Are communal practices socialist?
By: Lance Espejo
The answer is a bit more complicated than a simple yes or no.
What is socialism?
We should look at the connection between what has been said about socialism and what has been done about it.
When community pantries sprouted all over the country, the question popped whether it was of a socialist nature or just a generous, non-political act. Collective actions like these, including the communal practices of the early Christian church, have been called by some as hints of biblical socialism or communism.
Today, there are debates about “actually-existing” socialism, which house arguments that discredit or affirm the socialist realities of countries such as Cuba and Vietnam. Of course, there is also the question of the validity of social democracy and democratic socialism. In relation to these, are the Scandinavians socialists?
We see here that the question of what socialism is — and even communism for that matter — has always been debated.
Those who encountered socialism in an academic setting tend to answer the question by resorting to related texts. Some people will invoke arguments from revolutionaries like Marx, Lenin, Mao, Minh, Sankara, and Guevarra. Others will quote their favorite anti-socialist writers like Orwell and Rand. Others will take the words of their school, church, friends, or online personalities as credible sources on the topic.
The term socialism has been and is still being contested by different forces of varying perspectives. If we uncritically quote someone to justify our viewpoint, we ourselves would run into an authoritative struggle on information and facts. In order to avoid such conflicts, we should look at the connection between what has been said about socialism and what has been done about it.
How do we assess the relations between socialist theory and practice?
In a historical view of things, socialist theories have served to aid in the conception of future socialism. They serve as anchors that prevent socialists from veering off course, thus, aiding the latter in advancing practical political work under varied social conditions.
But, of course, theory also comes from practice. By assessing past socialist attempts, we can chart which practices are better given certain conditions. It is through these assessments that we are able to see which theories on building socialism are more feasible according to the situation at hand. Why? Because they’ve been tried and tested!
Marx and Engels were able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Paris Commune of 1871. Parisian workers took over the whole city and formed new institutions. For two months, the Parisians governed themselves collectively as a community. Many socialist thinkers — and even professed Marxists — drew their own conclusions from this event. However, it was Lenin and the Bolsheviks from Russia who took the lessons from the city-wide movement to establish a nationwide socialist state. Consequently, the victory of the 1917 October Revolution and the establishment of the USSR led to the birth of many public-led movements. The essence and effect of the revolution spread to colonies and semi-colonies.
These experiences have taught us lessons on understanding the true nature and function of the state. They presented possibilities in waging revolutions, provided models for planning socialist economies, and gave insights into dealing with future problems.
It was actually those who took the theories of their forerunners as dogma who did not or have not advanced revolutions in their localities. The most successful revolutionaries did not take the past as dogma; they instead used the past to innovate revolutionary practices through testing theories under their local conditions.
This is the reason why people like Marx, Lenin, and Mao continue to be relevant. Their theories — drawn from their own experiences — became principles for the rise of certain communal practices. They are based on a scientific approach for societal change — an approach that deals with the merging of theory with practice. From this scientific viewpoint, we have a clearer map of which interpretations are more realistic and have optimal, concrete solutions to our pressing local issues and challenges.
Are the community pantries socialist?
“To take care of one another when the state would not is a form of class struggle.”
Of course, we would be remiss if we mistake the masses’ initiative (i.e., community pantries) with an entire mode of production (i.e., socialism). Community pantries and other forms of non-profit, community-centered efforts are not socialism by default. History has shown us that socialism or communism is not a “a state of affairs to be established” or an ideal that “we are chasing.” It is a new system, that abolishes the current way of things through real and united movement in society.
Taking note of that, we must acknowledge that the new emerges from the old. Socialism can and will emerge from the old society. The fact that there have been attempts in constructing socialism means that there are conditions that make it possible.
The community pantries could be seen as a symptom. Out of the unbearable social crisis generated by the state, the masses have resorted to taking care of themselves. Given that the people have already voiced out measures that must be taken to control the pandemic and alleviate the crisis, it just shows the masses’ decisiveness to act in their own interests. This was manifested through the public calls for travel bans, aid over militarization, mass testing, and contact tracing, among others.
While they are mass responses to economic crises, the community pantries are also political in nature; they show how the masses can run themselves. Seeing that the state is sponsoring their own pantries shows the act’s political nature. Ironically, state community pantries try to make a show of the state’s democratic ability when the state itself is the leading cause of the social conditions that currently plague us.
The people’s efforts outside the state, like the community pantries, are not there to augment the “aid” of the state. They are forms of collective actions that also highlights the negligence of the state. They show the people that genuine care comes from the masses when they decide to empower and improve themselves. It is a class struggle not devoid of ideology. To take care of one another when the state would not is a form of class struggle.
The pantries are not socialist, per se; instead, these practices and manifestations are signs that socialism and beyond are foreseeable possibilities in the near future. Practices like the community pantries are symptoms of a new society unfolding in our people’s history. We now just need a world to win.
