I go over 3 major reasons why speaking with communists can be difficult, and how to overcome those difficulties by defining terms.

Number 3: Defining Capitalism

One of the chief reasons it is difficult to talk to commies is that communists often do not use the colloquial definition of “capitalism” when speaking about private ownership.

The colloquial use of the word “capitalism” describes an economic and political system in which trade and industry are managed by private owners for profit through market means, not controlled by the state.

Commies see the word “capitalism” as inherently connoting cronyism, the idea that the state should pick winners and losers with bailouts, subsidies, and rent seeking. Commies also often suggest that private ownership of the means of production, that is, factories and businesses with wage earners, are not possible without the fiat of state decree and force, and so capitalism is inherently a state construct.

This creates a gap in communication and understanding as market anarchists, often known as anarcho-capitalists or Voluntaryists, believe that many kinds of human arrangements can voluntarily exist and be enforced through private defense without a state.

A state in this context would be automatic, mandatory rulers who unilaterally claim to own all preexisting bodies and properties in a given region by coercive decree.

Because of this difference in how “capitalism” is used and understood, commies often get into arguments with others without defining their terms, which leads to confusion about the parameters of the discourse.

Number 2: Defining Hierarchy

Communists state that true communism is the abolition of hierarchy so that society becomes classless.

This statement is often confusing because there are many elements of ambiguity as to what creates hierarchy, and many otherwise voluntary transactions could come under the gamut of hierarchy when communists try to impose their definitions of what qualifies.

The most common class warfare communists mention is the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat, a phrase used by Karl Marx to describe those who own means of production and infrastructure, the bourgeoisie, and those who labor for wages but who do not own the means of production, the proletariat.

In modern times, the distinction between what these two groups could be has become a blur, as advanced technology has allowed individuals the chance to be able to individually own what would be considered means of production, from 3D printers, to computers, to small-scale chains of production that could fit within one’s own kitchen.

In order to handle this ambiguity, communists often use the terms “private property” and “personal property,” to distinguish what counts as a means of production. That which may be used by more than one person to produce goods and services is defined as “private property,” and that which is used by an individual solely is called “personal property.”

Of course, this gets problematic when simple transactions become seeming evils under communism, like hiring someone temporarily to help pick food one planted and grew.

As communists do not permit wages, giving someone only a portion of the food picked would be seen as a class struggle, as communists claim that any helping hands now opens the entire production line to a shared taking by anyone laboring.

Even if a farmer worked 98% of the labor to create the food, the fact that someone was hired to pick it now gives them an equal claim under communist values.

Further, as communism is a needs-based system, anyone seen with having more than what one person needs may be considered as having too much “personal property,” and, as such, their excess is viewed as “private property,” a code word for communists being able to seize those means.

Which is why under communism, you have to keep your toothbrush close, and your travel toothbrush even closer.

Number 1: Defining Money

A major tenet of communist theory is the elimination of money from the economy.

Money is defined as a commonly-accepted medium of exchange that communicates an expectation of future value creation going beyond the tangible, physical object being traded. If that which is traded is ultimately used up, it is considered a commodity instead, like trading wheat for rice that is later eaten.

The elimination of money in communism takes place under the theoretical construct that each person will get whatever they need in direct proportion, that no person will have more than or below what they, as an individual, require to survive.

The ambiguity here that arises is when barter becomes so common that a commodity becomes monetized. Even if trade were permitted, eventually, if individuals were able to freely trade, money would arise naturally, as has been demonstrated across the globe in a host of various contexts, from the monetization of mackerel in prisons, to the secondary, black market economy of the Soviet Union where people traded “blat,” meaning favors, as a kind of monetary exchange underground.

So long as people are free to trade and choose, people will be willing to monetize to get what they really want when central planning fails.

And it does fail, consistently, thanks to the economic calculation problem, which means that central planners and those trying to allot based on “needs” cannot meaningfully account for all people’s needs in one agency, and so often suffer from over and underproduction as they lack price signals to account for the constant fluctuations in the market.

So next time you argue with a communist, keep these ideas in mind to help cut through the ambiguities communists often skip over when explaining their positions.

It will help save you valuable time and will provide a concrete framework from which to discuss with mutual understanding of terms.

Stay principled so you don’t have to stay hungry.

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