in Esperanto
Chapter 7: SKETCH OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY -- CULTURE
5. To be simple is the best.
5.1. Simple social culture
Even among those who accept communism favorably, many may perceive a communist society as a completely self-sufficient rural community. However, this is an image of a hypothetical primitive communist system, and the post-modern communist society that will have passed through the modern era is by no means an idyllic, self-sufficient society.
Still, as we have seen, in a communist society many existing things and institutions will be abolished, from commodities to money, the state and all things related to them, to universities, there is no doubt that it will become a simple society.
Therefore, "To be simple is the best" becomes a symbolic slogan in terms of culture as well. The word simple in this case has various connotations.
5.2. Four simplicity
First of all, the abolishment of money and the state, two values with a long history related to ownership, will decisively change society's values related to ownership.
"Having" will cease to be the most important value, and "not having" will become a symbol of smartness rather than shame. The have-nots = simple (commoner) people are culturally the leading role.
At the same time, under a communist planned economy that produces only the necessary amount of goods while taking the global environment into consideration, the consumption culture that favors mass consumption will surely disappear. Instead, it is thought that a simple (frugal) consumption culture that produces only the necessary and durable items, and does not generate waste will develop and take hold.
In addition, the disappearance of commodity production and economic competition will make machine products, which are becoming almost unnecessarily complex, multi-functional and automated year by year due to capital differentiation strategies, simpler and easier to use for people with weak mechanical skills such as the elderly and disabled. This is barrier-free in machines, and as discussed in Chapter 5, as society as a whole progresses in barrier-free, there will be a shift from a culture standardized on the strong to a culture standardized on the weak.
Also, the abolition of commercial production makes it possible to continue production for a small number of people without discontinuing production even for unsold items as long as there are a small number of consumers. In this sense as well, a communist society is a society that pays equal attention to the minority rather than the majority. In that respect, communism will foster simple cultural values in the sense that it is less prejudiced, just like a young child.
5.3. Modern times with a human face
From the above, it would be permissible to make the following predictions. Post-modern communism will not be in the direction of denying the modern era and turning it into a reaction, and will open up a new modern civilization with a human face rather than a commodity face, which deserves to be called a post-modern civilization.
