Before I start, let me make it clear what I’m referring to when I say the word “communism” here. I am not referring to…

Social democracy

The dictatorship of the proletariat

Socialism / Lower phase communism

One-party dictatorships

The revisionist regimes that have taken hold in China & Korea

I refer to full communism, higher phase communism, the communist utopia, fully automated luxury gay space communism, whatever you want to call it. I refer to the point where the social distinctions between individuals is gone, class society is a thing of the past, and the birthmarks of the new world’s horrible mother have long since healed. It is at this point where we can begin to seriously discuss the development of individuals as individuals, unhindered by social conditions.

As Marx says in The German Ideology:

…in communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, to fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have in mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.

And this will be a scary thing. Anyone who has ever had to do any kind of serious self-discovery, sexually, politically, biologically, socially, spiritually, knows this is a long, difficult, and often shocking process. It involves the negation of previously assumed truths, it involves ruthless critique of yourself on a fundamental level. Yet to live in denial of yourself and your truth is often more painful.

The individual under communism will be forged through attrition. It is through this attrition, which will be done both by the individual in solitude and with the commune more broadly (“no one is an island” as the old saying goes), that we will all realize our truest selves. It is not a fun process, save perhaps for the actual joy of learning, but it will allow us to learn who we really are, learn our truest, most essential selves, and be content. Through collaboration, through mutual aid, and through learning, we will become ourselves, learn to love ourselves, and learn to love each other as their truest selves. It will be a lot of hard work, but it will be a wonderful life.