Socialism is a conscious endeavour to substitute for the chaotic competition of to-day the organised co-operation of to-morrow which
may not cover the whole of the ground by any means; but comes as near to
satisfying the request for a brief and clear statement of the aims and objects
of Socialist Party. In history, people have believed that the social forms
under which they lived were permanent; even when changes were taking place around
them. The ideas and outlook of the capitalists which have ruled society have
become deeply entrenched in society, and have largely acquired the “force of
habit.” The bourgeoisie takes advantage of this to promote the so-called
“theory of human nature,” which says that people are basically selfish and will
never change, so socialism is bound to fail and is a hopeless Utopia.
There is no short-cut to the social revolution. The revolts
of impatience with insufficient organisation only plays into the hands of the ruling class, as all experience has shown. Thorough education and understanding
among the people, combined with economic development which renders socialism
practically attainable, are indispensable conditions for success. The wages
system will remain until workers themselves are prepared to undertake
administration and distribution, on communal lines, for the benefit of the
entire population. The first step is to overthrow the dictatorship of the
capitalist class.
When all of society has been transformed and the community
of workers has been established, then a completely classless society, will have
been achieved, and humanity will enter a whole new stage of history. There will
no longer be the need for the state, since there will no longer be any class to
suppress, and the state will be replaced with common administration by all of
society. The nature of work itself will change completely, because the labour
of the workers will no longer go to enrich capital to further enslave the
working class, but to improve life today, while providing for the future,
according to the conscious plan of the working class itself. The pride that
workers have in their work will be unhindered by any sense that they are
working themselves, or someone else, out of a job, or that they are being
driven to produce for the benefit of some investor, under the orders of his or
her bosses and the constant threat of being fired. Machines will no longer be
weapons in the hands of the capitalists to grind down the working class, and
workers will no longer be a mere extension of the machine, as they are under
capitalism. Instead machines will become weapons in the hands of the working
class in its own struggle to revolutionise society. The organisation of work
will be the province of the working class itself. All this will unleash the
stored-up knowledge of the working class, based on its direct experience in
production, and inspire workers to make new breakthroughs in improving
production. Work itself will become a joy and enrichment of the worker’s life,
instead of a miserable means to sustain existence, as it is under capitalism.
Socialism will make possible the building of
well-constructed housing. Under capitalism, it is more profitable to speculate
in land, maintain slum housing and put capital into buildings for big business
than to build decent housing. The housing construction will be part of its
overall rational plan, so that homes are built near work-places, with easy
access to stores, clinics, nurseries, schools and other social services. If all
this seems like a mere dream now, it is only because the rule of capital has so
greatly distorted development, and brought such decay of the inner cities.
Health care under capitalism is a nightmare for the people
and big business for the drug companies, insurance corporations and others who
make billions from the butchery of the people. Socialist health care and
hospitals will no longer be a means to make profit, but a means for the working
class to prevent disease and to preserve the health of the people.
Education in capitalism promotes the interests of the ruling
class and instills the values and outlook of this class. Under capitalism this means
that education is geared to maintain the division of society into classes, the
conditions of capitalist exploitation and the rule of the capitalists over the
working class and masses of people. Capitalist education prepares the youth
only for existence as wage-slaves and as a key part of perpetuating the
capitalist system of wage-slavery distorts history to make it revolve around
the “brilliant ideas” and individual heroism of great “geniuses,” Kings and
presidents and other representatives of the exploiting classes throughout
history. Reality is stood on its head, so that it seems that capital, not
labour, is the source of all progress and that the workers live by the grace of
the capitalists. Education in socialist society will serve the interests of the
people. It will put reality back on its feet and expose ruling class
propaganda. It will promote cooperation in place of competition. Socialist
education will stress the living link between theory and practice, between
knowing and doing, and will help develop workers who are capable of combining
mental and manual labour. In place of the view of history that presents it as a
jumble of unrelated events, stemming from the personalities of “great men,” it
will teach the materialist conception of history.
In capitalist society
many people are drawn to religion because it represents their hopes and
aspirations for a better life–projected, however, into the future and into
another realm completely beyond man’s ability to understand. The ruling class
promotes religion to convince people that since life is miserable on this
earth–and it cannot be denied that this is so under capitalism–the answer is to
hope for a better life “beyond this one.” Further, religion serves capitalism
by telling people that they are basically helpless before the forces of
nature-and the rulers of society–and they should put their faith not in the
ability of the masses of people to change the world, but in a supreme,
supernatural being, or beings. And if that isn’t enough, religion can call up
the image of fire and brimstone to threaten people. More, those who control
organised religions make huge fortunes from collecting large sums from their
members, investing much of these sums and exploiting labor. While telling the
people to wait for “pie in the sky,” these hypocritical leeches live like
kings, right here and now, from the sweat and blood, hopes and fears, of the
people. At the same time, in every community, hustlers of all kinds–calling
themselves “men of god, prophets,” etc.– prey on workers and other poor people,
promising them all kinds of miracles to ease their misery – for a nice fee
(donation), of course. Socialist society will eliminate the need for religion.
Socialism will mean all this, and much more.
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