Socialism - One for all, All for one

It's time to break a taboo about the word "socialism". Down through the ages, working people have dreamed of a world of freedom and equality, an end to exploitation and misery. From the time of the Roman slave revolts, people have struggled for the dream of a society based on the values of equality, freedom, generosity and solidarity. For thousands of years the dream could never become reality – society was too poor to provide a decent life for all. We call ourselves socialists because we are proud of what we are. No matter what we call ourselves, our opponents will use it against us. Anti-socialism has been repeatedly used to attack working class people. We call ourselves socialists to remind everyone that we have a vision of a better world. Socialism has never been truer or more relevant: Most of the world's main problems today are inseparable from the capitalist system itself. With capitalism everywhere in command, the outlook is for increased poverty and more environmental degradation, undermining of traditional societies and ways of life, for a culture dominated by marketing, advertising and uneven global development. It is the capitalist system, based on private ownership of the means of production, which has no future. Having outlived its usefulness, it is incapable of meeting the needs and aspirations of the world’s peoples. By its very nature, capitalism generates and intensifies mass unemployment and poverty, national chauvinism and exclusiveness, racism, gender inequality and oppression, environmental collapse, and war. Capitalist “democracy” guarantees the right of the capitalist class to dominate the economy and society and to exploit the people.

Socialists do not want to create an all-powerful government bureaucracy.  The Socialist Party has been among the harshest critics of authoritarian so-called "communist" countries. Just because their bureaucratic elites called them “socialist” did not make it so. The Socialist Party has long rejected the belief that the whole economy should be centrally planned. Nor do we want huge corporate bureaucracies to control our society either. Today, executives answer only to themselves and a few of their wealthy stockholders make basic economic decisions affecting millions of people. Socialism is a real political force espousing radical democracy. Socialism is the rule of the people, by the people and for the people. Only socialism makes the needs and aspirations of the people its highest priority. Only socialism can use the benefits of the scientific and technological revolution for the well-being of all, not for the enrichment of a few and for waging war. There is no alternative to socialism, no “third road.’ In socialism the means of producing and distributing wealth will be the common property of society as a whole. The exploitation of labour will be abolished. Ecological degradation will be stopped, and a planned approach to the relationship of human life with the natural environment will be implemented. Want, poverty, insecurity and discrimination, rooted in capitalist exploitation, will be ended. Socialism will finally realise a new society based on solidarity, equality and emancipation, a classless society, in which for the first time in history, the free all-round development of each individual can be the condition for the development of all.

We don’t agree with the capitalist assumption that starvation or greed are the only reasons people work. People enjoy their work if it is meaningful and enhances their lives. They work out of a sense of responsibility to their community and society. Although a long-term goal of socialism is to eliminate all but the most enjoyable kinds of labor, we recognise that unappealing jobs will long remain. These tasks would be spread among as many people as possible. In short, we believe that a combination of social, economic, and moral incentives will motivate people to work.

As socialists we bring a sense of the interdependence of all struggles for justice. No single-issue organisation can truly challenge the capitalist system or adequately secure its particular demands. Socialists have conceived of a society that provides for the needs of every individual, including adequate means to live a decent life and develop each person's capacities. The well-being of all the people of the world would be the goal of society, not their exploitation as it is under capitalism. Socialism should belong to the people, be part of their living politics. Socialism is not supposed to be like any other political movement. Socialism needs to be participatory. Socialism is the only possible alternative to capitalism, the source of gross inequalities and environmental disasters around the world. We could readily meet everyone’s needs for food, housing, health, education, culture and recreation if the modern technologies, scientific knowledge and organisational know-how were brought under the control of all people.