The Great Emancipation

Capitalism is a system of commodity production (that is, the production of goods for sale and not for direct use by the producer) which is distinguished by the fact that labour power itself becomes a commodity. The major means of production and exchange which make up the capital of society are owned privately by a small minority, the capitalist class, while the great majority of the population consists of workers. Because of their economic position, this majority can only exist by selling their labour power to the capitalists and thus creating through their work the incomes of the upper classes. Thus, fundamentally, capitalism is a system of exploitation of the working class by the capitalist class. Capitalism, having its foundation in the slavery and exploitation of the masses, can only rule by corrupt means. The socialist revolution is the most profound of all revolutions in history. It initiates changes more rapid and far-reaching than any in the whole experience of mankind. The hundreds of millions of workers striking off their age-old chains of slavery will construct a society of liberty and prosperity and intelligence. Socialism will inaugurate a new era for the human race, the building of a new world. The overthrow of capitalism and the arrival of socialism will bring about the immediate or eventual solution of many great social problems. Some of these originate in capitalism, and others have plagued the human race for scores of centuries. Among them are war, religious superstition, sexism, famine, pestilence, crime, poverty, alcoholism and drug addiction, unemployment, illiteracy, race and national chauvinism and every form of slavery and exploitation of one class by another. Capitalism, based upon human exploitation, stands as the great barrier to social progress. Capitalist society is like a badly constructed machine, in which one part is continually interfering with the movements of another  Socialism releases productive forces strong enough to provide plenty for all and it destroys the whole accompanying capitalist baggage of cultivated ignorance, strife, and misery. Socialism frees humanity from the stultifying effects of the present animal struggle for existence and opens up before it new horizons. The message of socialism, which, a few years ago was spurned, falls today upon eager ears and receptive minds.  The day is not so far distant when our children and grand-children will look back with horror upon capitalism.

The basis of communist society must be the social ownership of the means of production. All the means of production must be under the control of society as a whole. What do we mean by 'society as a whole'? We mean that ownership and control is not the privilege of a class but of all the persons who make up society. In these circumstances, society will be transformed into a huge coordinated network of working organisations for cooperative production. No longer will one enterprise compete with another; the factories, workshops, mines, and other productive institutions will all be parts of one vast people's workshop, which will embrace the entire world economy of production. 

In a communist society, there will be no classes. But if there will be no classes, this implies that in communist society there will likewise be no State. The State is a class organisation of the rulers. The State is always directed by one class against the other. A bourgeois State is directed against the proletariat, whereas a proletarian State is directed against the bourgeoisie. In socialism there are neither landlords, nor capitalists, nor wage workers; there are simply people - comrades. If there are no classes, then there is no class war, and there are no class organizations. Consequently, the State has ceased to exist. Since there is no class war, the State has become superfluous. There is no one to be held in restraint, and there is no one to impose restraint. The State, therefore, has ceased to exist. There are no groups and there is no class standing above all other classes. The bureaucracy, the permanent officialdom, will disappear. The State will die out.

The Socialist Party is not begging for votes, nor asking votes, nor bargaining for votes. It is not in the vote market. It wants votes but only of those who want it - those who recognise is as their party, and come to it of their own free will. To be sure we want all the votes we can get but only as a means of developing the political power of the working class in the struggle for industrial freedom, and not that we may revel in the spoils of office. The workers have never yet developed or made use of their political power. They have played the game of their masters for the benefit of the master class - and how many of them, disgusted with their own blind and stupid performance are renouncing politics and refusing to see any difference between the capitalist parties financed by the ruling class to perpetuate class rule and the Socialist party organised and funded by the workers themselves as a means of wresting the control of government and of industry from the capitalists and making the working class the ruling class of the nation and the world.

There is but one issue for the Socialist Party - the unconditional surrender of the capitalistic class.  In the name of the workers, the Socialist Party condemns the capitalist system. In the name of freedom, it condemns wage-slavery. In the name of modern technology, it condemns poverty and famine. In the name of peace, it condemns war. In the name of civilisation, it condemns nationalism, racism, and xenophobia. In the name of enlightenment, it condemns religious superstition. In the name in the name of humanity, it demands social justice for every man, woman, and child. The Socialist Party points out clearly why our fellow-workers' situation is hopeless under capitalism, how they are robbed and exploited. The education, organisation, and co-operation of the workers, the entire body of them, is the conscious aim and the self-imposed task of the Socialist Party. Persistently, unceasingly, and enthusiastically this great work is being accomplished. It is the working class coming into consciousness of itself, and no power on earth can prevail against it in the hour of its complete awakening. The social conscience and the social spirit will prevail. Society will have a new birth and humanity a new destiny. There will be work for all, leisure for all, and the joys of life for all. Competition there will be, not in the struggle for existence, but to excel in good work and in social service.

These are the ideals of the Socialist Party and to these ideals, it has devoted all its energies and all its powers. The members of the Socialist Party are the party and their collective will is the supreme authority. The Socialist Party is organised and ruled from the bottom up. There is no party leader and there never can be unless the party deserts its principles and ceases to be a socialist party. The party is supported by a dues-paying membership. Each member has not only an equal voice but is urged to take part in all the party activity. Each branch is an educational centre. The party relies wholly upon the power of education, knowledge, and persuasion.

Onward, comrades, onward in the struggle, until triumphant socialism proclaims the Emancipation of Labour.