Rosa Luxemburg on Historical Materialism, Communism, and Capitalism
    
Rosa Luxemburg explores historical materialism through the analysis of the productive forces in society. Starting with Urkommunism, the ancient German village commune, she illustrates an early society-form preceding capitalism.

    
Labour and Ownership in Urkommunism
    
In this communal system, the labourer works for himself and the community. Goods like corn, geese, and shoes are not commodities since they are neither bought nor sold but made by the people for the people. This represents a simple and harmonious economic system where immediate needs and equal fulfillment are the core principles. The community collectively controls the means of production, embodying true communism of land and soil.

    
The Global Presence of Urkommunism
    
Urkommunism is a global production form historically found on every inhabited continent, demonstrating common ownership and communal labor.

    
Transition to Money Economy and Capitalism
    
With modernization, common property disappears, replaced by a money economy where all social interactions revolve around exchange. Individuals—farmers, shoemakers, bakers, and others—become isolated, and the community loses its regulatory power. Each person's social labor share depends entirely on market forces, determining whether they earn enough to survive.

    
Market Dictates and Social Fragmentation
    
Social wealth is no longer distributed based on need, but by market success. The once unified community fractures into isolated individuals, likened to dandelion seeds drifting aimlessly. While some may see this market submission as freedom, Luxemburg argues the labourer is deeply unfree under capitalism.

    
Capitalist Exploitation and Worker Precarity
    
The capitalist controls the means of production, leaving the worker with only their labor power as a commodity. Exploitation revolves around selling this labor under insecure conditions, with capitalists compelled to intensify work to survive competition. The supposed freedom masks an exploitative system where jobs are scarce and workers are disposable.

    
Humanity’s Suffering Under Capital
    
Luxemburg emphasizes humanity's suffering under capital, a blind social force created unconsciously by society. The fundamental purpose of production—satisfying human needs—is inverted; instead, production serves profit above all else, driving global social and economic inequalities.