By Ernest Mandel, L. Sadler

From type Society to Commu-
nism is a entire but
simply written booklet which attempts
to provide transparent solutions to the fundamental
questions which any enquiring
persons the area will
ask themselves. What are the
economic roots of social inequa-
lity? What are the alterations
between this society and pre-
vious type soci~ties? the place
does revenue originate? How did
the glossy labour stream
develop? Why is social revolu-
tion worthwhile to release the
working category? How does
bureaucracy increase in the
labour stream? What is the
role of a innovative get together?
How did the global turn into divi-
ded into wealthy and terrible countries?
What is the character of states like
the USSR, China, and these in
Eastern Europe? How could a
society controlled via the staff
run itself?

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Additional resources for From Class Society to Communism: An Introduction to Marxism

Example text

The commodity is a product of social labour which is destined to be exchanged by its producer and not to be consumed by him or her, or by the immediate collectivity of which they are a part. The social situation is therefore fundamentally different from that in which the mass of products are destined to be immediately consumed by the collectivity which produced them. g. the so-called subsistence farms of our epoch, which sell a small surplus on the market). But the fundamental difference between a society in which production is essentially for the direct consumption of the producers, and one in which production is for exchange, is well caught in the malicious reply of the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle to a liberal economist of his time: is it true that Mr Smith, an undertaker, would first of all manufacture coffins for his own use and that of the members of his household, and would sell only the surplus coffins he was left with ....

Exchange was only accidental, and affected only a tiny fraction of the products at the disposal of the community. Such a form of production presupposes the deliberate organisation of labour. As a consequence, labour is directly social. Deliberate organisation of labour is not necessarily the same as conscious (and certainly not scientific) organisation. Many things may be left to chance, precisely because no thrust towards private enrichment presides over economic activity. Morals, ancestral habits, customs, rites, religion and magic can determine the alternance and rhythm of productive activities.

As he arrives at the market with a certain sum of money, he no longer sells in order to buy, but on the contrary buys in order to sell. The small artisan or peasant sells in order to buy a commodity different from the one they produce themselves; but the aim of this operation is still the satisfaction of more or less immediate needs. On the other hand, the money-owner cannot 'buy in order to sell' just to satisfy his needs. For the banker or merchant the phrase 'to buy in order to sell' only means something if he sells for a sum which exceeds that in his possession when he came to the market.

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