The Left-wing Utopianism

Oscar Wilde said that the worst slave-owners were the kind ones: they tended to prevent the full horror of the chattel slave system from becoming generally realised. The problems of the working-class spring from its poverty. This is inseparable from the wages system, which functions by paying workers less that the value of what they produce. If workers were not poor they would not be restricted in access to the world's wealth, and if they were not so restricted they would have no motive to sweat and toil for wages to enrich a parasite class. The greatest problem awaiting solution in the world to-day is the existence in every commercial country of extreme poverty side by side with extreme wealth. It is the producer of wealth who is poor, the non-producer who is rich.

 How comes it that the men and women who till the soil, who dig the mine, who manipulate the machine, who build the factory and the home, and, in a word, who create the whole of the wealth, receive only sufficient to maintain themselves and their families on the border line of bare physical efficiency, while those who do not aid in production – the employing class – obtain more than is enough to supply their every necessity, comfort, and luxury?

 The life of the workers is one of penury and of misery. The only saleable commodity they possess  – their power of working – they are compelled to take to the labour market and sell for a bare subsistence wage. The food they eat, the clothing they wear, the houses in which they live are of the shoddiest kind, and these together with the mockery of an education which their children receive, primarily determine the purchasing price of their labour-power.

Every new hardship inflicted on the working class calls for strenuous denunciation by the Left, and a palliative for the workers to pin their faith to, and waste their energies on.  They have a separate remedy for each and in most cases it is necessary for the vast majority of the working class to act together in order to apply the remedy. The Left do talk a lot about "socialism". They do use Marxist terminology. They do draw attention to many of the abuses of capitalism. (but even avowedly pro capitalist parties do that sometimes) And they do insist, at least verbally, on making radical changes in the structure of society.

 People see misery everywhere. Righteous indignation, protest, rebellion, humanitarian zeal, burst from some of them unceasingly. Yet this very force, this fervour to better the lot of others is nearly always diverted into futile channels. It is as if every member of the working-class had inside his or her head a voice announcing: "Capitalism is eternal and all improvements must take place within it." Are we poor? Let us have fairer wages. Are we surrounded by trashy products? Let us protect the consumer.

 The Left argues that each reform will bring Socialism nearer, but merely stating such does not make it so. In many cases the Left’s effective steps towards socialism are worthless, either as palliatives or as object-lessons for the workers as to the practicability of socialism.

 Only a handful of socialists, seems to notice that this reformist activity has been going on relentlessly for decades and the world is still nonetheless as bad as ever. The Socialist Party is often derided as "idealist" but the compliment is misplaced for it belongs to those reformists themselves. Their utopia is capitalism without capitalism's inevitable consequences. And what an astonishing, vigorous, unbounded  shining devotion they have for it , untouched by such paltry considerations as the facts.

It may be true that the capitalists would sooner alleviate a bit of suffering than have their position of privilege endangered. But in fact many reforms alleviate suffering not at all. Some are merely a trick to rearrange working-class misery to make exploitation more thorough. Others simply replace one social problem  by another.

 Reforms fall into two categories: they are either necessary, or impossible. The first sort includes, for instance, all those measures aimed at making the working-class a healthier and better-trained beast of burden. Impossible reforms include all  measures to abolish war, unemployment, or whatever. Support for either kind is obviously a total waste of time from a working-class standpoint.

 The reformists presents the argument in one of three ways:
(1)They claim that reforms can solve the working-class's problems:
(2)They concede that only a social revolution can solve them, but then adds he qualification that socialism is a long way off so people need help now and we should struggle for both revolution and reforms and are  quick to point out that these are only "immediate demands." What they're ultimately after is "socialism." But words are cheap.
(3)They claim that revolution and reform can be one and the same thing, that socialism will be introduced gradually with one reform after another.

Socialism will remain a long way off so long as so many people waste their energies on reforms. By trying to "alleviate" this or that social problem the reformists help to put off the day when it will be abolished, since every bit of energy spent on reform is one bit not spent on propagating revolution.

 The argument that we should strive for both revolution and reform is actually an excuse to shelve revolution until some time in the far-off future but revolutionary propaganda will help to make society ripe for it now, since only one thing more is needed to bring socialism, a socialist working class.

 If our reformist critics actually meant that the working class should evenly spread its time between revolutionary propaganda and palliatives they ought really to give cease reformist activities altogether, for at the moment more than 99% of political action is entirely for reforms. Gradual transition from capitalism to socialism is an absurdity. How could we be only partly exploited?

The fact is that capitalism can find something new every day, some problem which can occupy your time until another comes along to take its place in your mind. That is the trap which capitalism sets and into which reformist parties are continually falling. They are saying "This problem can't wait until we have socialism, so we must deal with it first." And capitalism continues to produce problems of apparent immediate urgency; so that somehow they never get to socialism—and, in the meantime, capitalism remains.

 People can't be led into socialism; nor can it be imposed on them against their will. There can be no socialism without a socialist majority, and a majority must have come to want and understand socialism before the political party they form win control of political power. Socialism cannot be the product of a weekend revolution. Socialism will come about when there is first the will for it. When joining the Socialist Party, applicants must know what socialism stands for.

 Otherwise they would be a hinderance to the work of making socialists. And that, after all, is the only justification for the existence of a Socialist Party. This means that our membership is limited to socialists only and our opponents accuse us of being a sect. We are a small organisation because membership is recruited on the basis of a clear understanding of socialism and how to obtain it.

 Those who criticise us for being a "sect" produce no evidence except that we are small. The Socialist Party has to stand on its own feet, even if it means that, for the time being, we can't make a big noise. Big demonstrations are excellent things, we would like to indulge in them, but we want demonstrations of working-class understanding, not political opportunism. And the pity of it all is that the workers really feel that they are doing something useful when they march in protests and attend huge rallies. They really believe they are contributing towards the alleviation of the terrible distress that exists the world over.

 The whole world is a crying indictment against the system and the class responsible for it. The brutal truth us that these demonstrating masses can do nothing to end the real trouble. They are frequently merely the playthings of politicians. Posing as the Messiahs of the world, so-called leaders cannot even find a solution for the problems on their own doorstep.

 Our task is to show the workers that while their work-place organisation will prove an invaluable aid in the transformation of society by facilitating industrial reorganisation, yet at present they can best help to emancipate themselves from the thraldom of wage-slavery by recognising that in their class struggle with their exploiters they can be most certain of success in the political sphere of action.

 To-day we are a small party, strong only in the truth of our principles, the sincerity of our motives, and the determination and enthusiasm of our members. To-morrow we shall be strong in our numbers.  Help speed the day when we shall herald in for ourselves and for our children, a brighter, happier society than any the world has yet witnessed.