For a Humanity without Division

The world we must seek for our children and grandchildren is surely not the world we have today. The planet is confronted a daunting array of problems challenging our ability to people’s well-being. If we are going to change things for the better, we must first understand the forces that brought us to this. We have problems because of fundamental flaws in our economic and political system. By understanding these flaws, we can end them and move forward to a new system. The capitalist system upon which our society runs is voracious in pursuing its economic interests without concern for the values of fairness, justice, or sustainability. Solutions cannot arise from within the structures of the capitalist system but must instead get at the root causes. The greatest problem we have is that we can’t imagine any alternative. And that is the challenge: to invent, create and think about how we will organise and for what.

  Capitalism cannot be reformed or made to be kinder and gentler to the working class. Capitalism's only objective is to generate profit/capital so the capitalist ruling class can continue to accumulate more and more capital. Capitalism does not have conscience and it was never intended to have a sense of right and wrong. Exploiting people and natural resources are simply ways to generate and accumulate more capital. Capitalism prioritises economic growth above all else. We think of growth as an unalloyed good, but this growth fetish is a big source of our problems. A capitalist system, whose prime directive is the production of capital, will work constantly to refine and improve its ability to do just that. It will continue until it is stopped by an external force of some kind.

Socialists believe that the problems facing the world, such as environmental despoliation, the systematic waste of public resources for private profit, persistent unemployment concentrated among women and racial minorities, and the mal-distribution of wealth, power, and income, are not mere aberrations of the capitalist system - they are the capitalist system. This is why Socialists are not impressed by political appeals based on the personal qualities or “charisma” of any individual politician. Socialists believe that it is the system — and the institutions which make up that system — that must be changed. What is now desperately needed is transformative change of the present profit system itself. We are confronted with a multifaceted, systemic crises born of the inability of our current system of political economy to sustain human and natural communities. It is a system that has always been rigged against people. The socialist goal is to provide a shared prosperity that meets human needs while preserving nature’s diversity, ecological integrity, and beauty—in short, a society nourishing people and nourishing nature. People must rise to the challenge of building a better world that demands we fundamentally transform our economic and political systems.

A growing number of people are already finding it impossible to accept the deteriorating conditions of life and living. They see the frightening gap between the world that is and the one that could be. So, our first step is to become teachers—to help bring our fellow workers to see the basic relationships: that the huge challenges we face are the result of the failure of capitalism, that it no longer deserves legitimacy because it doesn’t deliver on the promises it proclaims, and that, therefore, the path forward is to change the system. This is the core message of the Socialist Party.  The journey to the next system truly begins when enough people have come to see our challenge in this way. The crises—economic and  environmental, point to the underlying failure and raises questions which sends people searching for answers. It can wake people up and shake them up. However, we won’t be able to take advantage of positive opportunities and developments opened up by this rising popular disenchantment if the various movements remain fragmented and isolated. What’s needed is a unified identity, a common infrastructure capable of formulating clear policy objectives and strategic messages, a common platform, and a commitment to creating a powerful, coordinated campaign– in other words - a world socialist movement. Coming together is imperative because all workers and causes face the same reality. Our best hope is a fusion of all those concerned about environment, social justice, true democracy, and peace into one effective social force. By connecting ideas together, creative leaps can be made, producing breakthroughs. We have to recognise that we all have in common is a shared fate. We will rise or fall together.

A powerful part of the motivation for changing society must be a compelling vision of the world we want for our children and grandchildren. An important part of agitating for change is to paint a picture of what a better future might look like. As Victor Hugo wrote in Les Miserables: “There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow.” We need to depict life in this desirable socialist future. These are an important part of banishing the myth that there is no feasible alternative to the current system. We are indeed the dreamers of John Lennon’s “Imagine” but we are dreamers with a plan that builds on much which already exists. Our goal is achievable, but, we freely admit, it will not be easy. In the end, it all comes down to the willingness and determination of people to make change for themselves by developing political and economic muscle for system change at to spur the necessary action at all levels. Socialists seek to plant the seeds of change. What socialists must also ask ourselves is why so many activists are increasingly accepting and working within the frame of global capitalism. We have lost many to the camp of reformism. Instead of dissent being born, individual life-style responsibility is urged to tackle issues that actually requires social political responses. Hopefully, many who are still trust in reformism will see the need for deep change and will join the World Socialist  Movement for a better world.