Marx Didn’t Call for Sharing Everything Equally — That was Jesus
“From each according to ability, to each according to need” is about what we need, not what we want
In 1875, Karl Marx wrote one of his most-quoted and most-misunderstood lines, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” His socialist readers knew that was a slogan with roots in the New Testament. Its meaning was clear to them: Since we have different abilities and needs, people who can help others should make sure we all have what we need.
Marx’s critics fail to see the saying is only about need. It does not mean we must give everyone whatever they want. It means we should all have the necessities for the pursuit of happiness:
“In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic.” —Karl Marx, 1845
Marx’s good friend and collaborator explained why there’s no practical way to share everything equally:
“As between one country, one province and even one place and another, living conditions will always evince a certain inequality which may be reduced to a minimum but never wholly eliminated. The living conditions of Alpine dwellers will always be different from those of the plainsmen. The concept of a socialist society as a realm of equality is a one-sided French concept deriving from the old “liberty, equality, fraternity,” a concept which was justified in that, in its own time and place, it signified a phase of development, but which, like all the one-sided ideas of earlier socialist schools, ought now to be superseded, since they produce nothing but mental confusion, and more accurate ways of presenting the matter have been discovered.” — Frederick Engels, 1875
When socialists explain that “according to need” is only about need, apologists for capitalism say need can’t be defined because it’s subjective. They miss two facts:
- Basic needs like food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare are not at all subjective: you sicken and die without them.
- Societies define needs when they define poverty: the poverty line is a needs line. Poverty varies from nation to nation, but being poor always means you do not have what your nation considers necessary. In the world today, needs include higher education, public transportation, and access to social media.
The Biblical roots of “from each according to ability, to each according to need” may be the reason some people misunderstand it. It comes from the New Testament’s Acts of the Apostles, which tells how the first Christians lived:
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” —Acts 4:32–35
“So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.” —Acts 11:29
Some Christians assume “from each according to ability, to each according to need” calls for the perfect communism that Jesus demanded from his followers:
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” —Matthew 6:24
“those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” —Luke 14:33
“Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” — Luke 18:22
But Jesus respected an easier path, John the Baptist’s pragmatic socialism:
John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” — Luke 3:11
The story of Jesus and Zacchaeus shows that even tax collectors could be saved by following the Baptist’s way:
Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” — Luke 19:8
John the Baptist’s teaching is closer to Marxism than Jesus’s. Marx divided socialism into two groups that he called utopian and scientific. Utopians think “from each according to ability, to each according to need” means everyone should share everything so thoroughly that the world’s wealth will be equally distributed. Scientific socialists hear the slogan and think it means that those who have more should make sure everyone has enough: they will give shirts to the shirtless and food to the hungry.
Bonus fact: Jingoistic apologists for capitalism say Marxism is anti-American. But in 1987, the Hearst Corporation conducted a national survey of over 1000 people and found that nearly half of Americans surveyed think the phrase “From each according to ability; To each according to need” is in our Constitution.
The phrase is not in the Constitution, but it is implied. Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 gives Congress the power to provide for the “general Welfare of the United States.”
Related: Dear Christians and Jews, Socialism is just God’s Commandment to Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
