This is what socialism is

Socialism has been attacked many times. Socialists are reproached with every kind of criticism. A condition for the success of Socialism is that its adherents should explain its aim and its essential characteristics clearly, so that they can be understood by everyone. We must do away with many misunderstandings created by our adversaries (and some created by ourselves). The main idea of socialism is simple. Socialists believe that society is divided into two great classes by the present form of property-holding. As long as society is divided into classes, so long will the social system be founded on the distinction of a ruling class and subordinate class.  There is a multitude of human beings; they possess nothing. They can only live by their work. Under capitalism, people are divided on the basis of class. There are the 1%, who own the wealth and the means to produce wealth, and the rest of us, the 99%, who sell their labour to produce profit for the 1%. Socialism means the elimination of these class barriers and the organisation of production and resources to enable all people to live fulfilled lives and to ensure environmental sustainability. The elimination of economic divisions in society will create an equitable justice system that ensures fairness for all people.

Working people have dreamed of a world of freedom and equality, an end to exploitation and misery. In a capitalist system, production takes place for profit, not for human need or benefit. Food is a commodity that is sold for a profit, not a right or a thing that should be made available to everyone because they need it to survive. Rather than use our society’s resources to abolish hunger and feed everyone for free, businesses compete with one another for market share and profit. This means there is a constant drive by producers to expand and grow more and more, regardless of the ecological and human costs. The ruling class thrives on the exploitation of both workers’ labour and the environment. Vast resources are poured into avoiding environmental regulations and driving down (or outright stealing) workers’ wages. The majority of the population — having no other way to survive — are forced into selling their labour on the market, becoming commodities themselves. Such a system produces enormous inequality.

Under capitalism, democracy ends at the entrance to the workplace. The interests of business owners and their drive for profit take precedence over the rights of workers. Socialism will allow for a democratic system in which the people collectively participate in decision making and have full democratic control over the economy. Socialism means workers gaining democratic control over their workplaces within a framework of democratic control of the economy and the prioritisation of human need and environmental sustainability. A socialist solution would be motivated by preservation and climate justice, not profit, and would distribute resources more effectively than a profit based system, in which two-thirds of the world’s food is wasted for profit generation.

The anti-capitalist movement has a strong conviction that the existing order of things is unjust, however, there is only a vague idea of what it is fighting for, as opposed to what it is fighting against. The idea that it is possible to create alternative societies – ‘islands of socialism’ – within capitalism, is not new. Is it possible to escape and create an alternative lifestyle within capitalism? To some degree it is possible, but only for a small minority and only to a very limited extent. Small groups can do so, but it does not offer a solution for the mass of the population. Some argue that co-operatives, run on a ‘fair’ and ‘equitable’ basis, could gradually prove themselves to be more efficient than capitalist firms and that, therefore, they could come to dominate the economy. Unfortunately, there is overwhelming evidence that this is no more than wishful thinking. Understandably, when faced with the closure of a workplace, groups of workers sometimes resort to establishing workers’ co-operatives to avoid redundancy. Far from representing a means of changing society, however, these co-operatives are subject to the laws of the capitalist society they exist in. This usually means that they fail because they cannot compete with ‘unfair’ capitalist companies, or capitalist relations resurface with increasing tensions between the workforce and the new management. It is not possible to escape the reality of capitalism.

The move towards socialism requires participation of passionate individuals working collectively, who believe that another world is possible and that, more importantly, the working class has the power to build it. The purpose of the Socialist Party has always to make socialists. Without a conscious politically organised majority in the working class socialism is impossible. Socialism has to be the work of the working class itself and without this socialism cannot be. The lie that capitalism brings prosperity and happiness needs to be exposed and dispelled. Socialists seek something different, not a new boss, in place of the old boss but the end of bosses. We cannot continue to defer to the lesser evil of reformism and reformers. We need to build our own party that can fight not only against the daily exploitation of capitalist society, but struggle to overturn the whole system, putting the workers themselves in power. A socialist party, however, doesn’t mean simply running our own candidates, it also means building an organisation that unites the whole working class geographically and politically, and sustains that resistance beyond episodic or momentary eruptions. Without organisation struggles can often dissipate in the face of repression. We are a long way from being that mass party, but that shouldn’t stop us from recognising the need today to consciously take the steps to build it one step at a time. This generation must declare war on capitalism and take up the banner of socialism.

Humanity can produce everything it needs without polluting environment or plundering the planet. Working people - those who create the wealth, make things run, invent new technologies, educate our children, care for the sick and build the future - will democratise and transform society. At the same time, they will also breathe democratic life into every sphere and institution of society.