Submit to wage slavery or fight it

To build a socialist movement we need to clearly state what it is. There is great confusion in the world today over this question. Our aim is to try to clear some of this up.

 The range of single-issue campaigns around which people are active is wide in diversity. Many have a critique that is not revolutionary or socialist. Nevertheless, they are not easily absorbed within the usual bounds of reformist politics either. The aim of the Socialist Party is the overthrow of the capitalist class. Every political party defends the interest of one class or another in society. On all questions, in every battle, our Party defends the interests of the working class and works to prepare its victory over the capitalists. A handful of capitalists control our planet and make vast profits off the labour of the working people and the natural resources of the land. All the major means of production - the factories, forests, farms, fisheries and mines are in the hands of a few capitalists. Capitalism is a system of exploitation. A handful of parasites lives off the sweat and toil of the workers. The capitalists get rich from the fruit of our labour. At the end of the week or month, a worker collects their pay. The capitalist claim this is a fair exchange. But it is highway robbery. In reality, workers get paid for only a small part of what they produce. The rest, the surplus value, goes straight into the hands of the capitalists. The bosses get rich, not because they have "taken risks" or "worked harder," as they would have us believe. The more they keep wages down and get fewer workers to do more work, the more they can steal from us and the greater their profits. If the bosses think they can make more profit somewhere else, they just close their factories and throw the workers out on the street.

 Capitalism has no regard for its senior citizens; once it has squeezed the working life out of the workers they are tossed away. Capitalist society also callously mistreats disabled people because everything is geared to the drive for profits. For working people, the future is less and less certain. Wages fall or remain stagnant while working conditions deteriorate. People live miserable conditions so a select clique of very wealthy individuals can live in luxury. The idea that everyone can get rich under this system is a lie invented by the rich themselves. Under capitalism, the only way to get rich is to trample on someone else. There is only room for a few capitalists - at any time the great majority must work and be robbed. This exploitative and oppressive system, where profit is master, has choked our entire society with economic crises, political repression and social decay. The drive for profits holds millions hostage to hunger and want; it has poisoned the very air that we breathe and water that we drink; it spawns cynicism and violence, drugs, crime and social devastation. The problems of capitalism - exploitation, anarchy of production, speculation and crisis, and the whole system of injustice - arise from the self-interest of the tiny group of capitalists. The essential feature of capitalism, that very thing which makes the system one of exploitation and robbery of the mass of wage workers by the ruling class of capitalists, namely the private ownership of the means of production and exchange, this remained untouched. This is why workers have only one choice: either submit to this wage slavery or fight it.

Socialism will be a better society, one which will present unprecedented possibilities for the improvement of common peoples' lives. Because working people will control the great wealth they produce, they will be fundamentally able to determine their own futures. The end of exploitation of one person by another will be a resounding liberating and transforming force. Socialism does not mean government control. Today we often hear of government control of the railways or post office as "creeping socialism" but that is state-capitalism.  Socialism is when the means of production - the large factories, mines, forests, big farms, offices, transport systems, media, communications, retail-shopping chains will be taken into common ownership. The economy will be planned to serve human needs rather than simply profit and luxury consumption by the rich. This will release the productive capacity of the economy from the limitations of profit maximisation. A great expansion in useful production and the wealth of society will become useful. Rational planning will replace anarchy. Coordination and planning of the broad outlines of production by public elected agencies will aim at building an economy that will be stable, benefit the people and steadily advance. Redirecting the productive capacity to human needs will require a variety of economic methods and experiments. There could be a combination of central planning and local coordination. Various policies might be used with changing conditions. But no matter what means are chosen, a socialist economy must uphold the basic principles of social ownership, production for the people's needs, and the elimination of exploitation. Factories and other productive facilities will be automated to eliminate back-breaking labour and ecological damage. Productivity gains will be used to shorten the working day and improve living standards, rather than create unemployment. Construction of housing, schools, medical, cultural and sporting facilities for working people will be a priority. With socialism, goods and services will be distributed on the basis of from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs. No longer will landlords and speculators live off the labour of others. Every person will get the opportunity to contribute to society as much as they are able.  Transforming the main productive enterprises from private to social ownership will allow workers to manage democratically their own work places through workers' councils and elected administrators, in place of the myriad of supervisors and consultants today. In this way, workers will be able to make their work places safe and efficient places that can serve their own interests as well as society,