Socialist mode of production

Karl Marx described a socialist society as such: In Marxist theory, Socialism, referred to by Marx as the first stage of communism, is a classless, post-commodity economic system in which production is carried out to directly produce use-value rather than to generate profit. According to Marx and Engels, it is what follows after the transitionary period of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Private ownership and accumulation of capital have been abolished along with class distinctions as a whole and production is carried out in a planned fashion according to the needs of society. In his Critique of the Gotha Programme, Marx suggested that in the first stage of communism people would receive labor vouchers according to the hours they work, but with subtractions, a sort of taxation, made for social services. With these vouchers one would be able to "buy" the goods produced by society (i.e. produced using the commonly owned means of production) valued according to the labor hours needed for their production, so that one only takes as much as one has contributed. There is no extraction of surplus value and thus no exploitation in such a system. The higher stage of communism differs from the lower stage of communism in some aspects. To quote Marx: The prerequisite of the higher phase of communism is a long period of growth within the first phase, during which all imprints left from the old capitalist society gradually disappear. Tremendous development of technology and productive capacity allow for fully automated production, resulting in a superabundance of goods and services. This post-scarcity economy, along with the cultural development resulting in the widespread disappearance of individualism and exploitation, allow for goods to be distributed based on need rather than merit. == Social relations ==

The fundamental goal of socialism from the view of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was the realization of human freedom and individual autonomy. Specifically, this refers to freedom from the alienation imposed upon individuals in the form of coercive social relations as well as material scarcity, whereby the individual is compelled to engage in activities merely to survive to reproduce his or herself. The aim of socialism is to provide an environment whereby individuals are free to express their genuine interests, creative freedom and desires unhindered by forms of social control that force individuals to work for a class of owners who expropriate and live off the surplus product. As a set of social relations, socialism is defined by the degree to which economic activity in society is planned by the associated producers so that the surplus product produced by socialized assets is controlled by a majority of the population through marxist-democratic processes. Complete socialism, the first phase of communism, means the abolition of class distinctions and the control over production by society as a whole. The sale of labour power would be abolished so that every individual participates in running their institution as stakeholders or members with no one having coercive power over anyone else in a vertical social division of labour which is to be distinguished from a non-social, technical division of labour which would still exist in socialism. The incentive structure changes in a socialist society given the change in the social environment so that an individual labourers' work becomes increasingly autonomous and creative, creating a sense of responsibility for his or her institution as a stakeholder. Role of the state In Marxist theory, the state is "the institution of organised violence which is used by the ruling class of a country to maintain the conditions of its rule. Thus, it is only in a society which is divided between hostile social classes that the state exists". The state is seen as a mechanism dominated by the interests of the ruling class. It subjugates other classes, to protect and legitimize the existing economic system. After a proletarian revolution, the state would initially become the instrument of the proletariat. Conquest of the state by the proletariat is a prerequisite to establishing a socialist system. As socialism is built, the role and scope of the state changes. Class distinctions, based on ownership of the means of production, gradually deteriorate. The concentration of means of production increasingly falls into state hands. Once all means of production become state property, class distinctions are no more and socialism, the first stage of communism is achieved, the primary function of the state changes. Political rule via coercion over men diminishes through the creation and enforcement of laws, scientific administration and the direction of the processes of production. As a result, the state becomes an entity of economic coordination rather than a mechanism of class or political control and is no longer a state in the Marxian sense. == See also ==