Mere organisation does not, however, suffice. The essence of the matter lies in this, that the organisation shall be a cooperative organisation of all the members of society. The communist system, in addition to affecting organisation, is further distinguished by the fact that it puts an end to exploitation, that it abolishes the division of society into classes. We might conceive the organisation of production as being effected in the following manner: a small group of capitalists, a capitalist combine, controls everything; production has been organised, so that capitalist no longer competes with capitalist; conjointly they extract surplus value from the workers, who have been practically reduced to slavery. Here we have organisation, but we also have the exploitation of one class by another. Here there is a joint ownership of the means of production, but it is joint ownership by one class, an exploiting class. This is something very different from communism, although it is characterised by the organisation of production. Such an organisation of society would have removed only one of the fundamental contradictions, the anarchy of production. But it would have strengthened the other fundamental contradiction of capitalism, the division of society into two warring halves; the class war would be intensified. Such a society would be organised along one line only; on another line, that of class structure, it would still be rent asunder. Communist society does not merely organise production; in addition, it frees people from oppression by others. It is organised throughout.
The cooperative character of communist production is likewise displayed in every detail of organisation. Under communism, for example, there will not be permanent managers of factories, nor will there be persons who do one and the same kind of work throughout their lives. Under capitalism, if a man is a bootmaker, he spends his whole life in making boots (the cobbler sticks to his last); if he is a pastrycook, he spends all his life baking cakes; if he is the manager of a factory, he spends his days in issuing orders and in administrative work; if he is a mere labourer, his whole life is spent in obeying orders. Nothing of this sort happens in