Ability, Need, Marxism

Marx may have popularized the principle "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need", but he is not the coiner of a phrase that antedates him by a century.  So, the occasion of his expressing it is not a pioneering of the formulation of Socialist ideals, but the observation that the stage of technological development at the time has accelerated its actualization, i. e. with the mass production of goods now achievable, needs can be universally satisfied, and work can thus be a voluntary activity.  So, from him, the proposition is an historical judgment, not the articulation of an ideal.  But, while thereby remaining consistent with Materialist methodology, i. e. because the ideal is concrete, there is nothing in the principle that systematically relates it to the analysis that distinguishes Marxism from other varieties of Socialism, i. e. that the conditions that it describes are the necessary products of a Dialectical process that resolves the Class Conflict underlying the specific exploitation of the specifically Manufacturing Proletariat.  Accordingly, while implying solidarity with other Socialists, Marx's embracing of that principle only emphasizes the contingency of his distinctive contribution to the tradition.