Power to the People, Not Politicians!

The Socialist Party strives to establish a social democracy that places people's lives under their own control - a classless society where working people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratic control and where the production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. We believe socialism and democracy are one and indivisible. These are strange days indeed for socialists and all those who fighting for a better world. Social movements are, in general, at a low ebb. It would be easy to be despondent. But we should not be. There is widespread cynicism about capitalism, yet virtually no discussion of any other perspectives.  Socialism is not, at this point, rising from the ashes. This is a time when the relevance of socialism seems almost self-evident, and yet it is, in practical political terms, more marginal now than at any other time.

Election activity provides voters with choices – an essential component of any system that seeks to portray itself as democratic.  Deeper than that, socialist candidates offer other working class people a vision of themselves as possible candidates.  Socialist Party candidates are not career politicians.  We have no spin doctors, no public relations consultants and no corporate funders who will pull our strings after the election.  We offer independent voices advocating socialism. Electoral campaigns offer fertile ground to bring a fresh vision of democratic socialism. For other political parties, elections, including this one, have as their aim to get “our guy” into a place of power – the government – and to “educate” the public on issues of importance. But what kind of power is this? And what are people being taught?

Reform is the idea that the system can be successfully modified and improved through legal means and especially through participation in its official channels like lobbying and elections. Reformists argue that this is the realistic and peaceful approach to change. The problem is that the system, while very adept at incorporating and co-opting reform efforts, is also incredibly resistant to any fundamental structural change from within. It is built to administer class division – not to end it. Those that accept the logic of helping run the system are rewarded. Many more reformists have been changed by working within the system than vice versa. The Socialist Party is not about defending past gains or making limited demands but calls for a social revolution that expropriates the rich, dissolves the State apparatus and builds decentralised, directly democratic, ecological self-governance from below. Our goal is revolution not reforms. Socialism points beyond capitalism, towards another way of organizing human life based on unleashing our creative capacities through genuine democratic control of the key productive resources of society. Socialism shows the way to another possible world, even if it is way over the horizon and invisible from our present location. Socialism provides a unique perspective on capitalist society and allows us to see the everyday world in a new way, bringing new light to aspects of life, work and politics that we usually take for granted because they seem fixed and unchangeable.

 Right now, socialism is highly marginalised and many on the left suggest that struggles should concentrate on finding “practical” solutions, leaving aside any transformation of the system. This ultimately means limiting the horizons of change to what is possible within capitalist social relations, as this power structure will be there until it is deliberately overturned. Socialism rests on the conception of overturning the capitalist system through the activity of the majority of the working class, rather than liberation being the act of some small elite. People who labour every day in factories, offices, schools, mines and a variety of other settings will take over their workplaces.

The reclamation of socialism is crucial for people’s future. Socialist ideas are more relevant than ever. An understanding of socialism must start by recognising that it a society of "bottom-up" participatory co-operative communities. Socialists reject the notion that individual self-interest and competition are the sole motivating factors in human behaviour and hold that other human characteristics may be fostered by a co-operative society. This has implications for how we respect and treat the environment and value other people. The Socialist Party does not accept an attitude of passive resignation to the status quo and actively works towards reclaiming the socialist vision. Our problem today is to figure out how best to reach out. How to encourage our fellow workers to work together to revive the socialist movement. What can our party, with finite resources, do to make a difference? How can we help bring humanity out of capitalist purgatory and into a sustainable future.

We live in a global capitalist system, which is why we have seen crisis and austerity around the world. Under capitalism the needs of profit and big business will always be put ahead of those of working people. An economic recession destroys millions of jobs and undermines the security of the working class. The gap between wealth and poverty is greater than ever. An environmental and climate catastrophe threatens our way of life. The inherently wasteful capitalist cycle of expansion and contraction is undermining the planet’s ability to sustain human society. The bottom has fallen out of people’s lives. These crises presents new challenges for socialists. Capitalism has exhausted itself but it will not pass into the pages of history without a ceaseless struggle by the working class. New social movements have arisen across the world to challenge capital’s domination. The interconnected crises of social life, the economy and the environment makes the solution of any one crisis dependent upon solving the others. The unity of the many currents of struggle is a prerequisite to attaining democratic control of our society. The political and social democratic power of the majority is the basis for building a socialist society.

 Articulation of the needs and demands of the people is essential. Rebuilding and re-energising the labour movement are fundamental. Socialism cannot emerge from sentiment or wish fulfillment. Socialism arises because the working class, as it struggles around the crisis of everyday living comes to recognise socialism as a necessity. Socialism’s fundamental building blocks are already present in society. The means of production are fully developed. There is an enfranchised electorate. The workers for the most part, are highly skilled at all levels of production and management. There exists a widespread mass means of communication. Many earlier attempts at socialism lacked these advantages. Socialism will be gained by the class-conscious working class winning the battle for democracy in society at large.

Socialism will be a society in harmony with the natural environment. The nature of global climate change necessitates a high level of planning. We need to re-design communities, transform transportation, introduce healthier foods and sustainable agriculture — all on a global scale, but on a human scale with participation of diverse communities.  A socialism that simply reproduces the wasteful expansion of an earlier capitalism creates more problems than it solves.

Socialism is the solution to the intractable problems of a capitalism devoid of all hope. The Socialist Party stand for a fundamental change in society, not based on nationalism but worldwide socialist revolution. We are fighting for socialism, the only way forward for humanity. The working class is the major force worldwide that can lead the way to a socialist future - to a real radical democracy from below. We will oppose the soulless ghouls of the capitalist system.

THE COMMONWEALTH OF TOIL

In the gloom of mighty cities

Mid the roar of whirling wheels

We are toiling on like chattel slaves of old,

And our masters hope to keep us

Ever thus beneath their heels,

And to coin our very life blood into gold.

But we have a glowing dream

Of how fair the world will seem

When each man can live his life secure and free;

When the earth is owned by labor

And there's joy and peace for all

In the Commonwealth of Toil that is to be.

They would keep us cowed and beaten,

Cringing meekly at their feet.

They would stand between each worker and his bread.

Shall we yield our lives up to them

For the bitter crust we eat?

Shall we only hope for heaven when we're dead?

They have laid our lives out for us

To the utter end of time.

Shall we stagger on beneath their heavy load?

Shall we let them live forever

In their gilded halls of crime,

With our children doomed to toil beneath their goad?

When our cause is all triumphant

And we claim our Mother Earth,

And the nightmare of the present fades away,

We shall live with love and laughter,

We who now are little worth,

And we'll not regret the price we have to pay.

RALPH CHAPLIN