of its requirements and receive them. For free.

[Zeus the Moose]

Sex.
Drugs.
Rock n' Roll.

[ckaihatsu]

Would I be able to come home and watch TV, play video games and use a computer?





You'd be able to do that stuff.


Except for *him*, though, right -- ???


= )





Also, everything is made of chocolate.


I'll be heading up the *caramel* faction....


x D

[ckaihatsu]

There would be currency


Not necessarily -- here's one concept for your perusal....


Rotation system of work roles

http://postimage.org/image/1d53k7nd0/

[ckaihatsu]

---





If everything is free, then who makes the games(making computer games takes a lot of time and effort, even in a communist society I'd sure has hell want compensation, btw I program and it is very hard work!)





"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
— Confucius

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15321.Confucius





We would work for free and take what we need for free as well.

[lines]

Sex.
Drugs.
Rock n' Roll.

That is not what a communist society would be like. The sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll mantra is destructive to society.

[Chris]

We can't really predict how a communistic society would be in detail. No more than the original capitalists could predict the stock exchange, influence of modern banking systems, outsourcing, globalism or imperialism.

What we can say, is that historical development goes toward a classless and stateless society, ie communism. We got a rough idea of it, but explaining it in detail would be utopian (and, most likely, wrong. We can't really predict the challenges a communist society will face, so neither can we predict society's development to counter those challenges).

[ckaihatsu]

Sex.
Drugs.
Rock n' Roll.





That is not what a communist society would be like. The sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll mantra is destructive to society.


- Socially responsible cuddling and procreation.
- Medically beneficial pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.
- Officially sanctioned positive-message melodies.


*** Just kidding! ***





We can't really predict how a communistic society would be in detail.


Politics has to do with the *administration* of society's implements and is only *tangentially* related to its social policies, at most (or should be).

We can't predict what *civil society* -- and its pleasures -- will be like in detail, given a communistic *administration* -- as over its industry and industrial production.

Here's a model of the large-scale stuff, that I developed and advocate:


communist supply & demand -- Model of Material Factors

http://postimage.org/image/35sw8csv8/


[8] communist economy diagram

http://postimage.org/image/1bvfo0ohw/

[Ocean Seal]

The truth is that I don't really know, and I don't think that anybody really knows. Its so far in the future that I don't think we can know. All we know are the basic criteria: stateless, classless, moneyless.

[ckaihatsu]

The truth is that I don't really know, and I don't think that anybody really knows. Its so far in the future that I don't think we can know. All we know are the basic criteria: stateless, classless, moneyless.


This topic is always the one most worth discussing at a revolutionary political forum, imo, since it addresses the core structures that we would want to see / not want to see. It's been a perennial here at RevLeft....

And, while I posted a 'moneyless' method at post #19, that's not to say that a communistic approach *should* be moneyless. Many might object -- including myself -- and point out that 'moneyless' in particular requires a "dual buy-in" of political support *and* one's own labor efforts since there's no way of separating / detaching the politics from the economics (and vice-versa).

If labor worth *can* be quantified in some valid way -- without abstracting / artificial-izing it -- then that would provide more societal flexibility by allowing labor to be self-organizing as labor *itself*, independent of the societal politics of popular mass projects and their administration. (My model posits a method here.)