Karl Marx said that workers should own the means of production.  In the digital economy, they do: a computer and a smartphone. 

Karl Marx called for workers to have ownership of the means of production.  When he wrote The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels in 1847 they didn’t.  In 2023, they do.  You see, we’ve moved from a production to an information economy.

Digital Economics
The term digital Marxism was invented by Daniel Pink in his 2002 book titled Free Agent Nation.  The book is mostly about the rise of the gig economy, which I explained in more detail in podcast #51 titled God’s Gig Economy.  One of the enablers of the gig economy is digital Marxism.
Ok, Marx stated that the workers must own the means of production.  This is based on the fallen nature of humans, which we find in the Christian Worldview.  We believe God created a perfect world, fallen humans messed it up, and we find salvation through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior.  Clearly, Karl Marx didn’t believe in the first and third parts, but he DID accept the fallen nature.  I have more to say about him in podcast # 106 titled Karl Marx and the Devil.  The fallen nature is important to economics, by the way.  Economics is the study of the production and distribution of goods and services in a scarce environment.  Scarcity started with the fall.  And, just about every important economic concept is based on the scarcity assumption.  That’s why digital Marxism is so fascinating. 
So, Marx looked at the fallen nature of demanders of labor in the middle of the 19th century and noticed they were taking advantage of the scarcity they owned: That is, the supply of work.  And, Marx had a lot to complain about: Child labor, terrible, dangerous working conditions, and a six-day workweek were common.  There was more supply than demand for labor, and the factory owners took advantage of labor.  But, then, as the century progressed, things didn’t get worse, as Marx predicted, instead, they got better.  Marx and his patron, Friedrich Engels finally surmised that their prediction was NOT coming true, and workers were NOT going to rebel on their own, so Socialism needed a push, which was provided by the political force of Communism.  Vladimir Lenin enters the picture in the early years of the 20th century, and the economic idea of socialism rightly earns a very bad reputation as it was enforced by political power.  Things haven’t changed much in a hundred years.  Socialism is STILL based in power. 
Karl Marx claimed that workers must own the means of production.  As Daniel Pink points out, in the information age, they do. 
I ask my students at Dallas Baptist University to picture either of their parents at work.  What are they doing?  In the information age, it’s very likely they are staring at a computer or talking on a smartphone.  Three elements are at work here:

Training.  Training is free.  You learn how to run a computer at a tax-supported school that’s free.  
The mechanism.  A computer costs about $500 and a smartphone about the same.  If you can’t afford a computer, you can use one at the public library for free.  If you can’t afford a phone, the government will give you an Obama phone.  And for those of us who know the phrase, “There’s no free lunch,” take a look at your cellphone bill, you paid for it.  
Distribution of information.  It’s free also.  Again: If you use the computer at the library, they are providing internet service for free, and if you have an Obama phone, you get the service for free.


Freedom of Labor
You can work for anyone.