Alexis de Tocqueville observed that equality is always popular, while the popularity of freedom is fickle. By "equality" he meant equal outcomes. By "freedom" he meant the freedom to pursue more than someone else. Human nature consists of both urges. About 99 percent of human history took place in small hunting and gathering groups which practiced communal ownership and social levelling (see the San women insulting the men who hunt meat so they don't get big heads and try to rule). Humans have also practiced trade and pursued advantage thereby (lots of examples from prehistory). The two instincts have always existed in tension. Marx was trying to resolve this riddle when he died.
Alexis de Tocqueville observed that equality is always popular, while the popularity of freedom is fickle. By "equality" he meant equal outcomes. By "freedom" he meant the freedom to pursue more than someone else. Human nature consists of both urges. About 99 percent of human history took place in small hunting and gathering groups which practiced communal ownership and social levelling (see the San women insulting the men who hunt meat so they don't get big heads and try to rule). Humans have also practiced trade and pursued advantage thereby (lots of examples from prehistory). The two instincts have always existed in tension. Marx was trying to resolve this riddle when he died.