The Way out of the Mess

Socialism means different things to different people. To some it means social reforms, to others state ownership of industry, to others the kind of one-party state that once existed in Russia or China. Very few people however view socialism in the same way as the Socialist Party of Great Britain, that is as a worldwide society without buying and selling in which production takes place not for profit but solely to satisfy human needs. By socialism we mean the class-free, money-free, State-free society that will immediately follow capitalism. In other words, we don't subscribe to the common distortion which has 'socialism' ( really state-capitalism), with money and wages and one-party governments, as a society existing between capitalism and communism. For us, the words 'socialism' and 'communism' are exact synonyms and thus interchangeable.

People who possess nothing sell their labour and get wages which allow them to buy what they need to live. It is clear that such a system cannot co-exist with abundance. Only scarce products keep their value and sell at a profit. Abundant products have no value: they are given and taken. Abundance will never exist in capitalism since production is not motivated by the desire to satisfy consumption but by that of realising a profit. When this profit becomes impossible, production stops. It is then said that there is a crisis, even if many consumers lack the bare necessities. The magnificent scientific achievements of the 20th century have made abundance appear in all the industrialised countries, upsetting their economies from top to bottom since these can only function with a “scarcity" of products and services.  The exchange economy must be replaced by an economy in which wealth is no longer produced to be exchanged but is produced instead simply in order to be distributed to human beings to satisfy their needs.  Under this new system, the means for producing wealth will cease to be the private property of individuals or the State and become the common heritage of all the members of society which will enable them all to draw what they require from the shared store of goods set aside for individual consumption.

Doom and gloom are presently the prevalent moods with many predicting the end of civilisation as a result of global warming.  It’s refreshing that there exists a rather more optimistic alternative for the future. We have arrived at a period in which technology has the potential to raise the basic standard of living for every man, woman and child on the planet. Within a generation, we are capable of providing goods and services, once reserved for the wealthy few, to any and all who need them. Or desire them. Abundance for all is within our grasp. Under capitalism, the advances in technology will be abused. Drones, for instance, which could be used to transport medicine to remote areas, are being used to kill people. Nor can capitalism remove its profit-seeking for capital accumulation as the driving force of economic activity.  Nor will it eliminate the enormous waste of resources this involves, nor prevent economic crises like the present one when austerity, not abundance is the order of the day.

  The all-round application of science and technology has created potential abundance and, from time to time, unsold overstocks at world level, on the one hand, and devastating unemployment on the other. Then goods remain unsold; means of production and machines remain idle, while work-hands remain jobless. This situation has become a regular problem for the global capitalist class. In their ultra-modern factories, farms and workplaces a continually decreasing number of workers are daily producing huge amounts of goods and services and adding to the already existing potential and actual plenty. Abundance for all, that is socialism. However, the task of taking possession of abundance remains pending. It's historical taken – the working class is still lacking this revolutionary will.

By what magic do you intend to bring out this fabulous era of abundance the plutocrats and oligarchs will ask ironically. There's no mystery about it. We will be able to make abundance appear because it is already here. It is not so much that socialism is suddenly going to produce abundance but because capitalism artificially maintains scarcity, it will be more a matter of simply liberating it.

In socialism, goods will be freely available and free of charge. The organisation of society to its very foundations will be without money.

The Socialist Party is like no other political party. First, because it doesn't want power for itself. In the new society we advocate, there will be no power structures anyway and our organisation would cease to exist. Second, because we have no leaders or followers and think instead that collective decision-making - democracy - is the only suitable way to operate a free society. Do you know of any other organisation that can say this? We doubt it. .Socialism is the voluntary co-operation of the majority in a world of abundance. The abundance exists now Only the money and profit system stands in the way. All that is needed is for people to agree that capitalism is unnecessary and undesirable. The power is in our hands. We are the workers who run society. Without us nothing moves, nothing functions, nothing gets made. If we refuse en masse to support a system of poverty, wars, states, prisons and money-scarcity, it cannot continue to operate. Don't be misled into thinking that socialism is an idle day-dream. It can be a reality. It can be established immediately. It is the sole alternative to chaos and the only real way to achieve equality and freedom.  if there is no future for the socialist movement then there no future for humanity itself.