Comment on a document excerpting Stalin's discussion of the three basic conditions for the transition to communism [1]
(November 1958)

The three basic conditions for the transition to communism: (1) Increase social products, first and foremost the means of production; (2) Raise collective ownership to ownership by the whole people, raise commodity exchange to product exchange, so that the center can control all social products; (3) A high level of culture, all-round development of physique and intellect; to achieve this, it is necessary to: (1) reduce labor time to six hours, five hours per day; (2) implement comprehensive technical education; (3) improve housing conditions; (4) increase wages by at least double, perhaps even more, by means of: (a) directly increasing money wages; (b) what is very, very important is lowering the prices of goods.

Opinion: The basic point is to greatly increase social productive forces and social products. The question is how to increase social productive forces and social products with greater, faster, better, and more economical results. Without politics in command, without the mass movement, without the whole Party and the whole people running industry, running agriculture, running culture and education, without several simultaneous developments, without the rectification movement and the struggle to progressively abolish bourgeois right, Stalin's three conditions will not be easy to achieve. With these, plus the organizational form of the people's commune, the problem of the conditions for transition will be relatively easy to solve.

Published according to Mao Zedong's manuscript.

Note
[1] Mao Zedong wrote this comment on a document that transcribed the section from Stalin's *Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.* discussing the three basic conditions for the transition to communism. Stalin's passage is: "In order to prepare for the transition to communism in reality and not in declarations, at least three basic preliminary conditions must be fulfilled. First, it is necessary to firmly ensure, not a mythical 'rational organization' of the productive forces, but a continuous growth of all social production, with a priority for the growth of the production of the means of production. The priority for the growth of the production of the means of production is necessary not only because this production must provide the equipment for its own enterprises as well as for the enterprises of all other branches of the national economy, but also because without it, it is altogether impossible to realize expanded reproduction. Second, it is necessary, by means of gradual transitions carried out in a way that is beneficial to the collective farms and consequently to the whole of society, to raise collective-farm property to the level of property of the whole people, and also by means of gradual transitions to replace commodity circulation with a system of products-exchange, so that the central authority or some other social-economic center can control the whole of social production in the interests of society." "Third, it is necessary to achieve such a high cultural level of society as to ensure the all-round development of the physical and mental abilities of all members of society, so that the members of society can obtain an education sufficient to become active agents of social development, and can freely choose their occupations and not be tied to one particular occupation for life due to the existing division of labor. What is needed to achieve this? It would be incorrect to think that such a powerful cultural upsurge of the members of society can be achieved without major changes in the present condition of labor. To achieve this, it is necessary, first of all, to shorten the working day at least to six, and then to five hours. This is necessary in order that the members of society may have the free time necessary to receive an all-round education. To achieve this, it is necessary, secondly, to introduce universal compulsory polytechnical education, which is necessary in order that the members of society may have the possibility of freely choosing their occupations and not be tied to one particular occupation for life. To achieve this, it is necessary, thirdly, to radically improve housing conditions and to raise the real wages of workers and employees by at least double, if not more, both by means of directly increasing money wages and, what is particularly important, by means of the continued systematic lowering of prices for articles of daily use. Such are the basic conditions for preparing the transition to communism."