How a New World Would Look



The world is plagued by elites who tell us to tighten our belts while they go on with their lavish lifestyles. Capitalism is the ideology of the 1%. What's ours? To defeat the 1%, we need an alternative vision. For generations, we have been taught that "there is no alternative." For the first time in a long time, the word "socialism" is on the lips of millions. Our lives, our homes, our work-places, our communities; our neighbourhood, our town, our city, our land, our waters, our soil and our air;  our food, water, shelter and energy. Connect the dots, put the pieces of the puzzle together -- that's how revolutions get started. Connecting issues and social movements and organisations to each other have the potential to build a powerful movement of movements that is stronger than any of its individual parts. This means educating ourselves and in our groups about these issues and their causes and their interconnection – the capitalist system. We don't need moral calls for personal life-style change. We need calls for economic and political justice. Nor is it a call for taxing the rich and reform of the tax structure. As Engels puts it, concisely, in The Housing Question: “‘Taxes’! A matter that interests the bourgeoisie very much but the worker only very little. What the worker pays in taxes goes in the long run into the cost of production of labour power and must therefore be compensated for by the capitalist”. Workers will go on allowing themselves to be kidded into supporting one party or other of their exploiters — until they get the message that the enemy is not taxes but the wages system itself.

What we're saying is, enough is enough. We don't need calls for repairing the system; instead, we need to create a new system. This whole capitalist system must go. Exploitation and alienation go hand in hand in class societies, having reached new peaks under capitalism. To unravel the real nature of exploitation in capitalism is, therefore, an important part of the struggle against it. We have to reclaim the radical imagination, infuse it with the spirit of independent politics and radical democracy. That is what Marxism is all about. The World Socialist Movement isn't against voting. What we oppose is people throwing their votes away on candidates of a party that opposes their interests. Eugene V. Debs, often said, 'it's better to vote for something you want and not get it than to vote for something you don't want and get that.' The WSM believe elections offer the hope of social change, but also insist it isn't enough. We also need to spend time building grassroots movements for change.

Imagine an economy without bosses. It’s not a utopian vision but an achievable aspiration. The Socialist Party have been producing article after article committed to a vision of a new society and advocating the struggle for a new free society for more than a hundred years. These are not minor achievements. Our hope of a future is the goal of socialism, of transcending capitalism, even though many hold the view that for humankind, there is no viable alternative to global capitalism. The Socialist Party questions whether this is the furthest point humanity can seek to reach. Socialists can have no illusions about the speed with which we may be able to achieve the fulfilment of our aims. Today, humanity finds itself at a turning point in historical progress and a new age is being ushered in. Mankind is now faced with building a free and peaceful new world. In order to build this new world, it is necessary to abolish all the old politics and economy.  We live in a world dominated by the capitalist system which allows a small minority of employers and investors to exploit the great majority.  It is capitalism that brings about great inequalities in living standards. Either we get rid of this outdated system or it will destroy humanity.  Urgent action is necessary. The only way forward is to achieve socialism, a classless and stateless society on a world scale where people do not oppress and exploit each other and where we live in harmony with our natural environment.  To create such a world it is necessary to overthrow the rule of capitalism and this can be done only through revolution.  The working class establish socialism, a system of real, popular democracy that sets about the reconstruction of society. People understand that capitalism is no good but few can see a way forward to a better type of society. It is essential to generate interest and knowledge in socialist ideas. When workers express their solidarity with the struggles of their fellow-workers all over the world, when they pledge themselves to the fight for the end of the exploitation of man by man political commentators scoff at such sentiments and aspirations.

Humanity seems to be in the grip of some invisible, malevolent force. We devote a huge part of our energy and ingenuity to lying and cheating, to hurting or killing each other.  Scientific and technological resources are devoted to fabricating the means to kill, torture and maim other human beings. Across the world, the drive to expand industry and agriculture has included the destruction of natural eco-systems. The last vestiges of communal life are replaced by the impersonal market. People have no control over their own lives and social life is fragmented and atomised. Society is now viewed as a web of corruption and inhumanity. Human beings are bereft of the power to determine their own futures. More and more, believe there is no way out.

A socialist future would guarantee the rational use of human creativity and resources. There is no longer any need for a class society. There could be a better society that is not utopian precisely because it is possible – it can be brought about. Every election the Conservative Party will make all sorts of promises and the Labour Party will make all sorts of promises. Will they keep their promises? Of course, they will not. The working class, since its coming into being from among the working people, has struggled against the capitalist class for near on three centuries. After trying all types of struggle (such as Luddites, Chartists) the working class learnt that it could solve its problems only through the capture of political power.