Chapter 1: LIMITATIONS OF CAPITALISM
5. There is no need to fear communism.
5.1. Two ways of overcoming limits
In my previous narratives, I have argued that capitalism, which has "won" over collectivism, has not run amok or collapsed, but has reached its limits in some pathological ways. There are two major ways to overcome this capitalist limit.
One is to try to overcome the above-mentioned limitations within the framework of capitalism. If we compare this to medicine, it is a pharmacotherapy for the limitations of capitalism.
The welfare state model, which was once prevalent, also introduced livelihood security such as public pensions and insurance within the framework of capitalism in order to prevent the impoverishment of the working class that would occur when capitalism was adhered to in principle. It was a powerful medical therapy that enriched the system.
However, the welfare state model has nothing to do with the first fundamental limitation, which is related to environmental sustainability. Despite its own "sustainability" being questioned, so far no new medical therapies have been found that can replace the welfare state model.
In this regard, in recent years, a system concept called Universal Basic Income (hereinafter abbreviated as UBI), which aims to uniformly provide a fixed amount of money to all citizens as basic living expenses by the state sourced from taxes and other national treasury revenues has been advocated, and it is beginning to be tried in some countries.
In contrast to the conventional welfare state, in which the state provides income guarantees only in the event of unemployment, old age, illness, or certain other circumstances while maintaining the principle of "self-help" in terms of income, UBI is sometimes promoted as the "ultimate" livelihood security system that exceeds the welfare state model in that the state provides a fixed basic income to all citizens in a uniform manner regardless of such special circumstances.
Of course, there is the problem that a historically large tax increase is indispensable to procure the huge amount of financial resources necessary for this ultimate big treat, but there is also a problem in the principle dimension that it violates one great law that can be called the charter of capitalism.
The capitalist charter is "Earn, or die!". In other words, the capitalist principle of life is that as long as you are able to work, you must earn everything yourself, including your basic income - unless you have unearned income such as interest or rent.
Capitalism is a doctrine in which earnings, in other words, the ability to earn money, is everything. Therefore, if a person possesses this ability, he or she can enjoy a rich life on their own, but without it, no matter how virtuous and knowledgeable you may be, you must hit rock bottom and even starve to death.
On the other hand, UBI is a caring system that aims to support the earning ability with a public minimum income guarantee, but we cannot forget the fact that the calculating capitalists are preparing tactics such as piggyback wage cuts or staff dounsizing on the pretext of minimum income guaranteed by UBI. This is why some capital enterprize executives are also sympathetic to UBI.
As a source of funding for UBI, the capitalist state, which is the “committee in charge of the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie”(Marx), would raise the consumption tax and the income tax, not the corporate tax hike, which increases the tax burden on capital. It is certain that a tax increase for the common people, such as lowering tax exemption conditions that increase the burden on low-income earners, rather than strengthening progressive taxation, which increases the burden on high-income earners, will come. It is highly doubtful, then, that UBI is the ultimate alternative to the welfare state model.
Thus, communism, which is the subject of this article, will emerge as another direction to overcome the limitations of capitalism. This is a surgical remedy for the limits of capitalism in the sense that the capitalist system itself is to be fundamentally removed.
Throughout history, mankind has tried various economic systems, and at this point it seems that they have largely settled on a capitalist economy. But a system that has never been tested--aside from the archaeological hypothesis of "primitive communism"--is true communism.
5.2. Image of communism
When you hears about the transition to communism, the negative image of deprivation of property rights and regimented society comes first. In the end, a negative campaign could start by bringing up the Great Purge by Stalin in the former Soviet Union or the Massacre by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge (Communist Party of Kampuchea) that shook the world.
However, true communism does not confiscate all personal property. As for the negative image of regimented society, it comes from intentionally or mistakenly confusing communism with Soviet-style socialism, more precisely speaking, collectivism.
A communist society is certainly an equal society. However, that “equality” is equality in basic food, clothing and housing. In other words, it is a society that cooperates so that everyone can meet basic needs such as food, clothing and housing without having a special means of exchange such as money. I do not think there are so many people who categorically reject such a society as regimented .
A communist society is a society of such social cooperation, in other words, a society of mutual help. Therefore, forced exclusion such as purges and massacres would not occur in a genuine communist society. Such a policy of violent exclusion was the destination of collectivism combined with political totalitarianism rather than communism in its proper sense.
Negative images of communism are mostly remnants of the anti-communist propaganda circulated by the Western camp, led mainly by the United States, during the Cold War era. Even today, after the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they are occasionally retrieved from old archives as necessary.
Without being deceived by such propaganda, here we face up to the limits of capitalism that will become increasingly apparent towards the middle of the 21st century. And we would like to see communism, which will come after capitalism, not as a mere social theory, but in a more concrete and practical way, while contrasting it with capitalist reality. This task will be pursued sequentially in the following six chapters.
