The Socialist Party Approach

The immediate goal of the Socialist Party is the social revolution: agitation and education are our principal means. We clearly separate ourselves from reformism. Socialists want to remove the cause of all iniquities, all exploitation, all poverty and crime and the root cause is private property. We know that all the promised reforms will not be realised, and that they mostly only ameliorate the lot of one group of workers usually at the expense of other workers. The new names with which socialism such as ‘21st Century’are being baptised merely serve as pretexts for reform within the framework of capitalism. Social reforms, no matter however profound they may be, are not enough for the building of socialism. When the workers demand improvements,wage rises, cuts in working hours, better working conditions; when they go on strike to defend their dignity or to affirm their solidarity with a companion fired or mistreated by bosses, we have to say to them that none of this resolves the real issue. We argue for the need for the revolution, for the abolition of private property and the State. We do everything possible to widen and generalise the movement.

What do we mean by social revolution? Some radicals who call themselves “revolutionaries”,  mean an insurrection that will carry them to power. The people will do the fighting but they will be the officers in charge. But the revolution and society we conceive of can only be made by and for the people from the bottom up, not from top down. This being understood, the revolution obviously can’t be the work of a party or even a coalition of parties. It demands the participation  of the majority of the working class. Without this it would a coup d’etat, a putsch, not a revolution. Workers have no need of leaders: they are quite capable of delegating one of their own with a particular specific task, as long as they are on their guard and ensure precautions are provided. Workers need to learn from each other, so to form and share common aspirations and create a community of ideas. It is only through this that workers unite, even if they don’t have the same organisation.  It is necessary that in each association there be a means of agitating the great social questions, that all ideas be discussed, that the workers be intellectually prepared for the task incumbent upon them: that of renewing society.

No revolution has ever been a carbon copy of another. At the same time, however, if the truth be told, all revolutions have been identical on one essential matter, and that is, the taking of power. A socialist revolution inevitably implies the taking of power, depriving the capitalist class of its property. How this is done, what methods are resorted to—such things of course will vary. The British worker may do it one way yet the Indian worker another; but that is a matter of form, not of essence. A real revolution is not something that goes on within the state or its institutions or among its politicians. It comes from below, from those who have always been forgotten; those who have been misled; those who leaders have considered merely an election fodder to garner votes. It succeeds when it puts an end to party politicking, and have organised themselves through their own decision-making and knowledge, whether or not they have read one syllable of Marxist writing.

 If the economic effects of strikes are partial, transitory, and often non-existent or disastrous, that doesn’t change the fact that every strike is an act of dignity, an act of  revolt, and serves to get workers used to thinking of the boss as an enemy. A striker is already no longer a slave unlike those who submit unquestioningly to his or employer. He or she is already on the path of revolution and our task is merely to point this out and hasten them along the road. We must demonstrate our principles in action. We must prove that socialism isn’t an abstract concept, a utopian dream, or a distant vision, but destined to renew the world and establishing it on foundations of fraternity and mutual aid.