  The thesis of a capitalist road to communism (van der Veen and Van Parijs,
1986) asserts that Marx realm of freedom can be reached from within welfare
capitalism, skipping socialism, by using a tax-financed unconditional basic
income until it is close to disposable income per head, so that the very
distinction between paid work and free time is cancelled as a result. We
revisit and update this thesis for two reasons: the recent prospect of a
post-labor society following the automation revolution in technology, and that
welfare capitalism has become more inegalitarian and less hospitable to basic
income. We use a simple economic model which incorporates an upward adjustment
of basic income to labor-saving technical change and distinguishes between
capital that complements labor and capital that is fully substitutable with
labor. A baseline simulation of the model shows the economic feasibility of a
capitalist transition to communism. Two versions of a scenario incorporating
interplay between technical change and market socialist institutional reforms
are set out which make the transition politically viable to some extent,
depending on the social distribution of power over technology. The most
promising version is one in which the productivity of labor and automation
capital grow at similar rates. We show in which respects it approximates the
ideal of communism. One finding is that communism does not require reaching the
final stage of a post-labor society. We conclude with a reflection on the
relevance of our present update for the more immediate future of unconditional
basic income.
