Natural Society and Voluntary Society

Since the primary theme of Marxism is the transition from Capitalism to Socialism, the section of the German Ideology titled 'Private Property and Communism' presents the foundation of the doctrine. Thus, the very briefly introduced antithesis in the section--natural society vs. voluntary society--is a fundamental principle of the doctrine. However, as has been previously discussed, the example of a 'natural' association that Marx and Engels offer, the nuclear family, is dubiously characterized as such. Hence, the proposed contrast with a 'voluntary' society is equally dubious. So, their methodical development of a 'Scientific' Socialism begins on unsettled ground.