A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

within such a political location. This was encapsulated by the British
Marxist scientist J.D. Bernal in his seminal and slim volume (as compared
to his monumental four volume ‘Science in History’) titled ‘The
Social Function of Science’, wherein he formulated the vision of how
science could function for the betterment of masses under socialism.
The context was the assumption that science had already demonstrated
its usefulness for the betterment of society, but those fruits had accrued
to only the elite under capitalism. Science under socialism, Bernal argued,
had the potential to benefit the last person in the society; and this
would be the true meaning of progress.
Science indeed had transformed a large part of the World before the October
revolution. The discovery that coal could be burned to unleash the
energy of steam to propel industry and transportation meant that the
sole source of energy, namely muscular power, whether from humans
or animals, would be less and less in demand. One must remember that
slavery could also be seen as the method of controlling human muscle
power, with all its attendant barbarism. Horse carriages, ox-carts and
similar other transportation methods using a variety of animals all over
the World too use energy stored in muscles. The steam engine, in ships,
trains and in factories did help in eliminating the need of forced labour
in certain tasks. With the advent of the internal combustion engine in
late 19 th century, fuelled by the till then ‘black ooze of the Earth’, namely
petroleum oil of course changed things dramatically. The discovery of
electricity and its growing uses was no less than a revolution by itself.
The use of electrical signals to transit sound across oceans made Marconi
a legend, and changed human communication permanently. Add to
this the thousands of technical innovations of people like Edison, Graham
Bell and so many others, science appeared like a magic that had
the potential to give comfort to every human being on the Earth. This
was further reinforced by progress in medicine. Deadly diseases like
malaria, cholera, plague, typhoid and many other were tamed, saving
millions of people who would routinely die from them. Longevity, mobility,
communication, machines to take over back breaking work in
farms, factories and houses – the promise of science was endless!
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