Capitalism has failed

We in the Socialist Party have always argued that many workers would arrive at conclusions similar to those of ourselves on their own, without encountering the Socialist Party's speakers or publications.

 We have thought that the basic causes of problems would be recognised and attacked, not just the symptoms. We held others would identify the pursuit of profit as responsible for the ills of society, for gross inequalities, for the bloodshed of war, for the waste of production, for people's need to obey and conform.

 The alternative a system without prices or money, based on co-operation not competition, with work done by volunteers, after all, there would still be plenty of motivation to work in a society where people would be cooperating to produce the best possible, free of stress and worries. Without useless jobs and pointless wars and so on. it would be possible to produce an abundance of goods, for people to take as they wish.

 The Socialist Party is often accused of being unrealistic in our demand for an end to the profit system as the only way of ending mass poverty. We are told that we must live in the “real world”, where we must proceed one step at a time, and support various legislative and regulatory campaigns.

 But we are beginning to see others who think it is time to challenge the root cause of world poverty, to end the “real world” in which human beings needlessly die and the planet is systematically ravaged in the name of profit. They and we have got this idea to have all the food, clothing, housing, transport and entertainment, and the factory have all the plant and raw materials they need at a cost of nothing, no money, satisfying our needs directly without the need for finance or financiers. Too simple? But the truth is always simple. Understanding it is the hard bit but as we see, many others outside the World Socialist Movement are learning.

When will our fellow-workers awake to a consciousness of their surroundings and take over the political machine in their own interests to sweep away the whole tainted system of capitalism? It is the mission of the propertyless class—our class - instead of seeking to participate in the division of the spoils—to see to it that there shall be no spoils. To do this they must put an end to the exploitation of the producers by the non-producers, i.e., the capitalists.

The class-war is the basis of the socialist movement. Does that mean that socialists created the class-war? On the contrary, we merely perceived an already existing fact (to which our fellow-slaves are either wholly or partially blind), and we further realise that this war can terminate in only one way, i.e., the emancipation of the workers through the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of the common ownership of the means of life. 

 This social ownership is the central, basic factor in the matter, not some fantastic dream of a perfect social state which merely reflects the imperfections of that which exists at present. So long as class-ownership continues and production is carried on for profit, so long will the workers endure the effects of the ensuing chaos in society. Instead, the coordinated conduct of production and distribution in accordance with the needs of the community locally and globally will give mankind for the first time the conscious control of their means of living. Henceforward waste will be eliminated for the benefit of all. The resources of the world are barely scratched.

 Whole continents cry out for development, but capitalism cannot respond. The world-wide co-operation of the working class alone can make peaceful progress possible. 

 Only when the satisfaction of our needs and wants are secured will the opportunity arise for the universal cultivation of distinctively human qualities, and where social harmony will be achieved. Personal liberty and initiative are not only not alien to socialism but are an integral part of it.