Our Marxism, Our Socialism

Karl Marx wrote Capital essentially as an explanation of how the capitalist system will destroy itself. Marx had already set out his ideas on class struggle - how the workers of the world would seize power from the ruling elites - in the Communist Manifesto and other writings. Capital is an attempt to give these ideas a grounding in verifiable fact and scientific analysis. It was the product of 30 years of Marx's study into the condition of workers in English factories at the height of the industrial revolution and it is part history, part economics and part sociology. One of Marx's biographers, Francis Wheen, has pointed out, it reads at times like a Gothic novel "whose heroes are enslaved and consumed by the monster they created".

In simple terms, Marx argues that an economic system based on private profit is inherently unstable because it relies on the exploitation of workers. Workers are not paid fairly for their efforts and they don't own the products of their labour, making them little better than machines. The factory owners and other capitalists hold all the power because they control the means of production, allowing them to amass vast fortunes while the workers fall deeper into poverty. This is an unsustainable way to organise society and it will eventually collapse under the weight of its own contradictions, Marx argues. Marx was radicalised by the enclosure of commons, when peasants in Germany who had been collecting fallen wood from forest commons were treated as thieves for under taking customary rights they had enjoyed for hundreds of years. Chapter 27 of Das Kapital examines the enclosure of the English commons by the rich and the powerful. Marx believed in commons as democratic common ownership, where associated producers would co-operate. Central to the meaning of common ownership of resources, is the free access to services/goods This would end the need for buying, selling and even money. The concept of free access to socially produced goods is summed up in the famous socialist phrase, "From each according to abilities, to each accordingly to needs."

The Socialist Party argues that the Soviet Union, for many the ultimate example of a Marxist state, was really just a form of state capitalism, where the factory owners had been replaced by government bureaucrats. Socialism is the common and democratic ownership of the means of production, to be used in the interests of people instead of profits. It is thus incompatible with a state- owned or controlled command economy. The centre point of socialism is common ownership. Instead of society being run for the benefit of a minority and production being based on profit, property is owned collectively and short-term greed is rejected.  Common ownership goes beyond national borders; it means that all resources are owned by the entire global population. This means that nobody can take personal control over resources. Every decision about how to use resources should ideally be made with the participation of all people, or the representatives of every group of people. The socialist value of democratic control means that all people have a right to participate in any decision that impacts them. This is not limited to political decisions; it also extends to decisions about the production of goods and services. Individuals would not need to pay for access to goods and services under socialism. Work is done on a voluntary basis and produces products for the immediate needs of people. This means that all work aims at the ideal of direct usefulness.

The class division and profit motive of capitalism is at the root of most of the world's problems today. This includes everything from starvation and war, to alienation and crime. Every aspect of our lives is subordinated to the worst excesses of the drive to make profit. In capitalist society, our real needs only ever come a poor second to money. Socialism means a global system of social organisation based on common ownership, democratic control by all, production for use, and free access. With the natural and technical resources of the world held in common and controlled democratically, the sole object of production would be to meet human needs. This would entail an end to buying, selling and the use of money.

At present, industry is ruled by the owners of the machines of production and distribution, who have literally the power of life and death over the subjects. Socialism is a political movement that can make it so no one who wants to do productive labour can be deprived of the opportunity of doing it, at any time. Socialism can make it possible to banish want from the face of the earth and make it possible for every family to have a home and to be immune from the fear of want for themselves and their children. These are part of the ideals that the Socialist Party holds and are not mere visions but are things that can be brought to life whenever men and women shall have free access to the means with which things are produced and distributed. It should be stated here that work under socialism will be completely voluntary, and should have no need to be enforced as under capitalism. Goods must be free to all in addition to the required services, and since people will be able to work jobs in which they have a personal aptitude, work will be a pleasure under socialism, and not the unmitigated burden that people try to avoid under capitalism. Hence, virtually all individuals will be happy to do their share of the useful work required in society, and much leisure in which to enjoy it will be available (there is a saying that goes "those who love their occupation never work a day in their life", a saying very applicable to what our life will be like under socialism concerning our jobs). voluntary labour would be implemented and power would be given to local and production councils, which would be democratically elected and ultimately be the foundation of socialism.

 Socialism will be totally emancipatory in all areas of life and will be self-managing, ecologically-friendly and pluralistic, qualitatively extending democracy. The producers must hold the real decision making power over what they produce. This power must be exercised in a completely democratic manner. It is impossible without a radical reduction in the daily and weekly work load. Socialism is a society where the individual no longer needs an elaborate system of government to force him to give way to the will of the majority of his equals. There is no longer criminal nor civil law, but obligations arrived at by mutual consent and based upon commitment to a communal ideal. It is a society without a market as it is understood today, and without money. It is a world of free access where cut-throat competition has been replaced by voluntary co-operation and people give to the common pool according to their abilities and take from it according to their needs. 

The Socialist Party distinguishes itself from the left-wing parties who attempt to be popular by putting a “smiley face” on capitalism. Promoting capitalism can never work and benefit the working class. Although one public official can tweak a few little things in government, if you want real change then you have to remove capitalism entirely in order to have a society that is viable, equitable and worth living in. For the sake of humanity, the future is socialism.