'If
they speak consciously and openly to the working class, then they
summarise their philanthropy in the following words: It is better to
be exploited by one’s fellow-countrymen than by foreigners.’ Marx,
1848
'Because
the condition of the workers of all countries is the same, because
their interests are the same, their enemies the same, they must also
fight together, they must oppose the brotherhood of the bourgeoisie
of all nations with a brotherhood of the workers of all nations.'-
Engels,
1847.
The
abolition of capitalism and the transformation to a socialist society
is the only solution to Scotland's many problems. The capitalist
class say that socialism is impossible because it is in their class
interests to say so. No party of capitalism can solve the
problems faced by the wage and salary working class and so none of
them are worth voting for. Scotland's
independence
is just not possible within the context of globalised capitalism.
Certainly, formal sovereignty, is possible, where it would have the
full power to make decisions without reference to any “mother
parliament”. But there’s a difference between the mere legal
power to do something and what can be done in practice. In practice
all states, when exercising their sovereign power to make decisions,
have to take into account the economic reality that there exists a
single world market economy on which they are dependent.
A
state can exercise some degree of influence on how the world market
operates in relation to it - it erect tariff walls, subsidise
exports, devalue its currency - but this depends on its economic
clout. The
interest of the working class in all countries is to reject all
nationalism, to reject in fact the very idea of “foreigner”, and
to recognise that they have a common interest with people in other
countries in the same economic situation of being obliged to sell
their mental and physical energies in order to get a living.
The
liberation for Scottish workers can only come about by overthrowing
capitalism itself. If this is not done, no amount of separatism can
ever succeed in bringing freedom. Instead of tragically wasting time
fostering nationalism, workers should be struggling for a socialist
society without national borders. All
the fuss abour Scottish separatism is an irrelevance. It will not
give the people of Sotland more control over their own affairs. The
only change that will do that is a change in the whole social system,
replacing competitive production for profit and minority ownership by
co-operative production. Neither an independent sovereign Scotland or
United Kingdom can achieve this. It is only feasible in a money-free,
frontier-free society which, for those with vision, is the next stage
in human social evolution. Scotland can
achieve, along with the workers of all countries, the victory which
will end for all time the exploitation of man-by-man. The history of
the future will tell of the final assault and triumph of humanity
over slavery and humiliation and the world will be the inheritance of
the people as a whole.
Independence
from England will not cure the poverty and insecurity of the Scottish
workers, because they will still be the wages labour and capital
relationship. There
is no truly independent country in the world, because international
capitalism has made sure of this. The
SNP tell us that independence from England and the control of our own
purse strings will cure all our problems. What they do not seem to
realise is that the problems they are going to try to solve are an
integral part of the capitalist system. The SNP demand for its
constitutional “right" to control the economy, completely
ignores the fact that this is purely a paper right. The capitalist
economy works according to certain economic laws which no government
or legislative body can over-ride. So the argument about sovereignty
is not really about what the constitution may or may not say. It's
about the effective power that a capitalist state can exercise within
the capitalist economy. Capitalism has always existed within a
framework of competing states, none of which is strong enough to
impose its will on all the others. States, as weapons in the hands of
rival groups of capitalists, intervene to further the interests of
the capitalists that control them. They do this by using state power
to set up protected markets, raw materials sources, trade routes and
investment outlets. In normal times their weapons are tariffs, taxes,
quotas, export rebates and other economic measures. When they judge
that their vital interest is at stake their weapons are . . .
weapons. They go to war.
Workers
have nothing to gain from the redrawing of the boundaries, but some
Scottish entrepreneurs and bureaucrats certainly do have a chance of
making good if only they can persuade the electorate to back them.
Can't
we see that the only people who would gain anything from Scottish
independence would be local politicians who would become big fish in
a small pond? There can be no relief for the oppressed
Scotsman in changing an English robber for an Scottish one. The
person of the robber does not matter—it is the fact of the robbery
that spells misery. National divisions are a hindrance to
working-class unity and action, and national jealousies and
differences are fostered by the capitalists for their own ends. The
Scottish capitalist is in no wise more merciful than the English
exploiter. The Scottish capitalist competes with the English
capitalist because the latter stands in the way of a more thorough
exploitation of the Scot workers by Scottish capital. Let the
thieves fight their own battles! For the worker in Scotland there is
but one hope. It is to join the Scottish branches of the Socialist
Party and to make common cause with the socialist workers of all
countries for the end of all forms of exploitation; saying to both
English and native capitalists: "A plague on both your houses".
For the true battle-cry of the working class in broader, more
significant and more inspiring than mere nationalism, and that rally
cry is: THE WORLD FOR THE WORKERS!
What,
in all honesty, do nationalists got to gain with the “independence”
they so dearly yearn after. It means being trapped within borders -
artificial constructs, no, prisons - inside of the bigger prison of
capitalism. We always have a choice: we can continue to place our
power as a class into the hands of leaders who use it to pursue the
interests of a capitalist elite, or, we can take responsibility for
it collectively and use it to further the interests of all humanity.
Socialism is a form of globalisation – a
globalisation of human community that
abolishes capital against
the sort of globalisation that is subservient to the transnational
corporations. Members
of the Socialist Party do not aspire to Scottish independence but to
the emancipation of all humanity through the establishment of world
socialism. It is not “English rule” that is responsible for the
problems faced by workers in Scotland, but capitalism. Socialist
society will mean the liberation of all mankind.
As
socialists, we don't take sides in any inter-capitalist argument. We
don't support one section of the capitalist class or the other.
Let
the capitalist class and their parties and supporters settle the
matter for themselves. In the meantime we continue to campaign for
the establishment of a world society without frontiers where the
resources of the Earth are the common heritage of humanity.
The
voice of the Socialist Party in Scotland is a small but a constant
one. All parties are in opposition to it but it persists. It will
continue to expose those who, under the guise of liberators, continue
to mislead the working class.
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