The Socialist Party believe that in order to save humanity
from the economic chaos, social injustice, and environmental destruction caused
by global capitalism, it is necessary to abolish the capitalist system
altogether and replace it with a humane, democratically-run planned socialist
economy. It will be necessary for people, worldwide, to adopt the principle of
socialist revolution. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about
what “socialism” means. A big barrier to building the alternative to capitalism
is confusion about what socialism actually is. This is not accidental. For
those who are not familiar with it, let’s get one misconception out of the way
right at the start. Socialism is not what existed in Soviet Russia, even before
Stalin, or in China, even under Mao. No totalitarian or autocratic system can
be considered socialist. Socialism also is not the same as the
“social-democratic” capitalism that exists in Scandinavia and some other
countries with welfare-states. Socialism is an economic system under which all
natural resources, as well as all means of producing goods and of organising
the delivery of services, will be owned in common by all and managed by a
democratically-run for the benefit of the society as a whole. Rational planning,
not competition for profit, will drive the allocation of resources, with the
goal of meeting the needs of society as a whole. Under capitalism, advances in
technology are used to replace workers, so that the wealthy owners of large
enterprises can increase their profits, while the displaced workers are thrown
out on the street and left to fend for themselves. Under socialism, in
contrast, advances in technology – intelligently designed and environmentally
sustainable – will be planned and implemented so as to reduce the level of
human drudgery. Advances in productivity will result in reducing the length of
the work week and raising the standard of living for everyone, rather than
enriching a privileged elite. Everyone will reap equal benefits from, and thus
have an equal stake in, improving the way goods and services are created and
delivered. All workers – not just those in a few lucky occupations that possess
a certain degree of job satisfaction – will be motivated by a positive desire
to help others, rather than by the need to avoid hunger and homelessness.
The class struggle -- the conflict between the capitalists
and the workers -- is at the very heart of the capitalist system. The great
bulk of people would vastly prefer to live in a world free of poverty,
unemployment, racism and war. This kind of world is only possible under
socialism. Many today would readily agree that this is the kind of world they
would want for themselves and future generations. But they think it’s a
pipe-dream. Previous historic systems like feudalism and other more primitive
societies were overthrown when they outlived their usefulness and could no
longer bring humanity forward. Likewise the capitalist system is now retarding
further advances for humanity. It is the working class which allows the
economic system as a whole to run. Nothing can be built or moved without us.
Yet, the vast majority of workers have no real stake in maintaining capitalism
because we don’t own any means of production or businesses; we aren’t bosses.
Indeed, workers have to sell their labour power to employers in exchange for
wages. As the fundamental source of their profits, our strategic economic
position gives the working class the power to forge decisive change but there
are good reasons for workers’ current skepticism about the power of our
class. One of the biggest reasons is the
misplaced trust placed in leaders. They have engineered decades of defeat for
the working class. It is they who have made us feel powerless to change things.
The so-called vanguard of revolutionaries undermine the unity of the whole
working class. There is no need to “instigate” fellow workers: it is the
conditions of capitalism itself which eventually force workers to act to defend
ourselves, to engage in mass fight-backs. The best way for workers to see their
own power in action and workers become confident and radicalised. The working
class searches for its own alternative to capitalism only when it knows its own
strength to actually achieve big changes. Today capitalism is on a global
offensive that is wiping out past gains. As profit margins have fallen in the
system as a whole, competition between capitalist firms and nations has become
ever more vicious. The “race to the bottom” in which capitalists try to outdo each
other in finding the cheapest labour possible is prevalent. The needs of the
ruling class to boost profit rates mean they are well aware of the need to
escalate their attacks against workers, to increase the number of low-wage jobs
with harsher working terms and less generous benefits. Workers’ pensions has been one focus of this
onslaught. Pension funds have been underfunded for years. The previous stock
market boom hid the fact that the bosses weren’t meeting their fund obligations
with hard cash. When share prices crashed, the funds ended up short of cash.
Now the bosses are demanding that workers either pay into the pension funds
themselves, accept inferior plans or give up on their claims. However, now
there is the return of the value of stock, there is no reciprocal rise in
pensions being offered. The profits are being retained by the bosses.
Given capitalism’s necessary priorities, the desperate
plight of people and the planet, only the working class, through socialist
revolution, can end this nightmare. Capitalism will destroy the human race. It
is absolutely clear that the ruling class will continue to put the drive for
profit ahead of everything, even our own existence as a species. Capitalists
are incapable of changing. Even when they individually recognise the dangers,
collectively they cannot cease doing what they do, making profits, accumulating
capital, re-investing for more and more new profit, growth for capital’s sake.
If capitalism is not overthrown, humanity is most likely doomed. Socialism is
the only solution. The only way out is the abolition of capitalism and its
replacement by socialism. And the only means to do this is by socialist
revolution.
To win abundance for all, the working class will have to
take matters into our own hands. In order to build toward this future we urge
interested workers to get in touch with the Socialist Party to learn more. Let
us know what you think of our views. If you agree, let us know. If you
disagree, let’s discuss it. Members of the Socialist Party are optimistic
because we recognise that the best hope for a new future are the resilient
working class. Nobody needs fundamental change in this corrupt, top-down
economic and political system like we do. We reject in advance any argument
that the social problems and crises are so critical that it stands above
politics there is no time to wait for socialism to replace capitalism. We don't
propose waiting for anything — we are campaigning all the time and are trying
to drive the struggle forward right now. But the basic point still stands: the
capitalist class is leading humanity to absolute disaster and its class
position means it cannot and will not do anything else. What is necessary is to
prise their mad grip from the steering wheel and carry out a drastic change of
course. Can this be done? Ever since class society that came into existence had
to face the resistance of the oppressed. There have been an endless series of
revolts and uprisings — whether by slaves, peasants or workers. The dream of a
society where there is no inequality, no division into rich and poor — i.e., of
a classless society — is a persistent one. As been already said, the working
class is essential for the operation of the social means of production but
itself owns none of it. Its conditions of life make it cooperative and
collectivist in outlook. Its objective interest is to collectively appropriate
these means of production and establish a classless society. This makes it
revolutionary — at least potentially. It is the sole authentically
revolutionary class. It has no interest in setting up a new system of class
oppression but can only end its alienation by destroying the whole edifice of
class domination. The class at the very bottom of the social heap — struggles
for power in order to construct a socialist society where all forms of
oppression and exploitation are eliminated.
Reformists have denied the need for revolution and instead
held out the fantasy of gradually humanising capitalism. The Socialist Party holds
to our basic principle that objective conditions are being created in which the
socialist movement can grow and attract a significant working-class following
to mount a challenge to the system and allow the real history of humanity to
commence, free, cultured human beings living in a collectivist society of
social solidarity and cooperation. People cannot live without hope for the
future. Our task as socialists are to inspire, to instil confidence that the
future will be better than the present if only they strive to make it so. The
world will be changed by people who believe in the boundless power of themselves.
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