Mankind were conceived, born and brought up in communism, and in communism they grew and developed. Emerging from an unknown and indistinct background of chaos, darkness and ignorance; commencing at the zero point in experience and knowledge, without articulate speech, without fire, without artificial tools, without any outside help, with bare hands and weak bodies, mankind fought their great battles, first for existence, then for more of the means of existence, and finally for a human existence. They brought light into darkness, order into chaos, knowledge into ignorance, and laid the foundation for a wonderful world. They brought out and perfected human speech, cleared the earth's surface, tamed and harnessed animals, and appropriated for their use the earth. They discovered the use of fire, they invented and perfected artificial tools, first of flint, then of bronze, and finally of iron; and by means of these tools they utilized the treasures of nature to increase their food, clothing and shelter. They acquired a knowledge of horticulture, and of agriculture; they learned to spin, weave and sew, to build enduring and comfortable dwellings, to make pottery and other household things for use and ornament, and attained to an esthetic appreciation of beauty in architecture, sculpture, painting, music and language, and laid the foundation for an enlightened religion, a comprehensive philosophy and an exact science. Such was the achievement of mankind while yet in a state of primitive communism.
Communism is not something new, something which never existed, and which must be established. Communism is as old as human society is. Communism was and is the foundation of society; it was and is the basis of all human progress; it was and is the soul of all institutions; it is the hope of the working class and the destiny of mankind. Human society was conceived in communism, it was brought up in communism, and all through communism was the soul of all human progress. Religion, morality, philosophy, science, art, culture and industry all were communistic in origin, nature, use and destiny. For thousands of years mankind struggled to acquire knowledge, understanding and skill. With infinite thought they crystallized ideas and truths of religion, philosophy, science, art, morality, culture, industry and civilization; and with infinite labor they brought out the tools, invented machines, discovered processes and created a wonderful mechanism for the production and distribution of the means of life. All these infinite values and treasures the past generations bequeathed to posterity as the common property of all freely to be used by all. No matter when, where and by whom an idea was crystallized, a truth discovered, a machine invented and a process worked out, it is now the common property of all, and each one is free to use them. Each idea, each truth, each invention and each process grow out of the infinite intellectual and material values and treasures which mankind created in common, and which they now own, possess and use in common. Destroy all that is communistic in origin, nature, use and destiny, and human society will disappear, and mankind will degenerate and become extinct. Universal communism is the hope of the working class, for only in universal communism will the working class be ultimately emancipated from exploitation, oppression, degradation, slavery and dehumanization. Universal communism is the ultimate destiny of mankind. All social evolution and all human progress were communistic in origin, nature, use and destiny. The great redeemers, the great thinkers, the reformers and the revolutionaries, all through history, were imbued with the idea of universal communism, and all served the whole human race. With time and progress, all these communal efforts brought out a rich harvest of communal institutions and promoted the communal life of mankind. Consider but a few communistic institutions that mankind already wrested from individualistic chaos and selfishness: the public schools, the municipal departments, the health centers, the public libraries, the public parks, the public hospitals, and the numerous functions of government. A poor man may have ten children, and a rich man may have but one child; yet the ten children of the poor man have the same right to the privileges and benefits of the public school as the only child of the rich man, although the rich man may have contributed much to the support of the public schools. A poor man is just as free to use the books in the public libraries as the rich man is, although the rich man might have contributed much to the support of the library. The municipalities, the cities, the government and the state are ready to serve all; the fire department is just as ready to extinguish the fire in the hut of the poor man as it is ready to extinguish the fire in the mansion of the rich man. The law is just as ready to protect the life, the property and the rights of the poor man as of the rich man; and so it is with all social and political institutions. Religion, philosophy, science, art, literature, culture and human progress of any and all forms all are ready to serve all. And from day to day these communistic institutions increase in number, in extent, in function and efficiency. In turn, society and the state demand from the individual a like communistic return. All are directly and indirectly taxed to maintain the functions of the government and the various public institutions. And, when necessary, the state and society demand from the individual the supreme sacrifice of his life. Is not this the highest communism? But the most fundamental transformation of society into the state of communism is taking place in the process of production of the means of life. The mode of production is becoming ever more and more communistic. Consider the great industries. Hundreds of thousands and millions of workers are united, integrated and organized in the vast industries; they all work in common, they produce in common, and in common turn out millions of commodities. This communistic mode of production brought out national mass production, and now is bringing out international mass production. The time is coming when all production in the world will become one universal system of production, and this will mean universal communistic production. The mode of production of the means of life is the basis and substance of the mode of distribution. As the mode of production changes, so also does the mode of distribution change. And as they change, so also change the organic relations of society. See what is already taking place in the United States. The capitalists are reduced to mere managers, and the state becomes the capitalist. The state assumes ever more and more control of the production and distribution of the means of life, and at the same time the state acquires ever more economic and political power. All that is taking place in the world is only the manifestation of the revolutionary transformation of society; it is the retirement of private capitalism from the stage of history, to prepare the ground for state capitalism and ultimate universal communism. Throughout the past communism was and remained the soul of society and of all human progress. Originally, the economic basis of society was communistic. The land which they occupied and the things which they produced and acquired they used in common. But gradually a change took place. The introduction and establishment of private property accomplished this change.
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