Postscript

Abstract

The authors show that the ‘sunset’ of the capitalist mode of production and of the ‘realm of necessity’ is marked by contradictions that indicate the limits of the present mode of production and of the epoch of social alienation as a whole. These limits are imposed by the progress of technology and by changes in the content of labour – that is, by the development of the productive forces, requiring mass participation by workers in creative activity in a wide range of fields. This development, however, leads to the rise of urgent practical tasks that humanity must resolve primarily through post-market and post-capitalist methods. There is an objective need to solve problems on the basis of solidarity, and not of competition, between individuals, firms, and countries. The progress of technology and of people’s social creativity causes relations of a transitional kind to develop within the framework of late capitalism. These contradictory relations combine the market and capital with early manifestations of the ‘realm of freedom’. Among these manifestations are the development of mass creative activity (education, health care, etc.) in fields such as the creating of public goods rather than commercial services; the subordination of regulatory activity by the state to the interests of society as a whole; the development of public control over the market and capital by the institutions of civil society; and others. Together, these point to an exhaustion of the potential of the market and capital for stimulating the development of technology and human capacities.