Onward and upward towards socialism

The Socialist Party is fighting for the abolition of class society. The state machine, as an instrument of class domination, will no longer be necessary, and the state will disappear, in the words of Engels, “wither away” and be replaced by a “administration of things.”  When we talk about the inevitability of socialism we assume that the workers will continue to struggle for their rights. Were they to accept, sit down tamely and wait till socialism came to them, they would soon lose all the rights that they have now and become mere slaves. Socialism can only come when there is no longer a willingness among workers to allow themselves to be exploited. Were the workers, both politically and economically, are so class conscious and so well organised as to make their exploitation impossible then capitalism would have reached the point what we understand by social revolution.

We want socialism which is a free and voluntary society that abolishes exploitation and oppression of man by man, that is, the abolition of private property and government. It is the end of misery, of superstitions, of hatred. Under capitalism war is inevitable. It is characteristic of capitalism to justify all the robbery and misery and terrors of its system by seeking to create the impression that they are caused by basic traits in human nature, or even by “acts of god.” Thus   preventable disasters are made to appear as natural phenomena over which mankind has no control, like tornadoes and earthquakes. The same general attitude is taken with regard to war. War is put forth as arising out of the very nature of humanity. Man is pictured as a war-like animal, and therefore capitalism escapes responsibility. This is all nonsense, of course. Man is by nature a gregarious and friendly animal. He does not make war because he dislikes others of his own species, differing from him in language, religion, geographical location, etc. His wars have always arisen out of struggles over the very material things of wealth and power. This is true, whether he has obscured the true cause of his wars with a religious garb or with slogans about making the world safe for democracy. The cause of modern war is the policies of the capitalist nations to rob each other in the struggle for markets, raw materials and territory. In a society in which there is no private property in industry and land, in which no exploitation of the workers takes place and where plenty is produced for all, there can be no grounds for war. If you desire to abolish war, we say: Abolish capitalism with all its misery and replace it with a system of production for use and not for profit – all over the world. The distribution of life necessities—food, clothing, shelter, education, etc.—will be free, without let or hindrance. Production, carried out upon the most efficient basis and freed from the drains of capitalist exploiters, will provide such an abundance of necessary commodities that there will be plenty for all with a minimum of effort. Industry, freed from capitalist anarchy and exploitation, will develop a high efficiency and lay the basis for genuine mass prosperity.

Apologists for the capitalist system declare that socialism destroys individualism. But when they speak of individualism they have in mind the right of freely exploiting the workers. With socialism no one will have the right to exploit another; no longer will a profit-hungry employer be able to shut the factory gates and sentence thousands to the poverty of unemployment; no more will it be possible for a  clique of capitalists and their political henchmen to plunge the world into a blood-bath of war. Changed social conditions develop different human “natures”. For the first time in history, freed from economic and political slavery, people will have an opportunity to fully develop and express their personalities. Theirs will be an individuality growing out of and harmonizing with the interests of all. It will not have the objective of one’s getting rich by robbing the toilers, but will develop itself in the direction of achievement in science, industrial technique, art, sports. The defenders of capitalism boast  about the equal opportunity which their meritocracy affords It is a tissue of lies. What equality is there between a millionaire and a miner to enjoy life and to develop their talents? Capitalism manufactures a standardised, uninteresting world, everything made for profit’s sake. Socialist society will  know how to develop diverse, artistic products, its creativity no longer hamstrung by  by the profit-making motive. We need have no fear of new technology that we will become robotised. It is capitalism which is transforming us into machines. Instead our lives will be varied and interesting and the world will become a place well worth living in, but what is the more important, its joys will not be the monopoly of a privileged ruling class but the heritage of all.

Socialism will be a new era for the human race, a new world. The overthrow of capitalism will bring about the immediate or eventual solution of many great social problems. Gone will be war, religious superstition, prostitution, famine, pestilence, crime, poverty, alcoholism, drug addiction, unemployment, illiteracy, racism and national chauvinism, the abuse of woman, and every form of slavery and exploitation of one class by another. The objective conditions, in the shape of scientific knowledge and the technical means of creating material wealth, are already at hand in sufficient measure to do away with these menaces to humanity. But the trouble lies with  the capitalist order of society and the subjective factor. Capitalism, based upon human exploitation, stands as the great barrier to social progress and capitalism continues to exist because people permit it to remain. By abolishing the capitalist system, people will release the productive forces strong enough to provide plenty for all and it destroys the whole accompanying capitalist baggage of ignorance, strife and misery. Among the benefits of the re-organisation of the economics of the world on a rational and planned basis will be the systematic conservation and increase of the world’s natural beauty. Congested conurbations will vanish as the  conveniences of country and city merge.

Socialism frees humanity from being little more than beasts of burden and opens up before it new horizons. For many generations the long list of Utopians have dreamed ideal societies.  They sensed mankind’s capacity further social evolution. But their weak point was that they did not understand  the objective or subjective conditions necessary for social revolution.Their Utopias, were mere speculations, disconnected from actual life. Today, the objective conditions exist, the revolution no longer appears as an abstraction but still lacking is the confidence of the working class in their own capability of conducting social change. The capitalist undermine any belief in the possibility of working class  consciousness growing by insisting “it can never happen.” It is true the advance of the revolution is difficult, its progress is slow, and it varies from country to country, but its direction is sure and its movement unstoppable. Our children or perhaps our children’s children will look back with horror upon capitalism and wonder how we took so long to replace it.