Key Arguments

• He asserts that communism is conceptually rooted in proprietary prejudice: 'Singularly enough, systematic communism⁠—the deliberate negation of property⁠—is conceived under the direct influence of the proprietary prejudice; and property is the basis of all communistic theories.'
• He stresses that while members have no private property, the collective is still an owner: 'The members of a community, it is true, have no private property; but the community is proprietor, and proprietor not only of the goods, but of the persons and wills.'
• Because of this 'principle of absolute property,' labor becomes a coercive command rather than a natural condition: 'labor, which should be only a condition imposed upon man by Nature, becomes in all communities a human commandment, and therefore odious.'
• He describes the regime of discipline as incompatible with reflective freedom: 'Passive obedience, irreconcilable with a reflecting will, is strictly enforced. Fidelity to regulations, which are always defective, however wise they may be thought, allows of no complaint.'
• He portrays the State as the owner of life and faculties: 'Life, talent, and all the human faculties are the property of the State, which has the right to use them as it pleases for the common good.'
• Private associations are forbidden to prevent any emergence of sub‑communities and thereby private property: 'Private associations are sternly prohibited, in spite of the likes and dislikes of different natures, because to tolerate them would be to introduce small communities within the large one, and consequently private property.'
• He argues that communism forces unjust and absurd leveling burdens: 'the strong work for the weak, although this ought to be left to benevolence, and not enforced, advised, or enjoined; the industrious work for the lazy, although this is unjust; the clever work for the foolish, although this is absurd.'
• He concludes that under communism, the person must renounce himself before the Commune: 'and, finally, man⁠—casting aside his personality, his spontaneity, his genius, and his affections⁠—humbly annihilates himself at the feet of the majestic and inflexible Commune!'
• He formulates a parallel with property: 'Property is the exploitation of the weak by the strong. Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak.'
• Inequality in communism comes from equating mediocrity and excellence: 'In communism, inequality springs from placing mediocrity on a level with excellence. This damaging equation is repellent to the conscience, and causes merit to complain.'
• He insists that help to the weak must be voluntary: 'although it may be the duty of the strong to aid the weak, they prefer to do it out of generosity⁠—they never will endure a comparison.'
• He defines communism as 'oppression and slavery,' opposed to free, self‑directed activity: 'Communism is oppression and slavery. Man is very willing to obey the law of duty, serve his country, and oblige his friends; but he wishes to labor when he pleases, where he pleases, and as much as he pleases.'
• He lists the freedoms communism violates: the wish 'to dispose of his own time, to be governed only by necessity, to choose his friendships, his recreation, and his discipline; to act from judgment, not by command; to sacrifice himself through selfishness, not through servile obligation.'
• He declares that communism is 'essentially opposed to the free exercise of our faculties, to our noblest desires, to our deepest feelings,' and that any attempt to reconcile it with individual reason would only change the thing, not the name.
• He concludes that communism violates both conscience and equality: 'communism violates the sovereignty of the conscience, and equality: the first, by restricting spontaneity of mind and heart, and freedom of thought and action; the second, by placing labor and laziness, skill and stupidity, and even vice and virtue on an equality in point of comfort.'
• Finally, he argues that even if property is impossible because of accumulation, 'communism would soon become so through the desire to shirk,' suggesting that shirking and free‑riding would make communism unworkable.

Source Quotes

The greatest danger to which society is exposed today is that of another shipwreck on this rock. Singularly enough, systematic communism⁠—the deliberate negation of property⁠—is conceived under the direct influence of the proprietary prejudice; and property is the basis of all communistic theories. The members of a community, it is true, have no private property; but the community is proprietor, and proprietor not only of the goods, but of the persons and wills.

Singularly enough, systematic communism⁠—the deliberate negation of property⁠—is conceived under the direct influence of the proprietary prejudice; and property is the basis of all communistic theories. The members of a community, it is true, have no private property; but the community is proprietor, and proprietor not only of the goods, but of the persons and wills. In consequence of this principle of absolute property, labor, which should be only a condition imposed upon man by Nature, becomes in all communities a human commandment, and therefore odious.

The members of a community, it is true, have no private property; but the community is proprietor, and proprietor not only of the goods, but of the persons and wills. In consequence of this principle of absolute property, labor, which should be only a condition imposed upon man by Nature, becomes in all communities a human commandment, and therefore odious. Passive obedience, irreconcilable with a reflecting will, is strictly enforced.

Fidelity to regulations, which are always defective, however wise they may be thought, allows of no complaint. Life, talent, and all the human faculties are the property of the State, which has the right to use them as it pleases for the common good. Private associations are sternly prohibited, in spite of the likes and dislikes of different natures, because to tolerate them would be to introduce small communities within the large one, and consequently private property; the strong work for the weak, although this ought to be left to benevolence, and not enforced, advised, or enjoined; the industrious work for the lazy, although this is unjust; the clever work for the foolish, although this is absurd; and, finally, man⁠—casting aside his personality, his spontaneity, his genius, and his affections⁠—humbly annihilates himself at the feet of the majestic and inflexible Commune!

Life, talent, and all the human faculties are the property of the State, which has the right to use them as it pleases for the common good. Private associations are sternly prohibited, in spite of the likes and dislikes of different natures, because to tolerate them would be to introduce small communities within the large one, and consequently private property; the strong work for the weak, although this ought to be left to benevolence, and not enforced, advised, or enjoined; the industrious work for the lazy, although this is unjust; the clever work for the foolish, although this is absurd; and, finally, man⁠—casting aside his personality, his spontaneity, his genius, and his affections⁠—humbly annihilates himself at the feet of the majestic and inflexible Commune! Communism is inequality, but not as property is.

Communism is inequality, but not as property is. Property is the exploitation of the weak by the strong. Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak. In property, inequality of conditions is the result of force, under whatever name it be disguised: physical and mental force; force of events, chance, fortune; force of accumulated property, etc. In communism, inequality springs from placing mediocrity on a level with excellence.

Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak. In property, inequality of conditions is the result of force, under whatever name it be disguised: physical and mental force; force of events, chance, fortune; force of accumulated property, etc. In communism, inequality springs from placing mediocrity on a level with excellence. This damaging equation is repellent to the conscience, and causes merit to complain; for, although it may be the duty of the strong to aid the weak, they prefer to do it out of generosity⁠—they never will endure a comparison. Give them equal opportunities of labor, and equal wages, but never allow their jealousy to be awakened by mutual suspicion of unfaithfulness in the performance of the common task.

Give them equal opportunities of labor, and equal wages, but never allow their jealousy to be awakened by mutual suspicion of unfaithfulness in the performance of the common task. Communism is oppression and slavery. Man is very willing to obey the law of duty, serve his country, and oblige his friends; but he wishes to labor when he pleases, where he pleases, and as much as he pleases.

He wishes to dispose of his own time, to be governed only by necessity, to choose his friendships, his recreation, and his discipline; to act from judgment, not by command; to sacrifice himself through selfishness, not through servile obligation. Communism is essentially opposed to the free exercise of our faculties, to our noblest desires, to our deepest feelings. Any plan which could be devised for reconciling it with the demands of the individual reason and will would end only in changing the thing while preserving the name.

Now, if we are honest truth-seekers, we shall avoid disputes about words. Thus, communism violates the sovereignty of the conscience, and equality: the first, by restricting spontaneity of mind and heart, and freedom of thought and action; the second, by placing labor and laziness, skill and stupidity, and even vice and virtue on an equality in point of comfort. For the rest, if property is impossible on account of the desire to accumulate, communism would soon become so through the desire to shirk.

Thus, communism violates the sovereignty of the conscience, and equality: the first, by restricting spontaneity of mind and heart, and freedom of thought and action; the second, by placing labor and laziness, skill and stupidity, and even vice and virtue on an equality in point of comfort. For the rest, if property is impossible on account of the desire to accumulate, communism would soon become so through the desire to shirk. II.

Key Concepts

• Singularly enough, systematic communism⁠—the deliberate negation of property⁠—is conceived under the direct influence of the proprietary prejudice; and property is the basis of all communistic theories.
• The members of a community, it is true, have no private property; but the community is proprietor, and proprietor not only of the goods, but of the persons and wills.
• In consequence of this principle of absolute property, labor, which should be only a condition imposed upon man by Nature, becomes in all communities a human commandment, and therefore odious.
• Life, talent, and all the human faculties are the property of the State, which has the right to use them as it pleases for the common good.
• and, finally, man⁠—casting aside his personality, his spontaneity, his genius, and his affections⁠—humbly annihilates himself at the feet of the majestic and inflexible Commune!
• Property is the exploitation of the weak by the strong. Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak.
• In communism, inequality springs from placing mediocrity on a level with excellence. This damaging equation is repellent to the conscience, and causes merit to complain;
• Communism is oppression and slavery.
• Communism is essentially opposed to the free exercise of our faculties, to our noblest desires, to our deepest feelings.
• communism violates the sovereignty of the conscience, and equality: the first, by restricting spontaneity of mind and heart, and freedom of thought and action; the second, by placing labor and laziness, skill and stupidity, and even vice and virtue on an equality in point of comfort.
• if property is impossible on account of the desire to accumulate, communism would soon become so through the desire to shirk.

Context

Same section, immediately after the historical critique, where Proudhon analyses communism’s internal structure and argues that it simply reconstitutes property at the level of the community or State, producing a new inequality and oppression contrary to liberty and true equality.