This is Real Socialism

"While theologians are disputing the existence of a hell elsewhere, we are on the way to realising it here: and if capitalism is to endure, whatever may become of men when they die, they will come into hell when they are born." – William Morris

Socialists reject the argument that the wealthy deserve their wealth because that wealth is created by the working class and wrongfully appropriated by the rich who benefit disproportionately from their unpaid labour. The socialist idea of revolution was always one of the vast majority of society seizing power from a tiny minority of capitalists for the common good of all. The goal of the Socialist Party is socialism and we argue for an authentic social revolution. The Socialist Party’s aim is a classless society based on the common ownership and democratic control of the industries and social services administered in the interests of all society. Production will be carried on for  use instead of profit and this revolutionary change can only be achieved through the class conscious action of the working class itself.

Socialists wish to replace the State with a society self-managed by the people, and replace capitalism with socialism. Socialism is a money-less system in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the workers and the people of the community, rather than by capitalists. The creation of a socialist society would mean that production would be carried out for human need, instead of for capitalist profit; and that every person would have access to that which is necessary for a happy life. In today’s world production is carried out to make money, not to provide for all the people with needs — this is why millions of people starve when there is plenty of food. The end of capitalism would mean the end of poverty, hunger and of economic strife between nations – the root cause of war. The capitalist economic system lies at the root of all of modern society's major social and economic problems. Abolish strife-breeding capitalism and those problems are either eradicated or left to die.

The Socialist Party has long contended that only socialism can solve the major social and economic problems plaguing our society today. But many people have been taught all their lives that "socialism" means the state-controlled system that once existed in the Soviet Union, exists today in China or Cuba, or bureaucratic state control of society in general. The socialism advocated by the Socialist Party, however, is completely different from the Soviet or Chinese systems, or any existing system. It has nothing to do with nationalisation, a welfare state or any kind of state ownership or control of industry whatsoever. On the contrary, it would give power not to the state, but to the people themselves, allowing collective control of their own economic future. Far from being a state-controlled society, socialism would be a society WITHOUT a state. Marx once said that "the existence of the state is inseparable from the existence of slavery." Consonant with this truth, socialism would have administrations, but not a separate, coercive body standing above society itself -- a state. The people themselves, through the democratic associations of workers, would be the “government”. Far from being a bureaucratically controlled system, socialism would bring democracy -- the rule of the people -- to all parts of our lives

Socialism means a classless society. Unlike under capitalism, where a tiny minority owns the vast majority of wealth and the means of producing it, everyone would share equally in the ownership of all the means of production, and everyone able to do so would work. There wouldn't be separate classes of owners and workers. The economy would be administered by the workers themselves through democratic "associations of free and equal producers," as Marx described it. The people collectively would decide what they want produced and how they want it produced. The producers – the workers- would control their own workplaces and make the decisions governing their particular industry. As Engels once described it, socialism would be a system in "which every member of society will be enabled to participate not only in the production but also in the distribution of social wealth."

Socialism can only be built by a working-class majority in a developed, industrialised society. Without a majority and the ability to eliminate scarcity of needed goods and services, creation of a classless society will be impossible. In a socialist revolution, the industrially organized workers take possession of the means of production, abolish capitalist- class rule and supplant the state by the self-organisation of communities. The Socialist Party is needed to educate the working class and to recruit workers to the socialist cause.

Although no blueprint can possibly exist for what the workers themselves must ultimately build, socialism's general mode of operation can be broadly described. In every factory, every office and every workplace in socialist society, the workers themselves will meet in democratic assembly to determine their own workplace policies and elect committees to administer and supervise production. To administer production at higher levels, the workers will also elect delegates to local, regional and global councils of their respective industry but also to bodies  representing all other industries and services. This all-industry congress will ascertain what goods and services are wanted and will determine the resources needed to supply them. It will draw up the necessary plans to carry out production and allocate the resources. All persons elected to posts in this economic administration, at whatever level, will be subject to recall and removal whenever a majority of those who elected them deem it desirable. Instead of economic despotism, socialism means economic democracy. Instead of production for sale and the profit of a few, socialism means production to satisfy the human needs and wants of all. We all will be useful producers, working but a fraction of the time we are forced to work today. But we shall not only be useful producers, we shall all share equitably in the wealth we produce.

Under capitalism, improved methods and machinery of production kick workers out of jobs. Under socialism, such improvements will be blessings for the simple reason that they will increase the amount of wealth producible and make possible ever higher standards of living, while providing us with greater and greater leisure in which to enjoy them. With socialism, we shall produce everything we need and want in abundance under conditions best suited to our welfare, aiming for the highest quality with minimum harm to the environment, conservation and replacing our natural resources. We shall constantly strive to improve our methods and equipment in order to reduce the hours of work. We shall provide ourselves with the best of everything. It will be a society in which everyone will have the fullest opportunity to develop his or her individuality without sacrificing the blessings of cooperation. Freed from the compulsions of competition and the profit motive socialism will also be a society of peace. Socialist society will be a society of secure human beings, living in harmony with nature.

The world has the productive capacity to provide a high standard of living for all, to provide security and comfort for all, to create safe workplaces and clean industries. The only thing keeping us from reaching these goals is that the workers don't own and control that productive capacity; it is owned and controlled by a few who use it solely to profit themselves.