'Introduction to Socialism' (Edinburgh)

Wednesday, October 26, 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Venue: ACE

17 West Montgomery Place,

Edinburgh EH7 5HA

WHAT IS SOCIALISM

Socialism would be too idealistic or utopian if it depended on people following an ideal that was contrary to their material interest. But that is not the case with socialism. Socialism is grounded in material realities. It is rooted in the reality that it is now objectively and physically possible for society to meet the basic human needs and wants of all the people. It is rooted in the reality that capitalism stands as an obstacle to society realising its full potential to meet the needs and wants of all. It is rooted in the reality that the working class, which are those who do productive work, mental or physical, are denied their material needs and wants under the present system. Thus the modern working class has both a motive and the potential power to replace the present system with socialism.

All that's missing is for workers to recognise their true interests as a class, understand the socialist goal, and begin organising as a class to establish it. Socialism is realistic and a pragmatic alternative. We, the workers, already collectively occupy the industries every day and operate them from top to bottom. The only thing we don't do is own them, control them, and determine the product distribution. Properly organised, we can rectify that, and build an economic system that will truly serve the social interest and it is essential for human survival and continued social progress. To build socialism, workers must organise politically and economically.

Socialism can only be established by a class-conscious, organised majority of the working class. It can only be built by workers who understand the need to prevent any individual or group from gaining the power to control production or distribution. Socialism would be governed by active organisations of workers, educated by the class struggle and determined to keep economic power in the only safe place for it to reside in the collective hands of all. Control of society's economic resources would be in the collective hands of the working class. All persons elected to serve in the factory committees, the workers' councils and the commune assemblies administering social life and the economy as a whole, would be responsible only for performing designated administrative tasks. They would have no bureaucratic power to dictate production or distribution goals toward their own individual enrichment. Voting would determine the general goals of social production, based on their own needs and wants. Socialism's elected and recallable administrators would carry out the task of determining which facilities are to produce how much in order to meet the socially determined production goals. They would have no opportunity to become bureaucratic rulers even if they wanted to. And once a society of security and abundance for all is established, the motivation to even want to be become a bureaucrat is eliminated.

People clearly have the capability of being cooperative as well as competitive, supportive and helpful as well as antagonistic, egalitarian as well as selfish. We can and do choose to employ one quality or the other, depending on how our material circumstances and interests affect us, and how we perceive our own self-interest. It is also part of our human nature to think, to evaluate our circumstances and change our behaviour when we conclude that doing so is in our self-interest. Accordingly, socialism is not contrary to human “nature”. For the vast majority of the people who belong to the working class today, it does no good to be greedy, competitive or power-hungry; capitalism rewards them with hardship. Sooner or later, a majority of workers can and will come to the understanding that their own self-interest demands the creation of a new social system based on social ownership of the industries and cooperative production for the common good. Once a socialist society is established, the material and other rewards of that system will continue to reinforce cooperative behaviour and nullify selfishness, greed and the desire for power over others.