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Sunday, September 08, 2013

No compromise - no concessions


We are poised between capitalism, an old world that doesn’t work, and socialism, a new world struggling to be born.

The old world is one of concentrated economic power that hoards wealth; that creates corrupted and hierarchical governments to serve and further concentrate wealth through exploitation of people and the planet. The capitalist market  has colluded with government. They are hand in a glove and work together as partners to expand the market's power over all aspects of our lives. The state provides a useful fig leaf of legitimacy and due process for the market's agenda.

The working class in society holds a special position. It has no property. It is a propertyless class—dependent upon the class which owns property—the land, the factories, mills, mines, transport. But the land cannot give forth its fullness unless workers plough and sow and reap. The earth cannot deliver its mineral wealth unless workers dig it. Factories, mills, mines, railways, etc., cannot work unless workers are employed to make them serve their purpose in the transformation of nature’s wealth into social wealth. It is this fact which compels the owners of the means of producing wealth to employ labour. They need that labour or their ownership ceases to be of value. That is why the withdrawal of labour by the workers can be so powerful a weapon when used on a large scale.

People are experiencing the ravages of this global economy in which the market reigns supreme and everything is a profit center, no matter the human and environmental costs. People are searching for alternative ways of structuring the economy and society that are empowering and more sustainable. Part of this work includes understanding and building the common ownership which is the opposite of the predatory market economy.

Socialism stands for social or community property. Capitalism stands for private/state property. Socialism is a society without classes. Capitalism is divided into classes—the class owning property and the propertyless working class.

 Common ownership cannot exist without a participatory structure; it cannot exist without human involvement. Therefore, it is a fundamental step toward real democracy. Socialism is not about looking back to an idealised past; it is looking forward to a vision of an economy of new values, people building community and working together to solve common problems; to a time when all people have access to the information shared on the internet and the fruits of their labour.

The Socialist Party seeks to contribute to the creation of better lives for all of us.  Our platform does not contain a single immediate demand. In fact, the whole spirit of the party is well expressed by the motto: "No Compromise, No Political Trading." The Socialist Party practices a  less dramatic method of political democracy to those who advocate general strikes and barricades in the streets. For democracy means progress when the majority wishes it, and it will wish it only when it understands. That means education for the socialist system.  You cannot force socialism into existence by paralysing society. 

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