Both the Streets and the Seats

The future demands a new rise in class consciousness. We can’t just wait for capitalism to destroy the world and then build socialism anew on the ruins. Instead we are going to destroy the basis upon which capitalism is built, a system that viciously sucks of the economic power from everybody in society except the rich.  It is not that nobody is listening. Some people are listening.  But most definitely political leaders are not listening and it is they who make the decisions that influence all our lives. They know what's going on, they know why it's happening, they know how serious things are going to get and still after so many years, yet they are still doing practically nothing to stop it. The reasons are much as they have always been. Eighty or so capitalists own half the world’s wealth but more importantly they also own all of the elected officials. People repeatedly say they want change but always the politicians offer more of the same. It is not some sort of complicated and perplexing question why our political representatives do not act in our interests and for the general well-being of all…it is not in the puppet-masters’ interests to act for the benefit of the majority.

Socialists believe people are capable of amazing things and this political disconnection that many feel today will be reversed. We simply hope it happens in our lifetime. Socialists don’t look forward to our children and grandchildren complaining it was our generation’s inaction that were culpable for the increased environmental destruction and the accompanying suffering and misery of billions. Socialists want to say we were the generation that fought back and won and were the generation that learned how to live in harmony with one another and our planet. We are always hopeful there will be enough committed people that we can change the path of humanity.

If you could change anything, what would you change? What you wouldn’t want to do, we are sure, is to keep everything the same as it is. What the Socialist Party keeps saying is that we shouldn’t spend the rest of our days trying to dampen down and dousing all the social problems that have ignited around the world one by one. No piecemeal solution will succeed. Instead, we need to rethink everything as workers who create everything and have real power (even if we don’t hold any right now). Social democracy takes “We the People” seriously, understanding that democracy is something that can always be improved, not somewhere we’ve already arrived. Calling what we have a democracy is not strictly accurate.  Many do not need to be told that for they possess their own feelings of disillusionment and alienation. We feel it; we know it. We witness the decline in personal engagement in our work life and community structures, all the things we built ourselves. We are at an all-time low in terms of community involvement.

When faced with the social problems of inequality rising rates of preventable diseases, widening income gap, stagnating economy, global climate change and its  threat to ecological systems which demand a response, a plan and action, instead of traveling further down the more participatory and democratic road, we are retreating, withdrawing into our atomized selves. All of this points to the need to revolutionize how we make decisions and how we can regain the trust of our co-workers and neighbours. Real democracy might sound impractical but experiences from people all over the world shows that far more is possible than we might imagine.

 Using democracy, citizens administer their communities both locally and further afield, discuss potential solutions for various issues and manage resources. In democracy, ideas are provided via listening and reflecting in conversations with others. It is not based on an expectation that all citizens will reach agreement on all important issues; rather it creates opportunities for people to learn, expand and sharpen their preferences, while building knowledge of and empathy toward their fellows. It is learning to sometimes figure out "what you can tolerate" in order to avoid endless disputes over trying to get everything that everyone "wants." Social democracy is an alternative that allows us to decide and act on the most complex issues of the day, calling upon people power. We must all take an active role in our democracy. We must do democracy. That goes far beyond simply casting your vote. We must all actively champion the common good. Democracy in socialism will seek to organise the system so that communities can participate in the decision-making, can see the ecological risks and benefits to choices and can respond collectively and accordingly. The future is all ours if we want it to be.