A long time ago parties that now call themselves Labour
Party or Social Democratic Party used to subscribe to different versions of
what we describe as socialism but they have abandoned this over the last
hundred years. They have accepted capitalism and now concern themselves with
putting forward various ideas for modifying the system, to promote
fairness - most of them completely impracticable. Ed
Miliband is now on record as promising to “make capitalism work for the
people”. Oh no, he won’t – because that’s not possible. Currently under
capitalism although we can vote for parties in elections, huge chunks of our
lives are beyond our influence. The politicians have no control over the
economy and so neither have we. We can’t
decide on our standard of living or our level of prosperity.
With the electoral circus in full swing the parties have
been competing with one another in a seemingly endless round of pledges,
promises, scare stories and counter claims. The media openly spends more time
telling us about "the election" itself - its stratagems and ruses -
than about the policies on offer from any of the parties. The election campaign
is carried out as if by marketing agencies selling superficially different (but
nevertheless fundamentally identical) products. The tools of their trade are
the typical PR techniques employed by corporate business everywhere -
"spin", "positioning" in relation to key target sectors,
junk mail/internet spam and cold-calling of those in a targeted market niche,
all refracted through the magnifying glass of Twitter and Facebook. An advertising
war and charm offensive in which we are mere collateral damage. Is it any
wonder the electorate react with a cold shrug of apathy?
The Greens are not anti-capitalist. Certainly, they
criticise Big Business and some of the ways the profit-driven market system
works, but from the point of view of small business. For them, Big Business is
Bad, Small Business is Beautiful. But a return to smaller businesses is neither
desirable nor in fact possible, and it wouldn't help the environment either.
And Green Party Ministers in Germany, France and Italy haven't made any
difference to the way capitalism works.
As for the others on the Left putting up candidates in this
election, a socialist organisation will get nowhere without a firm grasp sound
Marxist principle, a disdain to conceal its socialist objective, and a
membership in full possession of the facts about current society and the
revolutionary alternative. None possess these organisational principles, and none
are showing any clear sign of understanding or desiring to develop them.
As socialists, we wish to help change the world in a
positive direction, not get our bums on the benches of the House of Commons or
on the seats of chauffeur-driven ministerial cars. So in this election we call
on the "silent majority", unhappy - and even disgusted - by the
performance of the clowns in this political circus, to protest by spoiling
their ballot papers if there is no Socialist Party candidate standing in your
constituency. In so doing they will be taking part in the democratic forum yet
at the same time withdrawing their consent from those who would rule over them
in the name of wealth for the few and tedium for the rest of us. Where no
candidate standing for the one genuine alternative to the present system - a
world socialist society of free access to available wealth - is on offer in
this election, socialists and those in general agreement with our cause will be
writing "WORLD SOCIALISM" across our ballot papers. So our
voice will be heard. We will not allow it to be stifled under a welter of
mindless political psychobabble. And the more people who agree with us and do
the same, the louder the voice and the more effective the protest against the
whole ridiculous charade currently being played out before us in the name of
our interests. We suggest a write-in vote for socialism. Our appeal to people
to become socialist is not based on ethical considerations or compassionate
feelings for people who are less well off than them. You should become a
socialist for your own self-interest, for a better life for yourself.
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