What we need is understanding

The vast majority of us are wage-workers. Wages are our main source of income.  Or we receive a pension because we were once workers. Or we are the dependents of workers. We are just cogs in a giant machine. We are seen primarily as a cost that reduces profit. Some lip service given to workers as a resource; words to the effect that “we’re all in this together” might be spoken, but real examples of workplace democracy are few and very far between. If workers were truly valued as people “all in this together”, wouldn’t there be at least some semblance of democracy at work? There is a pretence  under capitalism that employees are treated as humans instead of as expendable resources like oil and there is a charade that the corporation has its employees’ best interests at heart, usually acknowledging and supporting employees’ collective bargaining rights. Instead, under our current economic system, the master-servant relationship is the legal framework that dominates workplaces. Reality for most people is a fundamental lack of respect at work.

 The object of work is to make enough money so that we can consume what we want and enjoy the good life, nothing more. What we do —  our work — defines us. We seek a source of lasting satisfaction in our work. When the system does not provide that sense of satisfaction at work alienation is the result. This leads to stress, addictions and other forms of ill health.

 Common sense must replace “business logic.” Workers believe in and accept capitalism, or are at least reluctantly acquiescent to their personal situation under capitalism and they buy into the ideas of capitalism.  If people think capitalism is the best that is possible, of course they will continue to follow the true believers in the system. If people believe there is no better way, disenchantment with the existing capitalist system will breed nothing more than cynicism and a retreat to private spaces. In fact, that is the result purveyors of capitalism are banking on. The more people are dissatisfied with capitalism, the more people believe another economic system is possible and  can help bring about change. If we want to organise the we need to focus on the flaws of capitalism and begin defining an economic system that is a realistic and attractive alternative. We need to develop a vision of a better system that can be a powerful motivation to do the hard work that is necessary to create a better society. Socialists want a world where the fruits of our labor, the immense social wealth we create each and every day, will be shared based on the needs of people rather than profit.

Workers and their unions must learn to aspire to greater. We must learn to demand more than simply more. What socialism proposes to do, in order to get wealth for all, is to take possession of the means of production and run them for the use of all. The great present mission of the Socialist Party is to gather together all those workers whose real interests lie in abolishing the private ownership of the means of production, and also to shut out of the party the class whose real interests lie in the preservation of the present system. Socialists  believe the working class can and must have its own political party, a party that will serve its own interests, not those of the exploiting class. Socialists understand that politics is essentially a war between the two main classes in modern capitalist society: those that work (the working class or proletariat) and those that exploit those who work (the capitalist class or bourgeoisie).

But knowing where we’re going and knowing how to get there are two different things. Socialist organisation means getting together with a common understanding and a common end in view, and working systematically for the attainment of that end. For the workers to organise effectively, they must have a correct understanding of their position in society and of the conditions under which they live and work. If they fail to understand these things, they will either not organise at all or will organise in an ineffective manner. The effectiveness of their organization depends on the correctness of their understanding. The better they understand conditions the more effectively they will organise. When workers study conditions and get a true understanding of the essential points, they can neither be chloroformed into inactivity nor carried away by half-baked theories. They do their own thinking instead of trusting would-be leaders to do it for them. Joseph Dietzgen expressed it this way:
 "If a worker wants to take part in the self-emancipation of his class, the basic requirement is that he should cease allowing others to teach him and should set about teaching himself."

If workers understand that "The working class and the capitalist class have nothing in common,"  This constitutes the common understanding necessary for organisation. The common end in view is the "Abolition of the wage system."

There can be no organization without action, and it must be systematic, not haphazard action. Systematic action means in co-operation with every other member. It means each one doing his or her part, and all co-operating in the production of the whole. When people organise, they do so because they can work or fight more effectively collectively  than alone. When the workers get together on the street to make a "demonstration"  they are only making a demonstration of their own ignorance, and a target of themselves for police clubs and tear gas. They are a powerless mob The power of the workers is not on the street but at the ballot box. Every worker can take part in this activity.

So let us understand  and agree on a common end, and all work with one another for the attainment of that end, which can be none other than to take over the means of production and distribution and operate them for use instead of profit.

Partly adapted and inspird from the writings of Gary Engler of the website “New Commune-ist Manifesto"