There are those who criticise the Socialist Party for participating in elections and we are accused of advocating parliamentary action. Indeed we do but at no time do we envisage getting elected on a reform programme which we would then try to get parliament to implement. Our case against parliamentary reformism is that firstly many of the reforms that can be achieved are reforms that would strengthen capitalism and would only be passed with this end in view; and secondly, campaigning for reforms would corrupt a socialist party and relegate the establishment of a socialist society to a secondary purpose. Socialism can only come through the efforts of an organisation having that as its goal, and in a capitalist society that organisation must find expression as a political party – a socialist party.
Running Socialist Party candidates is all about exposing the agenda of the employing class, challenging the false promises and policy lies of the pro-capitalist candidates, and putting forward socialism as the alternative for working people. Running candidates is about providing a platform to gain support for the idea of socialism. Elections are an organising tool to expose the powers that be and to confront the ideology of the bosses. There are some who believe that the elections were created as a trap to ensnare the socialist movement. In reality, the ruling elite has systematically looked to deny anyone that dispute their right to exist the right to vote. If we limit our struggles just to the workplace and the streets, then that allows the 1% to dominate the other arenas available in society. They already control the courts, the police, and the mass media. But we can battle them in the political arena. The idea that boycotting or abstaining from the election is the best way to resist the 1% neglects this fact. That’s why we need to challenge them in the elections as well as in every other arena. Also, if we do not try to win support from those angry at the system’s failures, then the right-wing will endeavour to do so by tapping into working people’s legitimate frustrations and anxieties. But their solutions will amount to not much more than populist scapegoating.
Marx and Engels insisted the overthrow of capitalism will only be accomplished by the working class. “The emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves...” [“Provisional Rules of the Association,” in The General Council of the First International]. Hence, the goal of socialists must be to consistently assist in the organization of the working class so that it is in a position to consciously act in its own self-interests independently of the interests of capitalists. Working people must come to the realisation that they are members of an exploited class and that capitalism does not operate in their interests, and their only salvation lies in joining together in order to collectively create an entirely different economic system that actually operates in the interests of the majority.
The Socialist Party has been successful in developing a clear critique of capitalism, reaching out to let as many workers understand the system they live under. We're holding up a sign to let workers who have come to socialist ideas themselves know we're here. The revolution will not happen because workers have or have not been exposed to our case. They won't even read it unless they feel the need it, they'll continue to support capitalism as long as they feel they need capitalism. Prevailing powerful propaganda is a useful tool for the ruling class, but it cannot overrule the lived experience and capacity of workers to think. It only works now because it is going with the grain.
We reject the conservative call 'a fair day's pay for a fair days work', in favor of the revolutionary call 'Abolish the Wages System'.
We recognise that the wages currently paid by the employing classes, can never be 'fair' because they represent only the market-price to the employer (buyer of labour, competing in that market with all other buyers/employers) of the employees' ability to labour ('labour-power') : they bear no necessary relation to the prices that labours' products eventually realise on successful Sale by the employer ( the products of labour belong to the employer) on the market. Indeed the employer's profit grows in direct proportion to the difference between the two prices. Hence the perpetual pressure from the employers to resist wage increases, or improvements in working conditions, or indeed, force wages down and worsen conditions.
We recognise that, within this 'arrangement' the employee class can only ever, on average, gain in wages it's subsistence as necessary to maintain and reproduce it's labour-power under the market conditions prevailing at a particular time: we do not oppose actions by the employees to raise their wages or improve their conditions, but recognise such pressures can never move their position far beyond that average.
We recognise that in times of 'boom', when employers are keen to maximise production as far as possible and so seek to avoid disruptions to production, such actions to raise wages are most likely to succeed, at least temporarily; conversely, in times of 'recession' when the employers are curtailing production and shedding labour, they are almost certain to fail, except, perhaps, in certain industries that are perhaps not as subject to the general down-turn.
We recognise that competitive production only for profit between a myriad 'blind' competing employers is the last remaining cause of poverty in the world today - the purely technical problem of producing sufficiency for all, reliably, has long since been conquered - and that capitalism and its wages system cannot be reformed to work in any other way than it currently does and always has.
We say again 'Abolish the Wages System'. This will occur when a majority of the population opts to take the means of production and distribution of the common property of the whole community, under the democratic control of the whole community, producing only for use (without the paraphernalia of wages and prices only necessary to support sale at a profit for the benefit of the tiny and shrinking minorities currently monopolising those means of production and distribution) which implies free access for all to the socially available product.
We reject the conservative call 'a fair day's pay for a fair days work', in favor of the revolutionary call 'Abolish the Wages System'.
We recognise that the wages currently paid by the employing classes, can never be 'fair' because they represent only the market-price to the employer (buyer of labour, competing in that market with all other buyers/employers) of the employees' ability to labour ('labour-power') : they bear no necessary relation to the prices that labours' products eventually realise on successful Sale by the employer ( the products of labour belong to the employer) on the market. Indeed the employer's profit grows in direct proportion to the difference between the two prices. Hence the perpetual pressure from the employers to resist wage increases, or improvements in working conditions, or indeed, force wages down and worsen conditions.
We recognise that, within this 'arrangement' the employee class can only ever, on average, gain in wages it's subsistence as necessary to maintain and reproduce it's labour-power under the market conditions prevailing at a particular time: we do not oppose actions by the employees to raise their wages or improve their conditions, but recognise such pressures can never move their position far beyond that average.
We recognise that in times of 'boom', when employers are keen to maximise production as far as possible and so seek to avoid disruptions to production, such actions to raise wages are most likely to succeed, at least temporarily; conversely, in times of 'recession' when the employers are curtailing production and shedding labour, they are almost certain to fail, except, perhaps, in certain industries that are perhaps not as subject to the general down-turn.
We recognise that competitive production only for profit between a myriad 'blind' competing employers is the last remaining cause of poverty in the world today - the purely technical problem of producing sufficiency for all, reliably, has long since been conquered - and that capitalism and its wages system cannot be reformed to work in any other way than it currently does and always has.
We say again 'Abolish the Wages System'. This will occur when a majority of the population opts to take the means of production and distribution of the common property of the whole community, under the democratic control of the whole community, producing only for use (without the paraphernalia of wages and prices only necessary to support sale at a profit for the benefit of the tiny and shrinking minorities currently monopolising those means of production and distribution) which implies free access for all to the socially available product.
Where is the voice of the working class? The Socialist Party say it is the clarion call of our candidates and our members. The Socialist Party has kept alive lessons from the past that today we should all be learning from. Today more than ever, our problems are global. Capitalism is a global system. Not only is it attacking living standards around the world but, due to its insatiable drive for profit with no regard for social consequences, it is threatening the survival of life as we know it on the planet. There has been a groundswell of resistance and a growing disillusionment with “politics as usual”. Our experience on the campaign trail has been that people are more open to alternative ideas and visions. Voters are genuinely looking around for a serious alternative, for a party they can identify with and one that articulates what they have been feeling and thinking. So, is a vote for the Socialist Party a wasted vote? The answer is no. A socialist in parliament can amplify the voices of community, workplace and social campaigns and activists, so they have a better chance of being heard. We have to use all avenues at our disposal, including parliament, to build the movements to defend and mobilise our class. Direct and participatory democracy is all about empowering people so they become the organised force for social change.
Unfortunately, in Scotland, there is no Socialist Party candidate for you to vote for. What we suggest is that you spoil your ballot paper by inscribing "world socialism" on it
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