A Marxist is someone who follows the basic theory of Karl Marx, that capitalism cannot be reformed to satisfy the needs of the working class and therefore must be abolished. A revolution has to take place whereby the working class gains control of the state mechanism (all governments) and puts in its place a global democratic system of society so that the needs of all the worlds inhabitants can be satisfied, the socialist revolution needn't be violent.
One doesn’t ‘become’ a Marxist. One reads and understands Marx and Marxist literature. If you understand Marx and it informs your world meaningfully, you can call yourself a Marxist. If you understand Marx, and it doesn’t inform your world, don’t call yourself that. There is a tremendous amount of wilful ignorance on political theory because there are a tremendous number of people who would rather fight about politics than think about it. Don’t contribute to that problem.
One doesn’t ‘become’ a Marxist. One reads and understands Marx and Marxist literature. If you understand Marx and it informs your world meaningfully, you can call yourself a Marxist. If you understand Marx, and it doesn’t inform your world, don’t call yourself that. There is a tremendous amount of wilful ignorance on political theory because there are a tremendous number of people who would rather fight about politics than think about it. Don’t contribute to that problem.
It’s time to build something new. Authentic hope comes when we reject capitalism, leaving behind the illusion that we can fix a broken system and it frees us to work for genuine change. We can begin building a more equitable economy rooted in a new relationship of reciprocity with each another, respecting the planet as we do one another. In our local communities, we challenge the capitalist culture and institutions of exclusion and make sure everyone has a seat at the table. Together we can reimagine and reinvent our society. None of us alone has a blueprint. Top-down change becomes corrupt and authoritarian. But together, from the grass-roots, using people-power we can create a democratic socialist world that can sustain our communities as capitalism fails to. We need to be organised. Isolated we’re easy to defeat. In solidarity, we rediscover the strength that can energise us as we create a new social system and way of life.
This world and its laws are set up to protect property owners and commerce, not the people nor the planet. As more and more people become aware of the need for sustainability and defence of the ecosystem, they are finding that the current capitalist system works against them. Austerity and the right-ward drift of politics have brought many issues that have existed for years out into the open where they are more difficult to deny. The power of the plutocrats may bring a boomerang effect, stirring and igniting the population to take action and demand the changes we desire and need but the boomerang will only occur if we educate and organise for it. The boomerang will be built on the conflict between the necessities of the people and the planet versus. the greed of the wealthy.
We need to tackle the economic system itself, which is at the root of all our problems, not just the thousands upon thousands of injustices that are symptomatic of it. The workers' movement must step up and connect the dots to a real solution. Capitalism is one economic system, period. There is no time to waste. Everyone has to be all-in for rebuilding society. We have so much to do -- but change is possible. More people are becoming active and making connections between the various struggles to create a movement of movements. They are seeds of transformative change that socialists can nurture and grow. The Socialist Party has no illusions that this work will be easy. Those in power will do all that they can to misdirect our efforts. Our task is to resist their tactics and maintain our focus on our end goal. Our task is not to be side-tracked by false or partial solutions but to connect all the single-issue movements into one unified powerful force.
Unless we participate and engage our class enemy, 2018 will give us more of the same that we experienced the year before and the year before that: Endless wars. Hunger. Economic crises. Poverty. Disease. Senseless tragedies. Intolerance. Hatred. Apathy. The new bosses will prove to be the same as the old bosses. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer. Workers will hate other workers, driven by fear and prejudice.
The power to change things for the better rests with us, not the politicians. And we must make our New Year resolution to work together to make this change happen
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