Sunday, May 28, 2017

Tomorrow does not belong to us

Today people all over the world are afraid and are wondering what will become of them and why. Human nature is not one of greed, or dog-eat-dog competition. That is learned. We know in indigenous societies, those societies which existed for tens of thousands of years before the origin of class society, there was no such thing as private property. There was shared, communal property. Socialism is the first step in returning human beings to the society in which our species developed based on solidarity, cooperation and interaction with each other based on equality. We don’t have a blueprint for what life will look like in post-capitalist society, but we do venture to say that our lives will not be driven by social and economic forces that they do not control. Socialism is where human beings can really begin to shape their own destiny as individuals, as families, and as communities.

Organized as a one human family, our global society and its economy, would be controlled by everyone, together, not just a small group, whether that group was the tiny corporate "ruling class" or the tiny “bureaucrats”. Economic activity as one human family would occur cooperatively, to satisfy human need and want, not to allow a tiny group of owners or politicians to accumulate vast riches. It would be a dramatically new and different society, offering a way of life we can only dream of under our present system. Marx summed it all upby saying that the goal is “an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” Our goal, in short, cannot be a society in which some people are able to develop their capabilities and others are not; we are interdependent, we are all members of a human family. The full development of all human potential is our goal. “What do we all want?” and the answer is “To be all that we can be.” Socialism does not try to make everyone of the same. Quite the opposite. Socialism advocates more freedom and individual expression for people, not less. Whether it's freedom of expression or sexual freedom, socialism advocates increasing freedom. Socialists do not advocate that everyone should have the same income,

We can and must address environmental problems, including climate change. This means fighting the vast global inequalities in wealth, health and prosperity. Those who claim slowing population growth will stop or slow environmental destruction are ignoring the real and immediate threats to life on our planet. Capitalism is a many-headed Hydra monster and its depredations are everywhere. Capitalism has poisoned all areas of life. Socialists recognize that the kind of sustainability necessary given our current circumstances can only be accomplished with careful planning at the local, regional and worldwide levels and cannot be entrusted to the whims of the market.

The socialist vision of a worldwide human family is not only a more positive, compassionate, and appealing one than the dominant “us versus them” vision, but it is also empowering. We conceive socialism, not as a scheme of society to be constructed from a preconceived plan, but as a stage in social evolution. Those who will inaugurate the socialist society of the future will be the coming socialist generations themselves.  This is why we refrain from offering these future generations any models or blueprints. Today's socialists can only point towards a general direction of development and little more. One must not project our own reflection into a different world, where the content and motivations of present-day society will no longer be operative. Socialism will undoubtedly bring about a revolutionary transformation of human activity and association in all aspects of our lives.

People, today, are haunted by insecurity. Our mental health and well-being is undermined by fear for our future and the future of our children. We are never free from fear that if something happens, if they have a sickness or an accident, the consequences will fall upon us and our children will be deprived of an education and proper food and clothing. Under such conditions, people don't really get much chance to show their true nature. In the socialist society of shared abundance, this all-pervading fear will be lifted from the minds of the people who will enjoy a new attitude toward life and their pleasure in it. Human nature will get a chance to show what it is really made of. People will no longer suspect their neighbour lest they are taken advantage of. There will be no chance to “buy” friendship or love because nothing will be for sale. Women, liberated from the prison of the kitchen, will become the free companions of free men. There is no such thing as a child without talent. Children will engage in productive labour, but not as in today's child exploitation, not at the expense of their “education” but as an essential part of it. From an early age, children will learn to use tools and assist other people. The child will have the satisfaction of learning by doing, and the satisfaction of being useful and productive even when he’s a child. Older people will begin to treat children more respectfully, regard them from an early age, as equal citizens to be reasoned with and talked tto.Marx said: “Children must educate their parents.” And they will do that, too.

We perhaps will not have the opportunity to become citizens of the socialist future yet our vision of the future, fits us for our role as advocates for revolution, promoters for the liberation of humanity. No matter whether we personally see the dawn of socialism or not, no matter what our personal fate may be, the cause for which we fight has social evolution on its side to usher mankind into a new day. It is enough for us if we do our small part to hasten on the day. That’s what we’re here for. That’s all the incentive we need. And the confidence that we are right and that our cause will prevail, is all the reward we need.

"Intelligence enough to conceive, courage enough to will, power enough to compel. If our ideas of a new Society are anything more than a dream, these three qualities must animate the due effective majority of the working people; and then, I say, the thing will be done"  - William Morris



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