Quote:
Originally posted by greytone
I mean that in a system like this, most people achieve only what they have to to get by. This is true in capitalism for some, but there, an incremental increase in production leads to an incremental improvement in quality of life. Work a little harder, bet paid a little more. In communism, work you ass off, and your neighbors and you all share in the increased production to the point that your share is not worth the extra work you have to put in.
|
According to Marx, people wouldn't work their asses off--they would do what they would naturally do regardless. He believed that human nature was fulfilled by producing (or creating). Thus, a farmer would happily farm all day at his (or her) leisure as long as all other needs were met (house payment, electricity, etc.). Marx would argue that our capitalist society has created a false dichotomy between "work" (how we make our living) and "leisure" (the time we are not working). Absent commodity fetichism and owners stealing surplus labor, people would conduct themselves in ways that fulfilled them--that is, there would be no segregation of work from leisure as they would become synonymous because people would be freed to reach their species-being.