Reorganise the economy on socialist principles

The Socialist Party understands full well that the class struggle is a vital part of life today. The Socialist Party seek to abolish the class struggle by calling attention to it, by exposing its meaning, by pointing to its consequences and by organising the workers, as a class, for the construction of the class-free society of socialism. The Socialist Party understands full well that the class struggle is a vital part of life today. The effects of capitalism reach into every corner of our lives.

 Some reform-minded men and women active in the labour movement understand the fact of the class struggle, but who nonetheless rejected the revolutionary conclusions of engaging in that struggle. These are facts, and it takes nothing away from their reputations as courageous men to recognise that, in the end, they accepted capitalism and rejected the genuine socialist movement.

Many capitalists try to pretend it doesn't exist. Because capitalist interests are in conflict with the interests of humanity the class struggle is denied. The capitalist class has an interest in raising future generations of wage slaves who are schooled to obey authority without question, not to think independently, to support capitalism and hate socialism. Outright lies must be used to defend capitalism. Our children are being cheated and robbed. They are being deprived even of childhood itself. We know that our children are being harmed by an economic system that runs on profits exploited from workers. We know that the degree of harm is growing as exploitation is increased to make up for shrinking profit margins. And we can predict that this harm will continue as long as we live under capitalism. Why are things this way? It is because of the very nature of capitalism. Capitalists control the entire economy, and capitalists care about nothing except what is profitable to them. They care about the well-being of their workers only if this well-being leads to production and profits. They care about the nurture of working-class children only as new workers to replace a spent generation in the years ahead. Capitalists may cherish their own children, they aren't fond of working-class children. They see a worker's family as a drain on a worker's time and energy, resources that the employer wants an opportunity to consume. There is an ongoing tug of war between our children and our bosses. All too often our children lose the contest. Capitalists apparently care very little whether the workers reproduce themselves. As automation and productivity rise, the number of workers needed to produce a certain amount of goods diminishes, and the number of available replacement workers increases. Thus, individual workers become disposable because it is so easy to replace them. It is not necessary to keep an employee who is less than satisfactory in any way because another worker can be employed instead. And it certainly is not necessary to support a worker who is spending time and energy on a family, because that worker is easy to replace with a worker who will spend this time and energy on the job.

It should be obvious to even the most casual observer that the interests of the family are directly opposite the interests of the capitalists. If we as workers controlled production and distribution of goods, the wealth we created with our labor could be used to meet all of our needs. We could allocate our resources to the areas we considered most important. We could surround our children with the love and attention of entire families, without fear of want. But we can't do that as long as we are burdened with capitalism.

The whole system is quite insane. It is not meeting the basic needs of people. In a sane society, things would be different. Production schedules would be determined by needs, not by profits. Workers would no longer have to support these parasites that make up the capitalist class, and so plenty of material goods would be available for all workers and their families as well. The necessary work would be shared by everybody, spread among a large number of workers. The workload would be lighter and the workweek would be shorter. All workers would have time to spend and enjoy with their families. Sane and sensible social relations and economic conditions do not exist under capitalism, and they never will. That day will not come until the working class wakes up to these facts and organises its political and economic power to take over control of production and reorganise the economy on socialist principles. The first step is for those who already understand this to act on their knowledge by coming forward to help spread the socialist message and to join the Socialist Party.

The working-class can no longer afford to waste time looking to politicians for answers. Governments cannot solve a problem that is inherent in the economic system. The economic causes of our problems are clear. The failure of government to solve them is a matter of record and is being demonstrated once again. The fact that -- because of the "expense" involved -- it presently balks at the barest measures to even ease the economic burdens of workers further indicts the capitalist system. The failing family and the poverty, unemployment and hopelessness that engender it cannot be prevented under capitalism. Capitalism is the family's destroyer. Workers must look to themselves for a solution, for the solution lies in making a basic change to a new social system: a change that only an organized working class can make -- a change to a socialist system. Socialism alone -- with democratic, social control of industry in place of the dictatorial control of a parasitical capitalist minority, with production for human wants and needs in place of production for the profit of a few -- can provide economic security and material abundance for all. Socialism alone can give leisure time back to workers and their families so that they may nurture each other and spur the advancement of humankind. It alone can establish the social and economic conditions for a new era of relations between the sexes, liberated from the pressures and constraints of archaic capitalism. It is now time that workers begin taking matters into their own hands and begin building a movement for socialism -- to save our families, our children and society's future.