Class Against Class

Humanity has reached a turning point in its history. The dreams of the past have become real possibilities for a future that can already be foreseen, because the material conditions necessary for achieving them now exist. Socialism has been called the science of human association reduced to a practical programme, based upon a study of the social organism. It is an interpretation of the past, a diagnosis of the present, and a forecast of the future. It recognises that life in society as well as in the organic world, is constantly passing through a process of evolution. It is therefore founded upon an enduring basis of fact. Its practical programme declares that labour is the sole creator of value and that the laboring class is entitled to the full social value of the things they produce. It teaches that the only way to attain the just distribution of wealth to those who produce it is through the collective or social ownership, control, and operation of the means of production and distribution, such as lands, mines, factories, transport and communications etc., etc. It asserts that this production should be for use and not for sale or profit, thus doing away with all private monopoly of the means of subsistence, and all forms of the vast amount of unproductive labour and an immense number of
useless and harmful occupations.

Working people are becoming increasingly aware that this society can only’be achieved through  revolution. Only a social revolution can put an end to the capitalist relations of exploitation that are now the fundamental obstacle to further progress for mankind. The socialist revolution expropriates the capitalist class who now possess and control the means of the production and distribution of the world’s wealth. The precise way in which this is affected, whether by general strike, by street fighting, or by the ballot box or finally by a combination of all three methods, may be argued but does not affect the ultimate issue - the capitalists are to be eliminated. This is the meaning of the struggle for a society of abundance, of justice and of freedom: the communist/socialist society based on the free association of all individuals who work together to produce the goods necessary for their collective well-being. All will work according to their capacities and their needs will be fully satisfied.  Individuals will no longer be governed by the division of labour and all opposition between city and countryside and between manual and intellectual work will be eliminated.

Class society is characterized by the struggle between two main classes: the proletariat (the workers) and the bourgeoisie (the employers, aka the capitalists). The course of humanity is still determined by the struggle between these two classes. The employer’s power is rooted in the appropriation of new wealth produced by the labour of the working class. Workers are forced to exchange their labour-power for a wage that allows them to survive but that represents less value than that produced by their labour; this is the source of capital accumulation. In this way, the capitalists, the owners of the means of production, constantly deprive the workers of part of the fruits of their labour. Capitalists have only one raison d’etre – to accumulate more and more capital. They are therefore always looking for ways to increase the productivity of labour. This stimulates the development of science and technology and leads to an ever greater division of labour. It also results in very keen competition among capitalists themselves; many are reduced to bankruptcy, while a minority get richer and richer. The working class cannot free itself without freeing all of humanity at the same time, because the ultimate goal of its struggle is not to replace the power of one class with that of another but rather to abolish all classes. This is the only way to put an end to all the social divisions and inequalities that have characterized class societies thus far. The expropriation of the capitalists and the socialization of the means of production will lead directly to the abolition of society divided into classes with opposing interests. The abolition of classes will in turn lead to the withering away of the State and to its extinction for the State is not, and can never be, anything other than the instrument of dictatorship of one class over others.

The fundamental interests of the proletariat are the same throughout the world. The socialist revolution is inseparable from the world revolution. Socialism  is only possible in a world totally rid of capitalist exploitation. When the working class has captured political power it can build socialism. With power in the hands of the workers, the pathway to socialism is as clear as daylight and the working class can solve the economic and social problems of this planet and liberate billions of oppressed peoples so, for the first time in history, the great majority of the population, will have control over their daily lives and the power to build their future.

The mainstream parties—Tory, LibDems, Labour and various nationalists—appeal to you in the name of the “nation.” One Party—the Socialist Party—appeals to you in the name of the working class. No political party can serve two masters. No party can serve a “nation” divided into two warring classes—one which owns the wealth and one which produces the wealth and does not own it. No party can serve the robbers and the robbed at the same time.  The Socialist Party is thus the only party of the oppressed workers. The others are parties of the party of the landlords, the industrialists and financiers. The basis of their policies is upon the preservation and extension of the private ownership of all wealth and property. They wage a perpetual class war against the workers and call it “austerity” They wage war abroad and call it “humantarian intervention”. They speak of disarmament, but equip themselves with more deadly weapons. They are not against violence on behalf of the capitalists, but only against violence on behalf of the workers against the capitalists. In the current crisis the first line of attack was the characteristic attack upon the wages and conditions of the workers. This has been their first line of attack in their attempt to recover from the economic recession.

There can be no real democracy unless it is a workers’ democracy, a social democracy,  which  means the mass of the population being at once voters and administrators. This is only possible within some sort of a system of workers’ councils and neighbourhood communes.  Then all can stand on equal footing and collectively participate in the conduct of their own affairs, the running of industry and the organisation of social life. The power of the working class is the strength of its own organisation. It calls for the workers to leave the parties of capitalism, to rally to the party of the class struggle - a socialist party.