Moulding the new man - Communism and Freedom of the Individual
The freedom of the individual depends upon the nature of the social relations, on the conditions created by society for man’s development, for the satisfaction of his needs and for the application of his capabilities and talents. Thus, this freedom is inseparable from society. “One cannot live in society and be free from society,” Lenin wrote. [331•*
Bourgeois ideologists and their reformist servitors refuse to recognise this. “Freedom,” writes the West German Social-Democrat Carlo Schmid, “is above all social structures and is binding upon all who grasp it.” The sole purport of arguments of this kind, in which freedom of the individual is taken to mean freedom from society, is to justify and give grounds for bourgeois individualism, and freedom for private ownership and exploitation. Indeed, who can grasp freedom in capitalist society? Only those who have money and property. There money is the highest measure of freedom. There money allows the man freely to exploit another, to thrive in the world of “free” enterprise. Money enables its owners to satisfy every whim, to control social affairs, to dictate laws and, when necessary, freely to break these laws.
The bourgeois ideologists call their beloved system a “free world" and give bourgeois individualism and freedom of private ownership and enterprise out as real freedom of the individual. They argue that collectivism and social ownership are incompatible with freedom.
In spite of all their arguments, the abolition of private ownership and exploitation and the establishment of public ownership are the indispensable condition and foundation for the freedom of the individual. Indeed, how can a person be free in a society where the status and very life of the overwhelming majority of the people depend on the egoistical interests of a minority, of the exploiters, where anarchy, competition, periodic crises and unemployment make the working people dependent upon chance, depriving them of confidence in the future, where not all citizens have the opportunity to display their principal quality, namely, their ability to work? The conditions for genuine freedom of the individual obtain only when all people are equal with regard to the means of production, enjoy equal rights to administer the state and equal rights to work, study and rest and leisure, when they are united by a community of purposes, and when the cares and affairs of society become the cares and affairs of every citizen.
These conditions are created by socialism. It abolishes private ownership and exploitation and thereby frees the individual economically, making him free of economic fluctuation, crises, unemployment, poverty and fear of the future. Socialism frees the labour of man and is the first political system in human history to give man the opportunity of working not for exploiters but for himself and society and through labour and on its foundation to satisfy his material and spiritual needs. Socialism gives the individual broad social freedoms: the right to elect and be elected to organs of state power and to participate in the administration of social affairs, the right to education, rest and leisure, social security in old age and in the event of illness, and the possibility to work creatively in all spheres of material and spiritual production. Socialism liberates the individual spiritually. It enables the individual to shed all idealist and religious prejudices, gives him the opportunity to enjoy all the benefits of spiritual culture and actively participate in scientific and artistic work, and frees him from the fetters of bourgeois morality. In socialist society the individual cannot conceive of life outside society, feeling a pressing “need for other people, who are the greatest of wealth”. [332•* Conditions are created to enable the individual to assert himself, to display his abilities and talents.
Thus, under socialism freedom signifies the individual’s freedom to participate creatively in social production, the creation of material and spiritual values and the formation of new social relations, his freedom to participate in the administration of social affairs and to develop and improve culturally and morally.
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Freedom of the Individual under Communism
Communism brings an unprecedented and truly gigantic extension of freedom. First and foremost it liberates man as a toiler, as the creator of material and cultural values. Socialism put an end to private ownership and freed labour from exploitation, but physical work and narrow specialisation, which impedes man’s all-round development, remain in socialist society. In communist society, in addition to becoming a vital inner need, labour, which will be highly automated and mechanised and based on the latest achievements in science, will become creative, attractive and easy physically. Narrow specialisation will disappear and the individual will have every opportunity freely to change his occupation. In free communist labour man will establish himself as a genuinely free and fully developed individual.
Communism will bring the individual complete economic emancipation, making man free not only as a creator of material and spiritual values but also as a consumer of these values. When one has material difficulties one cannot be really free. Socialism has done much to raise the standard of living but it is not yet in a position to satisfy people’s requirements fully. Communism will deliver man from material difficulties and ensure the full satisfaction of his material and spiritual requirements. As a result man will have every opportunity to engage in the most diverse fields of activity.
Communism implies the attainment of the summit of social freedom, the freedom of man as a citizen. The last elements of compulsion, of state control over the activities of man will vanish with the withering away of the state. Communist social self-administration, which will supersede the state, presupposes the active and free participation of every citizen in the administration of social affairs and in ensuring economic and cultural development.
Under communism man acquires genuine spiritual freedom, finally liberating himself from illusions and religious delusions, and his extensive knowledge raises him to an unparalleled height of human dignity as a conscious being, as the conqueror and suzerain of the mighty forces of nature, as the master of his own destiny and the destiny of free mankind. Thereby man achieves his greatest moral freedom. Liberated from the surviving morals of the old, capitalist society, man will, by habit, observe lofty rules of human association, learn to control his thoughts, feelings and behaviour freely and from inner conviction in conformity with the interests of society.334
The ideals of human freedom will thus he attained under communism, which will ensure man’s genuinely free and harmonious development, satisfy his many needs as a toiler, creator, consumer and social worker and as a thinking and feeling being, and ensure the best possible application and improvement of human capabilities.
Freedom and Responsibility of the Individual
Under socialism, as under communism, the development of society and the freedom of the individual are interrelated. While being the foundation of the individual’s freedom, social development largely depends on man, on the extent of his freedom. A free individual is responsible to society, and the suppression of this sense of responsibility is one of the main causes for many shortcomings and drawbacks. Nothing is more harmful than irresponsibility, the preaching that man is only a cog in the huge machine of society, that little depends upon him and perhaps everything will come right in the end.
Insufficient demands of man by the Party, the state, society and the individual himself give rise to irresponsibility. It is highly important that people should, feel responsible for the work assigned to them, for the people they work with and for their friends, for their country, for the purity of the air we breathe and for the clarity of the sky above us.
It should never be forgotten that even in the freest of societies, freedom of the individual is not absolute but relative. Man’s thinking and actions are determined by his social surroundings. The very fact that man adheres to a certain way of thinking depends considerably on the immediate surroundings in which he lives, and on himself. Man is an active being and to a large extent his thoughts and feelings depend on how he perceives the world and on his attitude to his surroundings, to society. No matter how free an individual is, he is responsible for his actions; his actions must be dictated not by his whims but by the interests of society. However, responsibility does not in any way infringe upon the freedom of the individual, because under socialism and communism the interests of society and of the individual essentially coincide.
Society’s advance towards communism brings increasing freedom to the individual and this draws him into greater participation in social affairs and enhances the responsibility borne by him.
Soviet people are building the most organised society in the world, but organisation does not arise of itself. It is the result of the efforts of the Party, the government and the people themselves. The Communist Party, therefore, attaches tremendous importance to imbuing Soviet people with a lofty sense of responsibility for their work. This means cultivating the striving to work better, to safeguard public wealth, to contribute to the success of one’s factory, office or collective or state farm. This cultivates respect for the noble and humane laws of Soviet society and for the principles of socialist democracy. This means fostering intolerance of those who shirk their duty to their country and sully the honour and dignity of Soviet citizens.
The sense of responsibility is heightened by strict observance of the Leninist standards of social and state activity, the further extension and improvement of socialist democracy and the drawing of more and more people into the administration of public affairs. In socialist society the sense of responsibility is cultivated by the entire system of state and mass organisations and presupposes not only moral approval or condemnation of people’s behaviour but also legal compulsion. In communist society, when the summit of the freedom of the individual is attained, man will act with a sense of responsibility without compulsion. He will be guided by inner conviction. In that society law as a factor ensuring public order will wither away and the standards of communist morality will be the guide in the fulfilment of civic duties. The highest stage of the individual’s moral freedom will thus be reached. Man will thus learn to be his own master and the master of his own behaviour.
Communism—Embodiment of Humanism
By ensuring freedom of the individual and creating all the conditions for his all-round development, communism implements proletarian humanism in practice.
Proletarian, socialist humanism profoundly differs from bourgeois humanism. The latter’s ideal is abstract man, 336man in general, but when this man is closely studied lie turns out to be a bourgeois. Naturally, in a society founded on private ownership and exploitation, which this man represents, the interests of the majority are shamelessly infringed upon, while freedom and the all-round development of the individual, which pre-Marxian humanists had preached, remain nothing more than good intentions.
Proletarian, socialist humanism proclaims concern, trust and respect for the toiler. It upholds human dignity and genuinely human social relations. Socialism embodies these requirements of proletarian humanism in practice, making these requirements the norm of life. Humanism is thus inseparable from socialism, and this makes it the most humane social system.
Socialism abolishes the exploitation of man by man. unemployment and poverty and ensures a steady rise of the standard of living. Socialist production serves the purpose of satisfying man’s material and spiritual requirements. Socialist relations of production rest on co–operation and mutual assistance between people. Socialism elevates labour more than any other society, making it the factor determining man’s dignity and place in society. Socialism places the achievements of spiritual culture in the service of man and gives him broad social rights. For the first time in history the all-round development of the individual becomes the concern of society because being the result of people’s conscious creative work this development is more successful and faster when the people themselves improve and become more politically conscious.
True, to some extent the establishment of socialism is linked up with compulsion and force, sometimes armed force, with regard to exploiters. The adversaries of socialism take this as an argument that socialism is incompatible with humanism. Yet it will be readily seen that revolutionary violence and compulsion when applied against those who themselves are accustomed to resorting to brute force, namely, the exploiters, are the greatest of humane acts, for they liberate the toiler and give rise to conditions enabling him to live a truly human life and to develop and improve. Socialist humanism combines love and respect for the toiler with hate for exploitation and exploiters, for everything that prevents the working people from displaying their individuality.
The further humanisation of socialist society and of the social relations among people and the further elevation of human dignity take place during the building of communism. Humanism, which has become the cornerstone of socialist social organisation, gradually becomes the standard of the behaviour of every person and penetrates all the corners and coils of the complex social organism.
It would be wrong to picture the further humanisation of social life as a painless process devoid of contradictions. To pave the way for this process steps must be taken to eradicate bureaucracy, which distrusts man’s creative strength, displays inattention and disrespect for man and adopts a formal attitude to him.
Bureaucracy is alien to the society of builders of communism, but it cannot be eradicated in one sweep. It is surmounted by day-to-day improvement of all social (primarily economic) relations, scientific leadership of all links of the social system, extension of socialist democracy, criticism and self-criticism, the development of the sense of the people’s responsibility for the work assigned to them, and the consistent implementation of the Communist Party’s highest principle, namely, “Everything for man".
Socialism has elevated man and applied the principles of proletarian humanism in practice. Communism will raise man to unprecedented heights and will be the loftiest embodiment of humanism.
Notes
[331•*] Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 10, p. 48.
[332•*] K. Marx, F. Engels, Werkc, Abt. 1, B<1. 3, S. 124.
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