Towards real socialism

Did you ever ask yourself why capitalism continues to exist in spite of all the problems it is causing in the world? The simple answer is because the people support capitalism and that they support it because they believe in it. As long as most people believe in the ideas of capitalism it will remain unassailable. A battle of ideas is required, not street battles at the barricades. A popular movement if it is able to ideologically defeat the ruling class then civil servants and police will defect, making a non-violent peaceful revolution possible. Armed insurrection usually gives cause to adversaries to be savage and ruthless, and the State is very much better organized and equipped for any such militarised confrontation. The outcome is inevitably tragic for the workers’ side. The ruling class is increasingly nervous because they know that if revolutionary ideas that question their legitimacy prevail and if their own propaganda to justify their privilege and power fails, they are finished. This is why voices of dissent are suppressed by the state. It is tempting to view the ruling class as simply sadistic but they are mostly acting out of fear, afraid of equality, afraid of real democracy, and afraid of justice. Batons and tear-gas may work in the short-term, but they won’t put out the spirit of change.

Although it appears that the social struggles are lying dormant, radical ideas are percolating are rising among our fellow-workers. Popular discontent for the ruling elite across the political spectrum, from Right to Left is nearly universal. A righteous anger of the people exists. It is a question of which ideas will win through. An insignificant spark can easily ignite a rebellion. No one knows where or when the eruption will take place. We cannot ‘make’ a real revolution. No person or movement can ignite it. No one knows the form it will take. They appear suddenly and unexpectedly, neither the rulers’ nor the workers’ parties having any warning.  But socialists must be organised to educate and agitate when it arrives to transform destructive anger into constructive revolution. The articulation of a viable socialism is of a vital necessity. Once the vision of a new society takes hold in the popular imagination, the old regime is finished. Opposition and protest devoid of ideas and vision are never a threat to the ruling class. Without a clear definition and direction, without ideas behind it, revolution descends into chaos. The development of revolutionary consciousness often goes unseen and unnoticed. The slow, quiet, and peaceful social evolution becomes a revolution. This is where we are headed. Other than an apocalyptic catastrophe, socialism is the only option left. The Socialist Party has the potential to educate people before it’s too late.

Because the socialist movement is an organic living network around the world, it is difficult to set forth a clear blueprint or predict the future. Still, we can embrace certain general principles. Socialism is a concept not well understood, but it essentially advocates a system of common-ownership and democratic control. The goal is actual participation by the people in the running of our affairs, including the work place. Rather than having politicians make all of the important decisions “for” us, a socialist society would have delegates who could be recalled and replaced if they started making decisions on matters of import without the consent of the majority. This is actually the way we have organized ourselves for most of our time on planet Earth. In other words, real participatory democracy of self-governing associations. Socialism is interdependent, interconnected and integrated.

Socialism will consist of  communities with rules, social norms, and accepted practices for managing their commonly-owned shared resources. It is not a free-for-all society in which there is no community, no rules which, in truth, is something more akin to the right-wing libertarian free-marketeers where people’s lives become more atomized and communities have been broken down. Socialism will run by the people who will choose to administer resources in a democratic collective manner, with a special regard for free and equitable access, production for use, and responsible stewardship of the environment. There will be no more private or state plunder of our common wealth. Cooperative activity will supersede the predatory markets and centralised bureaucracies. The scale of human connection has grown - from tribes to communities to nation-states and norms and ethics become inevitable in spaces where groups of human beings come together to interact with another. We know that urban populations are going to keep increasing in the foreseeable future. So we must radically re-imagine our cities. They must become not only ecologically productive and sustainable but able to reflect its citizens’ wishes by participatory democracy and socialising sports and leisure, the arts and culture, cooking and eating.

If the revolution is to be successful it must be global. The very thought of workers internationalism has always struck fear into the capitalist class everywhere. They are accustomed to living in a transnational existence and benefit when we the people are confined within borders but the digital revolution permits us, for the first time, to create a true international. It is time to recapture the spirit of the Industrial Workers of the World and the idea of a global “One Big Union”. The modes of socialist organisation are extremely elastic and can be formed, modified adapted and adjusted, added to, re-shaped and re-formed according to local conditions and changing circumstances, therein is its chief strength. The world socialist movement will be a flexible network of various relationships of mutual aid. Errors and mistakes will thus be confined to the jurisdiction of specific groups and so limiting damage.

Socialists have a daunting task ahead. But it may not be as hopeless as it seems. Capitalism relies to a great extent on voluntary servitude. When enough people in what may be a mass awakening decide the game is up, the game will be up.