One source of my thought here was
a statement quite a few years ago by Paul Sweezy that there could be no
"Science of Socialism"
because socialism was the realm of freedom.
^^^ CB: Bingo ! This is correct. Before communism,
human society is still in the "realm of necessity", class divided society, wherein there are still
laws of development derived directly from the requirements of obtaining food, shelter, etc. ( See Engels statement at Marx's
graveside).
Marx's laws of history apply to society in the
realm of necessity. Here
"history" is the history
of class struggles referred to
in the first sentence of _The Manifesto of the Communist Party_. Engels put in a footnote
later saying this refers to human society since the breaking up of the ancient communes of non-class
divided society.
With communism, , when it to each according to need ( i.e. "necessities"), there are no longer the laws of "history" or class divided society, wherein people are forced to work in order to obtain their needs or necessities. They are no longer in the realm of
"needs". They are in the realm of freedom, communism.
Another point. In communism,
the economy is "planned". This centralized or holistic planning frees people from the anarchy of production , which in capitalism is an objective condition imposing
its laws ( such as the absolute general law of a capitalist accumulation, with mass immiseration and elite minority wealth; and the business cycle laws)