Let's Protest For World Socialism

The Socialist Party is not opposed to the idea of protesting. There is certainly plenty to protest about — there always is. The Socialist Party recognises that workers who are involved in reform campaigns are, at least, trying to gain some control over their lives. Very often what is especially heartening is the strong element of solidarity involved. What concerns us is to get it into its social perspective so as to achieve a more fruitful form of expression of opposition. Capitalism creates so many problems and subjects the working class to all sort of pressures. It seems that for every outrage committed by capitalism, and for every inhumanity and frustrated need, there is a group of people ready to organise a march and demonstration. But then, why should we assume that a struggle must necessarily be self-conscious? The class struggle is, in fact, an inevitable feature of the capitalist system, whether those involved are conscious of it or not, being the result of irreducible conflicts of material interest under capitalism.

One big weakness of protest movements is that when they come to realise that their aims demand political expression, they are forced to take their place alongside the existing reformists in the general clamour to mitigate some particular evil within the framework of capitalism. Thus they inevitably get involved in helping to perpetuate the very conditions which give rise to the evils against which they protest. Furthermore, they all share one common illusion — that capitalism can be made to work in such a way that its worst effects can be avoided. It is quite wrong to assume that politicians can at will adopt policies which would remove the problems endangered by capitalism. The emotional attitude of hating the Tories and blaming it all on them, is enough to satisfy some Leftists and it is a pitiful spectacle to see those left-wingers still urging workers to vote for the Labour Party in spite of all that has happened in the past.

In regard to the environmentalists, the idea that somehow, with enough campaigning an ecologically friendly green world will be brought about is based on wishful thinking. Climate change and its associated disasters do not occur because of bad or evil men who don’t care a damn for the world but because of the profit motive rooted in capitalism. If laws protecting the environment are produced, as they have been in the last few decades. they are often unworkable or so loosely applied as to be ineffective. Protest marches may achieve limited success lobbying for legislation and influencing a particular government policy but, at the end of the day, they will never be able to combat the motive of profit which is the primary cause of the problems they wish to ameliorate and are destined to struggle endlessly against the tide of capitalism. The permanent and effective solution to the problems of the planet is to be found in a new society. That requires a more fundamental different strategy than picketing businesses or boycotting products. The Socialist Party has reiterated time and time again, workers need to stop putting their faith in reformism; capitalism will never, can never, be reformed in our interest.