“We, the People”

Socialism is not a salve to rub on the wounds of injured slaves to make their burden easier to carry. It is not a movement for high wages only. It is a movement with an ideal that reaches over the bounds of capitalism. It asserts the system cannot be patched up so the workers will get what is coming to them. The wage system is a slave system that supports more idle parasites, and keeps them in greater luxury, than any system of society in the past. Socialists say it must go, to make way for a system based on freedom, on equality, on mutual aid, on cooperation. The Socialist Party teaches workers the power of united effort and awakens a desire for a change to a better system of economics. Those who benefit by the system are very well satisfied to let it stand as it is. A system that keeps them in power and idleness and luxury, undreamt of by even the kings of the past, is quite good enough for the lords of the land, and the lords of industry and commerce, and the lords of the law. Where did the master class get its power and wealth? By robbing working people. Some of you say, no, he got it by honest means. We socialists say no. He got it by the sweat and toil of the men and women working in his factories. It’s up to us to arouse the working class to fight for its own emancipation. They have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to gain.

Socialism is based upon the concept of “We, the People”. Socialism is not a utopia but a reasoned human answer to the problems humanity faces.  Socialists call for radical thinking and political action that must go to the root causes. We are fighting the current system: capitalism that imposes commodification of everything for new sources of profit. It depletes natural resources and it disrupts the climate. We point at the real culprits of that system: the global corporations, governments chained to the interests of business and their lobbyists, the green-wash reformers. Socialism is the alternative where human interests and sharing wealth is the foundation of the new economy based on real needs, preserving the ecosystem and its biodiversity. Humanity is an integral part of the ecosystem in which they live even the two cannot be separated. We reject the deception of a vision of ecology which would make it compatible with capitalism. Green capitalism still searches for maximum profits and feeds short-term accumulation. Socialism wants to put the economic and productive systems at the service of human needs. Socialism challenges the dictatorship of vested interests and of the private ownership of the means of production. As it is a revolution to change the forms of ownership, the institutional system and the hierarchy of legal, social and environmental standards which organize both society and the economy, it is therefore a citizens’ revolution, because it intends to empower every person, not in the interest of a particular social category but for the good of all humans. We refuse to accept that despair and anger turn into hatred. We want neither an enlightened vanguard nor benevolent dictators but support the democratic path of the citizens’ revolution. People are not the problem, they are the solution. The worst damage that could be wrought by the current crisis would be that humanity proved unable to open itself up to a new future. Socialism can be a new future.

Right now the political prospects for socialism future looks bleak and foreboding but as they say, it is always darkest before the dawn. There are flickers of hope every now and then. In 2011 there was Occupy Wall Street and the many offshoots it spawned, itself inspired by the Arab Spring. In Europe, like-minded expressions of outrage arose, such as the Indignados, directed against austerity politics and the finance-driven capitalism of our time. The hope was real, but what sustained it was wishful thinking. Many not swept away by the enthusiasm of a leaderless movement aimed at taking their own affairs in their own hands, realised that with prevailing political systems rigged in favour of entrenched power and wealth, and with the vast majority, the ninety-nine percent, having no idea what to do next and no way to get it done even if they did, the revolutionary potential was bound to pass. It is the same with the wave of protests now. We can expect a few mainly cosmetic reforms to result. But, on matters of substance, these latest eruptions of people power are likely to have about as much effect as Occupy Wall Street did. To realise the aspirations of people in motion, real democracy is indispensable. Mass protests and popular mobilisation can be part of the process but much more is required. Attacks on workers’ rights, increasing inequality, and austerity politics and the continued resistance are still the causes of our hope. Ultimately, though, real democracy is what it is all about - the people in power. If we have learned anything over the years it is that there is a sleeping giant out there, yearning for a constructive purpose, that, if properly organised and with purpose and direction, has the power to remake the world. We won’t get the change we need if we rely on elected officials to enact it for us. That will take an independent movement that isn’t beholden to any party or special interest. Building it will be a major challenge, and nobody else will do it for us. It won’t be easy.

By voting for the Socialist Party you can help remove the struggles that the capitalist system has created. We are committed to the transformation of capitalism through the creation of a democratic socialist society based on compassion, empathy, and respect. “Realism” is the name that politicians give to the default position of the status quo which seems like commonsense, though this impression fades when the concept is subjected to scrutiny. If, as seems hard to deny, national interests typically coincide with ruling class interests, why should anyone outside elite circles care about advancing them? The Socialist Party is to-day the one democratic party of the worker whose aim would remove the causes of class struggles, class antagonisms, and social evils inherent in the capitalist system. If you’re looking for an easy political ride, the Socialist Party isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for a revolutionary challenge and purpose, you’ll find more than enough to engage you.