From Marx to Now: Exploring Collective Ownership, Classlessness, and the Evolving State — Félix Carrillo (2023)

This research paper surveys the major principles of communist theory, tracing their origins in Marx and Engels and examining their historical development. It explores collective ownership, classlessness, workers’ control, the abolition of money, the withering away of the state, and debates over their feasibility and modern relevance.

1. Communism seeks to replace private ownership of the means of production with collective ownership.

2. The ultimate goal of communism is a classless society where social and economic hierarchies no longer exist.

3. Goods and resources should be distributed according to need rather than market exchange or private profit.

4. Workers should democratically control production and economic decision-making.

5. The state is viewed as a temporary institution that is expected to gradually wither away once class divisions disappear.

6. Communism is fundamentally a critique of capitalism, arguing that capitalism produces exploitation, inequality, and class domination.

7. Historical communist experiments reveal both the aspirations of communist theory and the practical challenges of implementing it.

8. Communism remains an evolving tradition, with contemporary thinkers adapting its principles to modern concerns such as democracy, environmental sustainability, and social justice.

🧠 Conclusion

This paper challenges the assumption that communism is a single, fixed doctrine or can be understood only through the history of communist states. Instead, it presents communism as a broad political and economic tradition centered on collective ownership, classlessness, workers’ control, production for need rather than profit, and the long-term aspiration of a stateless society, while acknowledging the many debates over how these goals should be achieved.

The paper shows that communism is both a critique of capitalism and a vision for organizing society differently. It traces the theory from Marx to contemporary interpretations, examines the practical experiences of communist governments, and concludes that the tradition continues to evolve as thinkers adapt its principles to modern concerns such as democracy, sustainability, and social justice.