It is Not Enough to Be Anti-Capitalist

 The Socialist Party’s aim is to establish a socialist society worldwide — the self-emancipation of working class of the world. At this period is a time there exists a certain amount of uncertainty about the future of humanity. For a number of people, the present time is one of pessimism and retreat. No longer looking forward, reformist organisations look backwards or sideways. The innumerable groups calling themselves socialists are no longer parties of hope but representatives of “realism”. It is ever more blatantly obvious that this economic system is not working for most of us. And if growing inequality and worsening standards of living were not enough, environmental destruction is taking us to the verge of irreversible and cataclysmic climate change. Time is of the essence yet many describing themselves as eco-socialists place reforms of capitalism at the top of their manifestoes and relegate socialism itself to a point in the far flung future. Let’s not be under any illusions the failure of capitalism as a system of production and distribution to meet human needs in an equitable, democratic and sustainable way. It is vital in this hour to put forward the alternative to capitalism in order to mobilise the majority of ordinary people behind it. The case must be made more than ever that socialism is the most viable alternative and make it our prime objective to bring production under democratic control so that basic human needs for food and accommodation, meaningful work, health and education become the determinants of the economy – not the profits of an elite.

Class politics and class war are not anachronisms, quite the opposite. Increasing numbers of people have “got nothing to lose except their chains”. The function of the Socialist Party right now is to encourage the majority of people to work together; to think and act independently of the ruling class; to be confident in the conviction that real democracy is achievable; that human needs can be met; and that there can be a true spirit of peaceful internationalism free from capitalist rivalry and war. Socialism is the way for this to be achieved, not just because it is morally right, but because it is a superior form of society and economy. The world can’t afford capitalism any longer?

The environmental costs of capitalist expansion are evident in the global warming, holes in the ozone, vanishing tropical forests and coral reefs, overfishing, extinction of species and loss of  diversity, the increasing toxicity of our environment and our food, desertification, shrinking water supplies, lack of clean water, and radioactive contamination, to name but a few problems. It is thought that the mere fact that capitalism has resulted in global warming and climate change there is no reason to assume that we must make a clean break with the system in order to address and overcome this problem but capitalism is incapable of fixing its inherent flaws. First and foremost in this regard is capital’s inherent drive towards accumulation, the incessant pursuit by global investors of ever greater and faster profits such as the high returns from fossil fuels portfolios.

Socialism stands, in contrast, for the suppression of capital and the expansion and deepening of democracy. Socialism implies a break with the greedy, exploitative, dehumanising and destructive short-term logic of capitalism; it envisages a society in which the social, cultural, political and economic life of the community is conducted in the interest of all its members. In this sense it is the very antithesis of a social order geared towards the ceaseless pursuit of profit and expansion. It is an immense task we are faced with today: the need to effect a break with the destructive logic of capitalism and inaugurate a new local and global democracy that can be summed up by an expression of James Connolly that our demand is most moderate, we only wish to want the Earth. The Socialist Party does not believe that a small vanguard can bring about the emancipatory socialism we seek. Only a revolution based on the active involvement of large sections of the population can bring about the change we seek.

The choice still remains socialism or barbarism. For the moment the barbarians of profit are winning. Some may not know what socialism is anymore, but they know what barbarism is for all they need to do is look around. It is difficult to find today any part of the world in which there are no serious social protests. They seem to focus on many different issues, creating the impression that there is no connection between them. But that is a self-deception. Often in the past many of these protests used to be dismissed as “single issue movements” but all together they point to the much deeper problems and contradictions. Socialist ideas are more relevant today than ever before. Many express profound distrust against all political parties. Huge majorities harbour profound disgust of the corporate and political elite. The logic of capitalism is to make profits and reinvest those profits and if it has to, destroy the planet in the process. Profit is king and it is in the interests of the overwhelming majority of people on the planet to overthrow this monarchy of money. Far from the market being our salvation it is an abject failure.

It will be obvious at once that the basic principles of socialist society are diametrically opposite to those of capitalist society in which we live. Socialism stands for social or community property. Capitalism stands for private property. Socialism is a society without classes. Capitalism is divided into classes—the class owning property and the propertyless working class.  We can easily understand, therefore, why the great majority of landlords, employers of labour, financiers and the like are opposed to socialism. Their very existence as the receivers of rent, interest and profit is at stake. They do not merely reject the theory of socialism, but actively and bitterly fight every movement which is in any way associated with the struggle for socialism.

Today we confront the dangers of a mounting and inevitable ecological crisis; the ruthlessness and heartlessness of austerity measures; the spread of poverty and exploitation; the atrocity of wars; the systematic undermining of democracy and erosion of human rights around the world; a justice system that criminalises poverty and whitewashes greed. In the face of such injustice, the Socialist Party does not believe that this system can be reformed. The history of political promises have not been able to modify this trajectory. Only a profound change can do that. That is why we believe it is necessary to overthrow the entire capitalist edifice. It is not enough to be anti-capitalist. For us, socialism is not simply a humane version of capitalism but social transformation. We are not talking about the artificial freedom that allows us to choose between bosses, but a real freedom. Our exploitation based on the accumulation of capital in the hands of a class of exploiters at the expense of the vast majority - the workers - who do not own or control the means of production and forced to sell their capacity to work on the market. It is also capitalism that is responsible for environmental problems, and any solution to these will require an economic transformation that is oriented instead around human well-being and sustainability for the fragile ecological balance for our planet.