The
Socialist
Party rejects allegiance to any State and regard themselves as
citizens of the world. We accept the boundaries between States as
they are (and as they may change) and work within them to win control
of each State with a view to abolishing them all. Our aim is the
establishment of a democratic world community without frontiers based
on the common ownership of the world's resources.
Independence
simply meant a transfer of power to a new group of politicians, while
the structure of state and society is but little changed.
Certainly socialism will allow the fullest linguistic and cultural diversity. Of course, people should be free to speak the language of their choice and, if they occupy a distinct area, to have social affairs discussed and administered in that language. The language question, however, is distinct from the so-called national question. Welsh-speaking socialists have long recognised that they are Welsh-speaking world citizens.
The Scottish TUC once in 1921 declared "It was disgraceful they should be wasting time over a question like Home Rule. It was of no consequence to the working class. While capitalism continued the workers would not be any better off even when Home Rule was in operation". Let us hope someone can be found to say the same at the next STUC conference.
Marx and Engels got it wrong on nationalism. Although Marx and Engels had declared that workers have no country and urged the workers of the world to unite, this was not their only statement on the matter. They also made a distinction between "historical nations" (such as Poland and Ireland) and "non-historical nations" (such as the Czechs, Scots and Welsh). Historical nations met with their approval because, as independent states, they could be progressive in terms of capitalist development. Non-historical nations, on the other hand, were doomed to be assimilated into the more progressive states (with "democracy as compensation", as Engels put it). Non-historical nations were not viable as independent states in a capitalist world, argued Marx and Engels, and any movement for state independence in such nations could only be reactionary. Marxism explains how workers are exploited and unfree, not as individuals or particular nationalities, but as members of a class. From this perspective, identifying with a class provides as a rational basis for working class political action. The objective would be a stateless world community of free access. Given that nationalism does nothing to further this understanding, however, it is an obstruction to world socialism.
Becoming class conscious involves rejecting nationalism. The illusions of nationality are yet another tool of the ruling class, intended to trick workers into thinking that this really is some kind of collective society, and to misplace their passions that could otherwise be directed into the class struggle.
The Socialist Party emphasises the world, rather than the inter-national, character of socialism.
Certainly socialism will allow the fullest linguistic and cultural diversity. Of course, people should be free to speak the language of their choice and, if they occupy a distinct area, to have social affairs discussed and administered in that language. The language question, however, is distinct from the so-called national question. Welsh-speaking socialists have long recognised that they are Welsh-speaking world citizens.
The Scottish TUC once in 1921 declared "It was disgraceful they should be wasting time over a question like Home Rule. It was of no consequence to the working class. While capitalism continued the workers would not be any better off even when Home Rule was in operation". Let us hope someone can be found to say the same at the next STUC conference.
Marx and Engels got it wrong on nationalism. Although Marx and Engels had declared that workers have no country and urged the workers of the world to unite, this was not their only statement on the matter. They also made a distinction between "historical nations" (such as Poland and Ireland) and "non-historical nations" (such as the Czechs, Scots and Welsh). Historical nations met with their approval because, as independent states, they could be progressive in terms of capitalist development. Non-historical nations, on the other hand, were doomed to be assimilated into the more progressive states (with "democracy as compensation", as Engels put it). Non-historical nations were not viable as independent states in a capitalist world, argued Marx and Engels, and any movement for state independence in such nations could only be reactionary. Marxism explains how workers are exploited and unfree, not as individuals or particular nationalities, but as members of a class. From this perspective, identifying with a class provides as a rational basis for working class political action. The objective would be a stateless world community of free access. Given that nationalism does nothing to further this understanding, however, it is an obstruction to world socialism.
Becoming class conscious involves rejecting nationalism. The illusions of nationality are yet another tool of the ruling class, intended to trick workers into thinking that this really is some kind of collective society, and to misplace their passions that could otherwise be directed into the class struggle.
The Socialist Party emphasises the world, rather than the inter-national, character of socialism.
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