Ability and Division of Labor

Superficially, Marx's formulation, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs", seems to directly correlate ability and receipt. However, the immediate determinant of what one receives is one's "needs", so the expression is more accurately parsed as the conjunction of 'Do what one can' and 'Receive what one needs'. Now, if contemporary American Politics is any indication, a Capitalist might object to the formulation on the grounds that it entails an incapacitated person not working while enjoying extensive medical benefits. A further problem for the Capitalist is that implicit in the first clause is the model of a society determined by, and constituted by, the abilities of its members, in contrast with one in which a role is pre-established by the prevailing division of labor, a structure that reflects the self-interests of those who do not labor.