We do live in a society with an enormous labour surplus and have done for some time and this has taken us far on the road to Marx ideal. However, for most people the ideal is impossible, not because of a small elite group but because they persist in using the word need frivolously.

The Marx quote is quite clearly utopian, I think even he would have admitted that, it could only possibly be achieved in a society with enormous labour surplus, such as might be achieved through widespread automation and other technological advances. The sad truth is that were such a large surplus to exist at the moment in any of our societies, the benefit of it would be concentrated in the hands of a vanishingly small group, and there would still be people living in poverty. Surely that’s something that we can agree is a bad thing?

In fact, the only job on the list that is freely available at any time with seemingly no education is criticising after dinner, a job Mr Marx evidently had much liking for.