Fight for Socialism

Make up your mind to which class you belong. If you are of the working class, then get off your knees, stand up and be a real man or woman and fight to achieve a society that can offer you a life worth living. You have been a tame and docile wage worker long enough, voting for political quacks who have led you up every garden path they can find. On the political field, you will find many parties which aim to make all sorts of alterations to the present social system, but which will show their venom when anyone suggests abolishing it. Yet that is where your interests lie, not in struggling to crawl out of your class into the capitalist class, which is well nigh impossible, but in striving to end a class system of society altogether.

Capitalism, the present social order, brings into being a working class, the members of which must sell their mental and physical energies to the class owning the land, factories and other means of wealth production. Their dependence upon the price (or wages) they receive for these energies (or labour power) places them in a position of continuous bondage to the capitalist class. This is the social system that made slaves of both men and women to-day. Only when the establishment of socialism rids the world of classes and the wages system will the economic and social emancipation of all become a reality. The conquest of governmental power is useless and pernicious unless there is behind it and controlling it a socialist working class, consciously organised for the one worthwhile aim, that of establishing socialism.

How can production be so increased that a world of plenty is created? The barrier is the capitalist system and it is also obvious that the war-machine created by all the countries of the world is one of the major drains on resources. Millions of men are in the armed forces of the world, millions more are producing armaments. Only socialism, which would make war superfluous, can stop this terrific waste of manpower and materials. How much of the work which we do to-day is essential in order to produce the things we need? How much of it which although necessary under capitalism would be unnecessary under Socialism? The vast army of civil servants needed by the State, the huge number of office-staff engaged in keeping records of the financial transactions of capitalism plus a hundred and one other different occupations which although necessary under capitalism would not be required if goods were produced for use instead of for profit. Modern methods of production, plus the gigantic increase of manpower available for production, could turn out goods in such quantity so as to provide plenty for all. Unfortunately, at the present time, only the socialists see the endless possibilities of potential abundances. If only all the wonders of new technologies could be put into operation for the service of mankind and not for the purpose of profit making for the owners of industry, what bountiful changes could be made in the world? Not only could all people have more of the wealth that they produce but the hours spent in its production could be so much shortened. Not only could the tasks be so much easier but the conditions under which they are performed could be made enjoyable. There need be no “dirty work," much less occupational illnesses, and so much more time for leisure to enjoy the arts, amusements, and entertainments.

Many will ponder why, when there is such technology as robotics and automation available, that people in huge areas of the world still use primitive tools and transport; why, when wealth can be produced so plentifully, that so many people are in need of the absolute necessities of life; why, when there is so much labour-saving machinery, that multitudes of people are overworked. There are a number of reasons why new inventions do not get taken up and utilised immediately they are made. One reason, probably the most effective, is that a new inventionS will cut across the interests of existing capitalist companies. We can remember the opposition that the turnpike and stagecoach companies put up against the early railways. The whale-oil companies fought against the use of gas for lighting, and later the gas companies fought against the use of electric light. The telegraph companies put up bitter opposition to the telephone. All these instances are of opposition that may have delayed the application of new inventions but failed to prevent it. There must be many, many cases where the opposition was successful and we have never heard of the invention at all. Other aspects that retard development is the difficulty of finding a profitable market for goods that are in plentiful supply. Fear of overproduction with the consequent shattering of price levels. Also with wages at low levels, it is often cheaper to use a number of manual workers to do a task than to install expensive machinery that will displace them. All this adds up to the fact that the existing system of production is now a fetter on social progress.

If the full force of the benefits of new technology is to accrue to mankind, then the capitalist mode of production must be abolished. The production of goods for a market in order to make a profit must end. It is clogging the wheels of social progress, it is causing suffering and misery, poverty and unhappiness, ill-health and insecurity, all of which can end when the workers take the means of production from the existing owners and use them for the common good.