Right-wingers claim that communism would be a dictatorial hellscape: nothing could be further from the truth. Communism means a society free from money, social classes, poverty and oppression, where people live “from each according to their ability, each according to their needs.” But what would such a society look like, and how do we get there?

Capitalism has created a world of poverty and precarity, in which people must struggle simply to survive, let alone reach their full potential. Socialism and communism will for the first time in history rationalise production, meet all human needs and give space for culture and the arts to flourish in ways never seen before. But this cannot be started while capitalism stands, and there is much work to do on the way!

In this week’s episode of Spectre of Communism, Adam Booth – editor of socialist.net – discusses the economic and social impact of a successful revolution, and explains how society might look as we strive to build communism.

For more information about historical attempts to begin these tasks, we recommend Adam’s article in the latest In Defence of Marxism magazine on the Soviet Economy, available now!