This is what socialism is

Often in explaining our case for socialism it is set in a series of rejections, no division into classes, no capitalism, no private property, no exploitation, no wages,  no money, no nation-state, no leaders…etc  Frequently we fail to provide examples of meaningful action, positive strategy, and prescriptive examples.

What socialists seek to establish is a modern, highly organised society where the use of technology will save labour time and enhance leisure time. Re-designing work and getting rid of hazardous or polluting technology will be priorities in a social transformation that aims at human liberation and environmental sustainability. A high standard of material life. Good food, comfortable spacious housing, good quality clothes, furniture etc. Things will be made to last. There will be a welcomed acceptance of the differences between us and a willingness to help those that need it and to be guided by those with particular skills or knowledge. The culture will have an emphasis on the community rather than the individual. With inspiring education for kids and adults.

Capitalism is a system of exploitation and oppression. A small class of capitalists owns the companies, the machinery and technology and all the other economic assets. This puts them in control of the whole society. The working class is forced to hire out our ability to work to the employing class (capitalists) in order to live. The capitalists’ relentless drive for profits means they will intensify working conditions and pollute the environment if it will help them make more profit. The ecological crisis of our time has its roots in the capitalist market. Companies only worry about things that have a market price. Corporations shift real human costs onto others when their pollution has ill effects on worker health, or working class neighborhoods or communities of color. Businesses pollute because they don’t have to pay for the real costs to humanity from their pollution. We envision a world where common ownership of the earth, a socially controlled economy, and the direct democracy of communities acts as guardian of ecological sustainability.

To maintain its ability to govern, the ruling class needs to retain legitimacy in the eyes of the population. During periods of upheaval or severe class conflict, they may offer via the government concessions. This is the origin of the “welfare state” and what’s called the “social wage” — free healthcare, welfare benefits and subsidies and so on. We desire no top-down bureaucratic government structure of the sort that would be called a state. People  have institutions of communal control to ensure protection of the environment and ensure a generous system of social provision of goods and services and this places the communal aspects of society at the center.

Self-emancipation of the working class requires that the working class gain power over society.  The working class can free itself through the development of self-managed movements that develop through the class struggle. The class struggle is not limited to the workplace but also spreads out into the broader community. We advocate a strategy for social change “from below,” based on mass participation, direct democracy and the capture of State power through the ballot. The human species needs to evolve a new form of world association that respects the autonomy and differences of all peoples while allowing for democratic decision-making, rooted in grassroots institutions such as delegate congresses, to resolve global problems. Interdependence and the global nature of capitalist power mean that a revolution that can liberate the working class from capitalism needs to spread across national borders. An international movement is needed to defeat the bosses. We advocate solidarity between workers in different countries, and the development of a world-wide workers organisation that can coordinate struggles across borders.

The working class, through its own united action and run the entire system of production, distribution and services on behalf and according to the wishes of the whole of society. To replace capitalism, we do not support what is described by some as “market socialism” where workplaces are the collective private property of sections of the working class. Market competition would pit workers against each other. The land and means of production must become the common property of everyone in society. Self-management means that people control the decisions that affect them. We envision regional and national congresses of delegates elected by the base assemblies that would have the basic power of making decisions about social rules and society-wide priorities. The basic building blocks of a self-managed society would be assemblies of workers in workplaces and of residents in neighborhoods. These assemblies would be federated together throughout society. A self-managing society needs a governance structure through which the people make and enforce the basic rules of the society. The liberatory social transformation that we seek will not be brought about by a political party running a hierarchical state but through the creation of institutions of collective self-management by a working class. “The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the workers themselves.” We reject the Leninist theory of a “vanguard party.” We do not claim to have the final “correct line” or all the answers but do argue that we have the basic principles for the success of a social revolution. Our movement for emancipation cannot accept the line of action urged by some in the workers’ movement that aspire to a harmony between capital and labour, desiring compromise with capitalism and concessions to the bosses and collaboration with the State. We cannot accept ideas which are contrary to the goal for a society based upon the greatest possible liberty and well-being for all, which is the goal of all conscientious workers.

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