--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In principle the human productive…" description: "\"“In principle the human productive community may be constituted in either of two ways. First, it may be consciously regulated. Whether its scale is tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/rudolph-hiferding-192227_community_in-principle-the-human-productive-commun_2154718.jpg" --- # In principle the human productive community may be… ![“In principle the human productive community may be constituted in either of two ways. First, it may be consciously regulated. Whether its scale is that of a self-sufficient patriarchal family, a communistic tribe, or a socialist society, it creates the organs which, acting as the agents of social…” quote by Rudolph Hiferding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/rudolph-hiferding-192227_community_in-principle-the-human-productive-commun_2154718.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/rudolph-hiferding-192227_community_in-principle-the-human-productive-commun_2154718.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/rudolph-hiferding-192227_community_in-principle-the-human-productive-commun_2154718.jpg) > ““In principle the human productive community may be constituted in either of two ways. First, it may be consciously regulated. Whether its scale is that of a self-sufficient patriarchal family, a communistic tribe, or a socialist society, it creates the organs which, acting as the agents of social consciousness, fix the extent and methods of production and distribute the social product thus obtained among the members. Given the material and man-made conditions of production, all decisions as to method, place, quantity and available tools involved in the production of new goods are made by the /pater familias, /or by the local regional or national commissars of the socialist society. The personal experience of the former gives him a knowledge of the needs and productive resources of his family; the latter can acquire a like knowledge of the requirements of their society by means of comprehensively organized statistics of production and consumption. They can thus shape, with conscious foresight, the whole economic life of the communities of which they are the appointed representatives and leaders in accordance with the needs of the members. The individual members of such a community consciously regulate their productive activity as members of a productive community. Their labour process and the distribution of their products are subject to central control. Their relations of production are directly manifest as social relations, and the economic relations between individuals can be seen as being determined by the social order, by social arrangements rather than by private inclination. Relations of production are accepted as those which are established and desired by the whole community. Matters are different in a society which lacks this conscious organization. Such a society is dissolved into a large number of mutually independent individuals for whom production is a private matter rather than a social concern. In other words, its members are individual proprietors who are compelled by the development of the division of labour to do business with one another. The act by which this is accomplished is the exchange of commodities. It is only this act which establishes connections in a society otherwise dismembered into disparate units by private property and the division of labour. Exchange is the subject matter of theoretical economics only because, and to the extent that, it performs this mediating function in the social structure. It is of course true that exchange may also take place in a socialist society, but that would be a type of exchange occurring only after the product had already been distributed according to a socially desired norm. It would therefore be merely an individual adaptation of the distributive norm of society, a personal transaction influenced by subjective moods and considerations. It would not be an object for economic analysis. It would have no more importance for theoretical analysis than does the exchange of toys between two children in the nursery, an exchange which is fundamentally different in character from the purchases made by their fathers at the toy shop. For the latter is only one element in the sum of exchanges by which society realizes itself as the productive community which it really is. A productive community must express itself in such acts of exchange because only in this way can the unity of society, dissolved by private property and the division of labour, be restored.”” [Rudolph Hiferding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolph-hiferding/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Productive communities can be organized consciously through central planning or emerge organically; both shape economic relations and social order. **In simple terms:** Communities can be centrally planned or organically formed. Key Takeaway Understand community organization forms. Themes economics community social order Mood analytical neutral Type Community:1 Division-of-labour:1 Economics:1 Personal experience:0 Private property:0 Productivity:0 Social consciousness:0 Social order:1 Social structure:0 Society Creates:0 Community Constituted:0 Community Consciously:0 When to use this quote - policy design - community building - economic analysis - social research - education Key Concepts central planning organic development collective decision‑making Questions to Reflect On - How does conscious regulation affect individual freedom? - What are benefits of organic versus planned structures? A Different Perspective May ignore power dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Community Consciously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community-consciously-4546001/) [Community Constituted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community-constituted-4546000/) [Division-of-labour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/division-of-labour-48554/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Personal experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-experience/) [Private property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-property/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) [Social consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-consciousness/) [Social order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-order/) [Social structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-structure/) [Society Creates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-creates-407637/) ## Related quotes > [ “In another building, I was shown his \[Mr Brunel's\] manufactory of shoes, which, like the other, is full of ingenuity, and, in regard to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-phillips/in-another-building-i-was-shown-his-mr-brunel-s-manufactory-of-shoes/) [Richard Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-phillips/) > [Education affects every major challenge we face in society. 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Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) [Browse all 13,840 Community quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In principle the human productive community may be constituted in either of two ways. First, it may be consciously regulated. Whether its scale is that of a self-sufficient patriarchal family, a communistic tribe, or a socialist society, it creates the organs which, acting as the agents of social consciousness, fix the extent and methods of production and distribute the social product thus obtained among the members. Given the material and man-made conditions of production, all decisions as to method, place, quantity and available tools involved in the production of new goods are made by the /pater familias, /or by the local regional or national commissars of the socialist society. The personal experience of the former gives him a knowledge of the needs and productive resources of his family; the latter can acquire a like knowledge of the requirements of their society by means of comprehensively organized statistics of production and consumption. They can thus shape, with conscious foresight, the whole economic life of the communities of which they are the appointed representatives and leaders in accordance with the needs of the members. The individual members of such a community consciously regulate their productive activity as members of a productive community. Their labour process and the distribution of their products are subject to central control. Their relations of production are directly manifest as social relations, and the economic relations between individuals can be seen as being determined by the social order, by social arrangements rather than by private inclination. Relations of production are accepted as those which are established and desired by the whole community. Matters are different in a society which lacks this conscious organization. Such a society is dissolved into a large number of mutually independent individuals for whom production is a private matter rather than a social concern. In other words, its members are individual proprietors who are compelled by the development of the division of labour to do business with one another. The act by which this is accomplished is the exchange of commodities. It is only this act which establishes connections in a society otherwise dismembered into disparate units by private property and the division of labour. Exchange is the subject matter of theoretical economics only because, and to the extent that, it performs this mediating function in the social structure. It is of course true that exchange may also take place in a socialist society, but that would be a type of exchange occurring only after the product had already been distributed according to a socially desired norm. It would therefore be merely an individual adaptation of the distributive norm of society, a personal transaction influenced by subjective moods and considerations. It would not be an object for economic analysis. It would have no more importance for theoretical analysis than does the exchange of toys between two children in the nursery, an exchange which is fundamentally different in character from the purchases made by their fathers at the toy shop. For the latter is only one element in the sum of exchanges by which society realizes itself as the productive community which it really is. 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