The Rejectionists

Unlike other political parties we do not just want your vote but to gain your intelligent support for socialism. Knowledge is essential to political action. Socialists have a different way of looking at things.

The World Socialist Movement  rejects any conception of socialism which implies rule by an elite, a clique, a minority or a dictator. We reject any leader, good or bad. Leadership and hierarchies flourish only where there is ignorance.

The WSM rejects anything short of socialism - a classless, worldwide, fully democratic society based on common ownership of the means of production and distribution, with production for use and the principle of from each according to ability, to each according to need.

The WSM rejects the theory of the “lesser evil” or that “half a loaf is better than no bread” which leads to reformism and compromise.

The WSM rejects the idea that means and ends can be separated, that trickery and political scheming can be used to achieve socialism. Without mutual sincerity, without reciprocal trust among its members, it is impossible for a democratic party to conduct its affairs.

The WSM rejects any alliance or united fronts with other parties that work for the continuance of capitalism and rejects any tactic of boring from within pro-capitalist parties.

All that people want is the satisfaction of their needs. Socialism will not be the dull, dreary state-regulated regime that some would have us believe. But all the people, in free association, will control and administer the conditions of their life. People are essentially reasonable and where free to act reasonably, do so. When money is no longer required to access the necessities of living, when food clothing and shelter are free and no longer requires a person to sell his or her self-respect, no-one will be a thief, no one will be a tyrant. When all the avenues of happiness are open to everybody no-one can gain from corruption.

Most of us today think in terms of nations and countries. It is “your” country you think you are defending, it is “your” firm, “your”  job. Yet you don’t own the country. Your share in it would scarcely fill a flower-pot. This country is owned by those who own the factories, the real estate and the farms. The real owners are the small number of capitalists who hold shares and stock in  every industry but rarely ever see the factory they own. It is not your country - it is theirs.

We support the idea that after thousands of years of class rule and exploitation, productive labour can be changed to one of common co-operation for the use and benefit of all. Nothing less than the abolition of the wages system and the taking hold of the means of production will do. We therefore support any move to self-help and self-reliance of the working class towards that end. But we fully accept that the time for the socialist transformation comes only when a desire for socialist action has seeped deeply into the consciousness of workers and that there is no way of attaining the socialist goal if there is no self-activity of the working class. The vanguard theory of a group of enlightened minds possessed with a strong will is capable of marshalling workers towards freedom, (even behind their backs) has proved to be wrong road. The process of awakening the consciousness of our class cannot be speeded up by proclaiming radical slogans, passing revolutionary resolutions and proposing reformist platforms. Socialist understanding is a necessary requisite.

 Capitalism perverts and suppresses men’s and women’s social behaviour , labeling, categorising, and pigeon-holing every aspect of our individuality and every emotion, robbing life of all variety and colour . Society’s irrationality itself leads to mental illness and psychological disturbance in the population. We are deprived of everything but the barest necessities that are cheap and shoddy. Is it no wonder many seek various forms of escapism. For sure, socialism is not going to be some Earthly paradise flowing with milk and honey. Nor do we place any reliance on people becoming angels  but we do assume that people will live rational lives and are given an opportunity to live as human beings. Economic changes will produce changes in the moral, ethical, artistic and sexual ideas of society. The head-fixing industries, schools and universities, the media, the churches, make us feel it is a desirable trait to be humble, to submit to our “betters” and recognise our lowly inferiority as the natural order. They accuse socialists of advocating uniformity, mediocrity, and regimentation, but it is what is called psychological projection denying unpleasant home-truths and attributing them to others.