Socialism is revolutionary in principle, i.e. it puts up a totally new principle in place of the old, not just patches up the prevailing system. The old ideas of competition and self-interest fostered by capitalism once seemed sacrosanct are now slowly eroding away until they no longer seem so sacrosanct, and new ideas of cooperation and solidarity have gradually taken their place. It’s easy to lose hope when important battles are lost, or to become over-confident when they’re won. But, in both defeat and victory, workers must still go on striving for socialism. Unfortunately, more and more people to escape from the reality of their life and its disappointments seek solutions through nationalism and racism. It gives them opportunities to blame their misery and troubles, not on a broken economic system but on a tangible enemy: the brown and black people “taking” from the whites and native-born. These folks are rightfully angry that something they were promised was not delivered and much of the right-leaning media are pandering to prejudices about who is to blame for their woes. Even mainstream media rhetoric lead many to frame their economic disadvantage upon the supposed “theft” of jobs and welfare benefits by minorities and immigrants, creating a vicious class divide squeezing all levels of society other than the very wealthy. The anger has spawned an enormous amount of, xenophobic nationalism and we've seen how racism and scapegoating are so easily manipulated.
Today, we see the discontent of people in so many countries -- ordinary people who have lost trust in the elites and the powers that be. Even though socialists presently may not be successful in accomplishing their goals, they have at least got some people talking about the issue. Actually, it has convinced those people that there is an issue. So even if the socialist movement currently fails to change the status quo, it gets people arguing and thinking in ways they hadn't, and somewhere down the line, this will influence and inspire the future. What it means is that there is a constant struggle that constantly needs to be fought. Some causes seem more important than others, some are more urgent than others but it is the socialist aim that musters them all under the same banner. Today, we need to take socialist ideas seriously and work towards making them a reality. Be very wary of parties using the language of change that is merely the language of promise. The reformist approach is one of masquerade. The Socialist Party is still very small, and we have no illusions that we will get big votes. We know that there is much work to be done to transform the current situation where the majority of workers feel powerless to change things. Nevertheless, there are growing numbers of people who are not prepared to quietly accept the present order. We campaign in elections not to win votes but to use the elections as a platform to put the truth about the capitalist system before the workers at a time when they have an increased interest in politics. In the very unlikely event of an SPGB candidate being elected he or she would enter parliament to expose the system´s falseness; to treat that body as the camp of the enemy, to fight above all for the class interests of the wage workers, by which we mean both their economic and also their political interests. What are these? Simply, the achievement of a socialist society based on means of production under the rule, not of a small minority of capitalists as at present, but of the great majority of the working class; i.e., under working-class democracy.
Of course, we harbour no illusions that we will get a seat in parliament in the near future. Workers desperately need a political movement of our own. A movement which puts our interests first because it is a movement by, for and of us. Since the system we live under capitalism, is based on our exploitation, such a movement needs to be explicitly anti-capitalist. It needs to aim for the overthrow of the capitalist system and its replacement by a new truly socialist society, based on organising production to meet the human needs of all rather than private profit for a super-rich few
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