We are calling for a new world civilisation

Want a world without poverty, war, hunger or suffering? Sounds incredible, doesn’t it, yet it could be possible, in just a matter of decades. The Socialist Party proposes an alternative vision of what the future can be if we apply what we already know in order to achieve a sustainable new world civilisation. It calls for a straightforward redesign of our political and economic social system in which the age-old curses of war, poverty, hunger and unnecessary human suffering are viewed as totally unacceptable. Anything less will result in a continuation of the same catalog of problems inherent in today’s world.

The Socialist Party mission is to inspire change for the common good. Socialism prioritises the well-being of people and the planet. Socialism is based on the common ownership of the means of production and distribution. A new economic system is to be built, raising production to a higher level, ending all social oppression by dissolving the hostile classes into a community of free and equal producers striving not for sectional interests, but for the common good. Science and art is to be utilised, not for the few, but for the benefit of mankind as a whole. The socialist commonwealth liberates the individual from all economic, political and social oppression, will provide real liberty for the full and harmonious development of the personality, giving full scope for the growth of the creative faculties of the mind.

The world today is full of stark and bewildering contradictions. The greatest industrial and agricultural capacity in history cannot feed, clothe and provide a decent livelihood for millions. Countless others work away their lives to survive, while billionaires squander fortunes on mansions and fly around the world in private jets. The capitalist system has concentrated the ownership of the tremendous productive forces in the hands of a small group of big capitalists. Poverty and economic insecurity exist alongside extravagance. What is the reason for the potential of this society, and its stark reality? Why is there such a gap between what is and what could be? The answer cannot be found in "human nature" and simply that is the way things are. Capitalism, the social system under which we live, is responsible for the unfulfilled promise of society. A system of exploitation, violence, racism and war stifles our lives.

In capitalist society, the capitalists own the means of production and engage in production for the sole purpose of making profits and satisfying their private interests. Therefore, though there may be planned production in a few enterprises, competition is rife and lack of co-ordination prevails among the different enterprises and economic departments as a whole. Adjustment based on a unified plan is completely out of the question and anarchy in all social production is the order of the day. Cyclical economic crises which break out in capitalist society are the inevitable result of anarchy in production. They not only greatly undermine the social productive forces, but also are disastrous for people.

Capitalism thrives on the private control of society’s wealth and production – production involving the interconnected efforts of millions of working people. Workers are wage slaves who survive only by selling their labour power to the capitalists. Capitalists own the means of production and pay workers for their labour power. But the working class produces far more wealth than it receives in income. The difference is the source of capitalist profits. The rich have one basic goal in life: to make more and more profits, and they accomplish this by dominating the economics, politics, and cultural life of the world. The employing class will throw their workers out into the streets to starve, promote violent racism, and build a military arsenal that can destroy the world several times over – anything for profits! This is an irrational and unjust system. But the world does not have to be this way. If the working people, and not the ruling class, controlled the great resources of our society, we could better all our lives.

Our aim as democratic socialists is to build an independent movement for the achievement of socialism that awaits the building of a mass consciousness in factories and offices. The Socialist Party is presently primarily concerned with pointing out the defects of the capitalist system and advocating its replacement by the common ownership and democratic administration of the means of production and distribution. The success of creating the cooperative commonwealth will depend very largely upon the education and enlightenment of fellow workers. 

We can change our society, and eliminate capitalist exploitation and injustice, by overthrowing the capitalists. We can replace capitalism with a humane system – socialism. Socialism is a social system where social wealth is genuinely controlled by society and for the benefit of society; where the common good, not profits, becomes the chief concern; where the everyday working people become the rightful masters of society. Sounds radical, but a radical solution is what is needed to remove the miseries we all face in our daily lives. There is no other choice today but for the working people to organise to struggle and, one day, win socialism. Socialism will qualitatively improve the lives of the working people. Socialism will be built on the powerful productive capacities now suppressed by capitalism. Each person is faced with the choice of either enduring the suffering of unemployment, globalisation and war; or taking the path of struggle, joining with the millions of others who are dissatisfied and know that a better society is possible. Women and men, young and old, and people of all nationalities are realising we must unite and struggle to survive, to be able to work, eat and live as decent human beings. We could enjoy a society that is not preparing constantly for war and self-extinction. This is the hope that encourages us forward. The Socialist Party is dedicated to realising that day when the exploiters, racists and warmongers will be thrown from power forever, and a new world for the people can begin. Socialism is not some Utopian scheme. Men and women can and will bring about this historic transformation.  

Many of us elderly socialist campaigners may well not live to see socialism but we foresee it with confidence. We witness all the strains and stresses around the world that inevitably must result in this development. What we leave undone will be done by others. The things we did not see will be seen by others. When people say a socialist revolution is unlikely, be that as it may, socialism is vital to our long term survival as a species.