What exactly does communism mean by the abolition of private property?
Private property is a concept that exists in a small episode in the long Human history. The human had lived for millions of years, ever since the Old Stone Age, in a communist society. The majority of human history does not need the social structure of private ownership and private property. Private property has existed only in the last five thousand years. One doesn't need to own air to breathe oxygen. One doesn’t need to own a highway to drive on a highway. Even today in Amazon Forest or in the African jungle, one can eat many foods that are grown in the wild without the need to own the forest or jungle.
Abolishing private property is a very revolutionary term. In the classic Marxism theory, communist society comes when the production power is at such a high level that the material is abundant enough for everyone to enjoy. There is no need to abolish private property. Private property will disappear just as five thousand years ago for millions of years that it is simply irrelevant to our daily production and living.
Most businesses today are not really private businesses, such as the companies whose shares are trading on the stokes market. Your pension fund may own some of the shares. The companies whose shares are traded at Exchange are public companies. Their owners are quasi-public. Then we have the co-op company its ownership is collective like Huawei.
Today, free of hunger, education, and health care are all Human Rights in many countries. Everyone is entitled the basic living welfare if he or she needs it. That's the communist principle of From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
Our social problem today is not the lack of material but the lack of communist culture. The upper structure of the past hinders the progress of our society. Today the poor in America are over nutrition, such as obesity. Today's health problems are mostly linked to the abundance of material, such as high blood pressure and diabetes which are linked to overnutrition. The greed to own more property is killing many lives unnecessarily.
If you want to share with your neighbors, if you want to contribute to your community life, then you have a sense of communism. Noticing the root of the two words is exactly the same? If you share with your community enthusiast enough, you are a communist.
Don't worry about “abolishing”. Abolishing is a horrible word to hear and scares people about communism. Marxism is a scientific social theory. It predicts that our human society will eventually evolve into a communist stage. Use our wealth the abundant material wisely, and we can enjoy communism happily.
