Workers Unite

A 2011 census showed that 579,000 Poles were living in Britain, 10 times more than a decade earlier. In Poland, unemployment among the under 25s was a whopping 27.4 percent in December 2013 (and 30 percent for young women). Just imagine how much higher the figure would have been if young Poles had stayed in their country. In Hungary, 24.6 percent of people under 25 are unemployed, while in Bulgaria it’s 29.4 percent (and 33 percent for men under 25).This mass exodus from Eastern Europe is brought about by lack of employment opportunities.

Certain employers tolerate, encourage and take advantage of this influx of immigrants, not only for the purpose of filling a labour shortage but also to artificially increase the reserve army of labour, an army of vulnerable workers who are forced to work at substandard wages. The principal aim of permitting and fostering immigration under imperialism is to greatly increase competition among workers and keep downward pressure on wages.

If some people  feel that the level of immigration is too high, that it is putting too much pressure on services and institutions , and that it is leading to a downward push on wages, then they should not be angry with the immigrants. Instead, they should get even with those who benefit - the 1 percent.

The Socialist Party holds that the working class the world over is indivisibly one; that as victims of the capitalist class their interests are common, regardless of race, nationality, or colour. The fact remains that immigration does add to the number of workers, and to that extent increases a competition among the workers, it is as a drop in the ocean compared to the real cause,  the introduction of labour-saving new technology and outsourcing of manufacturing. Even if every foreigner from now on were excluded, the misery of the workers would increase.

Class lines are clearly defined. There is no mistaking who is a capitalist and who is a worker, who is rich and who is poor. The capitalists are banded together in their Confederation of British Industry, Chambers of Commerce, their trade and manufacturers’ associations. The workers are organised in their trade unions. The British capitalist class also has at disposal, first: all the “forces of the State.” These forces comprise Parliament, a well-organised bureaucracy, a strong judiciary, a powerful police, and the armed forces. The British capitalist class has at its disposal a powerful media and information industry, colouring their outlook on life, determining largely their political opinions, fashioning their thoughts, moulding their minds to a servile acceptance of things as they are or as the mouthpieces of capitalism desire them to be. Lastly, the British capitalist class has its interests defended by numerous educational and religious institutions.

“What do we mean when we speak of "class consciousness"? We mean simply a thorough knowledge of the position in society of the class to which the class-conscious subject belongs.Socialists claim that class-consciousness is a mental condition which must necessarily precede working-class emancipation. The reason is because, owing to the peculiarly complex nature of the modern social system, the interest of the classes is obscured, and only a clear understanding of the working-class place in the social system can enable the workers to see in what direction their interests lie, and therefore what they have to fight for...Class-consciousness, the knowledge of his slave status, makes clear the opposition of class interests, and fits the worker for the class struggle.

Socialist revolution is the most radical break with oppression and exploitation in history. The battle between bosses and workers rages everywhere. Socialist society is the first society based on the conscious application of objective laws where society no longer proceeds in chaos, but according to the planned fulfillment of genuine human needs. The establishment of a socialist, planned economy, based on the needs of the people, will mean the end to the anarchy of capitalist production and its repeated crises. Commodity production, that is, production for sale or exchange on the market, will not exist. The system of wage labor will be abolished and the guiding principle of labour will be “from each according to ability, to each according to need.” The means of production will be held communally and private/state property will be eliminated. With the abolition of classes and class distinctions, all social and political inequality arising from them will disappear. The conflicts of interest between workers and farmers, town and country, manual and intellectual labor will disappear. As classes will not exist, the state will not be necessary as an instrument of class rule and will wither away.

We want a system that encourages every worker to become involved in running society; that encourages everyone to act for the common good. We want society to help each person grow. In capitalist society, only the bosses are truly free--free to hire and fire, free to pillage and plunder. , The wage system forces each worker to think of his or her work in selfish terms. Only socialism can change that. Socialism will abolish the wage system. In  socialist society, the principle "to each according to need" will be as basic as the principle "every person for themselves" is to capitalism.  People will work because  they want to, because their brothers and sisters around the world need their work. They will share in decision-making, including the distribution of goods and services according to society's needs. They will share in the abundance and if there happens to be an occasional shortage they will share in that too. Socialism will abolish socially useless forms of work that exist now only for capitalist profit. Socialist society will have no need of lawyers, advertisers, or salespeople. In one stroke, it will do away with layers of needless government bureaucrats, as well as the hordes of petty supervisors and administrators who oversee and manage us  for the bosses. It will free everyone to perform socially useful work, which is the source of true creativity.

We are for socialism because it is better. We will have better human relations and we will have a better material life. But socialism will not succeed unless people understand it, agree with it, and vow to make it succeed. We oppose nationalism and fight for internationalism. By nationalism, the bosses mean that workers must respect capitalist borders. These borders are artificial; they exist to divide workers and keep different sets of bosses in  power. Workers need no borders. Workers in one part of the world are not different from or better than workers in  another. Nationalism creates false loyalties. Workers should be loyal only to other workers, never to a boss. We  endorse the revolutionary slogan: "Workers of the world, unite!"