The Ethical Imperative of Communism

Individual Reason, Collective Struggle, and the Ethics of Revolutionary Engagement

Morning Comrades.

What does it mean to be a "good human," and why is this inherently tied to being a socialist—perhaps even a communist? At the heart of this question lies a fundamental tension: the relationship between individual reason, which must be unyieldingly self-critical, and the necessity of collective struggle, without which one remains politically impotent. Jean-Paul Sartre famously observed that one must be part of a movement to “be in history,” emphasizing that individual thought, no matter how profound, is insufficient unless translated into collective action. This dialectic is not a paradox to be resolved but a dynamic process that must be continuously navigated—one in which self-examination and participation in radical struggle are mutually reinforcing rather than opposed.

Marxist philosophy offers a framework for understanding and acting upon this dialectic. From Karl Marx’s concept of praxis, which insists on the unity of theory and revolutionary practice, to Antonio Gramsci’s analysis of hegemony and the role of the organic intellectual, to Lenin’s insistence on the necessity of organization, the Marxist tradition demonstrates that reason and ethics only become truly meaningful when embedded in collective struggle. Jean-Paul Sartre’s notion of the group-in-fusion and Louis Althusser’s critique of ideological interpellation further reveal how human agency is shaped—and often constrained—by material conditions, reinforcing the urgency of engaging in organised resistance to capitalism.

Considering the darkness the capitalist death cult is conjuring these, here is a submission for your weekend to the explore five key ideas to argue that being a good human—one committed to justice, solidarity, and liberation—is inseparable from working towards communism. In a world where capitalism atomizes individuals and depoliticises ethical concerns, only through participation in radical collective struggle can one genuinely transform both oneself and the world