The revolution is socialist or it is nothing

The Socialist Party is not a Leninist organisation, nor Stalinist or Trotskyist. It is not anarchist. It is not Left nor Right. It is just socialist. Plain and simple. The Left consists of those parties or organisations, usually describing themselves "socialist" or "communist", which claim to represent the interests of the working class, but are in fact simply the left wing of capitalism. How does the Left support capitalism? The Left's objective function for capitalism is as a kind of safety net to catch those of us who have seen through the usual bourgeois con tricks, and thus lead us into supporting capitalism in a more radical form when we think we are supporting our own class interest. The Left, from the Labour Party (including all its Old Labour factions) or the "Communist" Party to the SWP, SPEW etc ad nauseam, whether Stalinist, Maoist or Trotskyist, is totally counter-productive and counter-revolutionary and is the enemy of the working class. To all militants who honestly wish to fight for proletarian class interests, but who have illusions in Leftism, we say: Abandon these ideas. Socialism a society without classes, in which we all collectively control our own existence, in which we run the world for our own needs and desires, in which humanity can fulfil itself as the conscious agent of its own history, and no longer be an enslaved mass toiling for the benefit of a parasitic ruling class. The Left is a barrier in the way of the acceptance of a revolutionary view of society, and a revolutionary struggle leading to the establishment of socialism. The sins of omission and commission of those who call themselves progressive has for so many years helped to frustrate every attempt to build up an authentic genuine world socialism movement. What can we do in the meantime?

1) Keep our principles intact. There's no point in diluting the proposals of revolutionary socialists in order to artificially inflate our numbers;

2) Continue to point out and explain in our literature and other campaigns the underlying cause of social problems;

3) Describe how a socialist society could be organised to solve these problems; and

4) Avoid any actions or words that suggest that our class can improve its condition in a meaningful way without abolishing the capitalist system.

We need to form a more clear and definitive anti-capitalist movement which unequivocally has as its aim to abolish capitalism and the political state and which seeks to replace it with a classless, moneyless, democratically worker-run society of free access. As a socialist party we do not mean one which is reformist, nor one which seeks state power in order to maintain state power as in Leninism. Both are inimical to the socialist vision of a stateless, moneyless, society of free access. The Socialist Party is leaderless without a hierarchy, totally democratically structured, one which has as its sole objective to gain a majoritarian vote at the polls so that once elected it may set about the immediate dismantling of the state and the capitalist system. Working in conjunction with revolutionary socialists on other battlefields, it may then help to usher in a production-for-human-use society. No-one can predict which revolutionary method will work the surest, but even if the electoral method does not turn out to be the unequivocal deciding factor in dealing with state power, it will work well in combination with other initiatives. By no means though should party organising be seen as a passive substitute for other forms of organising outside the electoral process. In order to build a majoritarian movement, it will be necessary to get our ideas more effectively transmitted into the mainstream consciousness of people. Having competent socialists publically debate with capitalist apologists, putting forth the socialist position will work well towards this end. In fact, working in concert with other initiatives it will help to build the revolutionary momentum that makes socialism truly an idea whose time has come.

The system has no answers to its current crises – there is no light at the end of the tunnel of capitalism. Capitalism, as an economic system, and its chief weapon, the state, are dedicated to one thing - maintaining the ascendancy of a minority over the majority. The ever recurring problems of the system are driving a new generation into struggle against it. These changes provide a real opportunity to raise the challenge of the overthrow of globalised capitalism, which is hated by the vast majority of humanity. Socialism has its roots in the inability of capitalism to solve humanity's problems. Working people gravitate toward a radical critique of society out of necessity, out of a sense that the existing arrangements of society fail to fulfill their material and psychological needs. Real ownership and control of social property, through a democratic and participatory society are the foundational aspects of socialism. But frustratingly the problem is that people don't see any alternatives, or dismiss those they are presented with as utopian and unreachable. But this does not mean that people's minds are totally closed to radical ideas. Capitalism sows the seeds of its own destruction. It brings workers together into workplaces, forcing them to organise collectively, and the relentless drive for profit constantly reminds workers that they have collective interests, diametrically opposed to those of the ruling class. This means that, even when the confidence of the class as a whole is at its lowest, there will still be areas where people are fighting back. There exists a recognition that there are problems in the way society is run, though it may be focused on one issue initially. People get involved because they know that things have to change. This can lead people to realise that tinkering with the system isn't enough, real improvement requires real change - revolutionary change. Struggle is inevitable, revolution is not.

No revolution can ever succeed as a factor of liberation unless the means used to further it be identical in spirit and tendency with the purposes to be achieved. Marx and Engels’ vision of the future society began not from a moral conception of a “good society” juxtaposed to the present “bad society” but rather from a study of the present and what potential it offers us for making change.  Under capitalism, virtually all poverty is artificial.  Poverty and hunger in previous societies was typically the resulted from natural disasters like a flood or a drought.  But today, these things are the result of a society that is organized strictly for the purposes of enriching the few at the expense of the many. Alongside unspeakable poverty, unimaginable wealth enough is produced to feed, house, educate, clothe, and care for everyone in human society. We can take advantage of technology and productivity and these resources and use them to meet everyone’s needs, but doing that requires overthrowing the power of the ruling 1% and taking control of the tools of production to meet our own needs.  That is what socialism is. This movement has to be by the working class, not only because we’re the largest class in society but also because we have a material interest in taking the fight all the way. The capitalists sow the seeds of their own overthrow.  Since they rely on the exploitation and oppression of the working-class and oppressed people they create conditions for ongoing resistance and struggle.  While there are periods of relative social stability, as long as the capitalists continue to exploit and oppress, people will want to organize to fight back—trade unions, community organizations, and other formations. Through these struggles—no matter if they’re for better wages, against police brutality, or to stop sexual assault—people can start to sort through the various contradictory ideas and develop a revolutionary worldview.

If our aim was just a political reform then we would like many others attempt to channel discontent into support for a platform of palliatives but for us, we seek a social revolution. Self-confidence and self-activity is the key to socialism, to do what needs to be done without looking for leaders to step in and take over. For this reason our role is to work with people and not for people. Our aim is educate, agitate and organize - to inspire. The revolutionary party does not exist as “the embryo” of the future society or future state, but rather, it exists as a tool. Only the working class can win a socialist society.  Nobody can do it for them.  As the American revolutionary socialist Eugene Debs said: “I would not lead the workers out of bondage if I could; for if you could be led out, you could be led back again.”  Therefore, a premium has to be put on those things that actually unite the working class, raise the people’s political consciousness, their self-confidence and their participation in struggle. Socialists need to be vigilant in arguing against racism, nationalism, sexism or any other bigotry. Socialists need to argue against undemocratic practices in movements since these harm people’s ability to control the struggle themselves, debate their strategies and tactics, and learn lessons from their own struggle and therefore grow politically. Socialists in general, should oppose violence as a strategy since it’s needlessly provokes state repression and therefore deter people’s political radicalization. The means we use in struggle are selected on the concrete conditions of the struggle we face here-and-now. We organize ourselves based around how the world is rather than around how the world is ought to be.

We revolutionaries must come together to tear away the curtains of capitalism’s camouflage that hide the absurdity and truly horrendous perspective of continued capitalist rule, and to hold a mirror to fellow workers: see clearly, see the danger, see yourself, see your power. Recognise the necessity and the possibility. They're here. Now.

OUR DAY WILL COME!!!