People not Profit

The Socialist Party realises that before any action is set in motion to promote a solution to social problems, the facts must first be ascertained and embodied in an educational and organizational theory. The deplorable state that the current workers’ movement is in indicates that this has not been done. While the saying goes, "the facts speak for themselves", it can be said that disinformation speaks for itself via the disarray of the workers’ movement. The Socialist Party believes that armed with the facts pertaining to their interests, workers have the capability to solve their problems together. The first step is eliminating interference from the vanguard elitists on the Left who desire to control the workers’ organisations for their own interests. We call for the working class to understand the mistakes of the past and continue forward to transform their workers’ movements into a real socialist movement, schooled in the cause of the working class and tasked with educating workers about what real socialism is and why it is necessary. The purpose of the Socialist Party is to inform workers about the facts pertaining to the capitalist system and the labour movement in every manner possible. First, such facts must be painstakingly extracted from the clutter of disinformation that obscures it while under the constant onslaught of disinformation that workers are battered with, which is a never ending task.

Socialism is all about cooperative control and common ownership of natural resources, utilities, social services, production, distribution, and allocation. What is becoming clearer is the need to change to an economy based on human wants and needs rather than profit and competition and the only way to end the tyranny and power of the very few, over the lives of us all. Rather than profit as the 'bottom line' in a system based on division and so much inequity socialism would become focused on solving social questions and providing for the welfare and safety, the best health, education and child-care, more leisure time for creative and recreational pursuits, for community and personal activities and a rich diversity of life-styles and opportunities. Our system would be based on people, not profit.

A simple reflection on what is at the core of our social problems - the huge economic crisis, poverty, increasing joblessness, the insecurity, crime and racism, unequal and inadequate educational opportunities, the lack of even basic healthcare for all, lost homes, the environmental devastation and inadequate safeguards to our families and communities, can all be narrowed to one basic cause: the capitalist economic system that presently prevails, who controls it and how it is being run. The planet possesses abundance yet our economic system and its political institutions have failed to give us a sustainable, peaceful, healthy, egalitarian and harmonious society. And now the very future well-being of the planet itself is threatened.

Societies are man-made which means they can be undone.  Nor are they static. They are evolving. Today we live within a system which has become capable of creating nearly unbelievable wealth with the minimum of human labour. Sounds good. But it is not set up to produce nor distribute that wealth to all. We have been hoodwinked into thinking we are incapable of any fundamental change. We have been told over and over again that without capitalism’s selfishness, competition, fear or greed to motivate us, we will be lost. Every day while we work and co-operate together, we credit it to the 'system', not ourselves. Without thinking, we believe the Big Lie. Corporate control of government and media has convinced us into thinking we have no right to control our economy, no right to interfere with profit-margins and the marketing of dangerous products that result in environmental pollution, or in the business strategies that leads to out-sourcing and job-losses, outrageous inequalities and Wall Street bank bailouts. We are led to believe that our economy is rightfully owned and ruled by capitalists because they are the best at making the 'right’ decisions by fearlessly following the 'free-market’, taking chances, taking risks to create profit thereby ensure our society's success.

Yet it has been long recognised that the real wealth, power, and creative energy belongs to those who produce it:  the majority, the plain 'ordinary' people who do the work every day, create the wealth we enjoy and from whom flow all the benefits that our society offers. From growing food to building laptops, from fixing roads to teaching our kids in the classroom it is not the capitalist who is necessary, but we ourselves who perform all the work. It is time to understand it is us who create the wealth, and it is the CEOs and share-holders who are the complete dependent on the people who do the work, and not vice-versa.