To Be A Socialist

Some people think that socialism sounds great but will never work in practice. We are so demoralized and dejected by living under capitalism that we have become convinced that nothing as evidently sane and good as socialism could possibly ever really happen - life just isn't like that, so there must be a catch somewhere. The fact is that socialism is not too good to be true and it is a perfectly reasonable and practical way of organising society. Many of us don’t need to be convinced about the failures of capitalism — we’re convinced of that already. What we need is to be convinced of the genuine possibilities of socialism as an alternative. What we need is to have our imaginations and our minds awakened. Our vision of a better world arises from the belief that human malevolence, greed, aggression, competition, etc. are entirely the product of life under capitalism — rather than the other way around.

The defining feature of socialism is common ownership of economic resources. In socialism, there will be no wages. There will be no prices. In socialism, goods are produced for the use of people and NOT for the profits which they bring in to bosses. Labour power is no longer regarded as a commodity to be bought and sold. It is not purchased at all, let alone purchased at the lowest possible price to keep it alive and able to produce more value. People in socialism, will work and produce useful goods. But they will produce these for their mutual needs and for their mutual development. The sufficiency of goods which people and technology can create will be given to men and women to develop their bodies so that their minds can grow rich in the wealth of human knowledge, esthetic appreciation and artistic creation. From day to day, from week to week, and from year to year, the spiral of possible individual activity will widen rather than taper, as human productive and intellectual achievements increase. No longer fettered by the necessity of working not only for their own material maintenance, but for the bosses’ even more material profits, will be freed to live more fully. The time that each must work will be small, yet the goods produced for all to enjoy will be plentiful. Those who even think of “reasonable profit” will be jeered at someone out of the past dark ages. Whoever talks about money will be talking gibberish, for men who have been freed from the capitalist system will also have been freed from wage slavery and prices. In a nutshell, what we mean by ‘socialism’ is a world economy controlled by workers and devoted to the needs of humanity rather than the narrow interests of owners and investors. That is why, instead of the conservative motto, “A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work,” workers must inscribe on their banner the REVOLUTIONARY watchword: “Abolition of the wage system!” Socialism is the ONLY answer!

The fundamental need for each other is too often overlooked. Human beings are social creatures and rely on each other to meet each other’s needs. But our capitalist society encourages competition over cooperation and individualism over collectivism. In this environment, it has become challenging to connect with each other. For example, most of us don’t know our neighbors. Most of us see our friends and family less but work more than ever. Most of us put our children in child care. Who belongs to social or sports clubs anymore? Capitalism has alienated us from our work, ourselves, and each other. Yet, we are more productive now than ever before — at work. We toil and sweat and work our hearts out while the employers keep what we produce. What do we get out in return? A “chance” to eke out an existence as a wage slave. Taking care of our human needs and our loved ones is becoming increasingly difficult to do. When individuals don’t have their emotional needs met, the result is often depression and anxiety and on a societal level, the consequences manifest as social problems such as violence and drug abuse.

 When you think about it, it is common sense that capitalism and humans are incompatible. Capitalism is a heartless system devoid of anything but a thirst for profits. Human beings are emotional creatures with multiple needs, wants and desires – most of which have nothing to do with profits. Sure, some needs can be met with the money that comes from wage-labour but not all. Capitalist greed has produced some of the worst economic inequalities we have ever seen, which makes it even harder to meet even the most basic human needs. Because we’re being forced to work so much for so little, we no longer have the time to meet the needs of each other, our children, and our most needy. Capitalism cultivates, exalts, and rewards those drives which sustains it — competition, greed, hierarchical display, distrust, , etc. — while disempowering other human drives towards cooperation, social bonding, reverence, nurture, etc.  Everyone is afraid. This is no way to live. Living in community instead of isolation creates a better life for us all. We enjoy being together. We want to do things together because we realize it makes things not only easier (since you share burdens and responsibilities and both “good times” and “bad times”) but because it feels better.

Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, ending inequality and the divisive prejudices of sexism, racism and nationalism, establishing democratic planning of the economy, halting climate change, all this is possible and can move from being a possibility to being a reality. If we are serious about building socialism, it’s going to take a lot more than just dissatisfaction. Achieving a sustainable socialism that permits our planet Earth to rebalance itself will take socializing the means of production and asking the questions — production for what/production of what?