Think about the world we live in, and the possibilities that could be achieved. Capitalism is one of the greatest threats of our time. Capitalism is a future of devastating natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts over resources, surging refugees, and exacerbated inequalities, in a politically and economically unstable world. Capitalism is a world where the prosperity of the most privileged is contingent on the suffering of the most vulnerable. Capitalism is driving us towards the gloomiest of futures.
But the Socialist Party has an alternate vision. It is to revolutionise our social system into one that is more sustainable, just, and equitable. Socialism is a solution to the present global chaos. We already have the technologies and capabilities to solve the problems we face - and socialism will mobilise them. We need to restore the balance between resource consumption and resource renewal.
The word “socialism” has been used by so many people to mean so many different things that, to most workers, it has no clear meaning. We have heard of “National Socialism,” "Christian Socialism,” "Guild Socialism,” "State Socialism,” being some of the 57-varieties. The fact is, of course, that none of these things are Socialism at all. They are all conditions of Capitalism, or experiments within Capitalism, to which the name Socialism, with a suitable adjective, has been applied. The result has been to sow confusion. Hence, the members of the Socialist Party finds that we must devote much of our time to explaining what Socialism is not before we can make clear what it really is. Not all of those who have. contributed to this confusion have done so with malice intent. Many are quite convinced that nationalisation is socialism or that the Sermon on the Mount was a socialist outdoor meeting.
When the accurate definition of socialism, which is the Object of the Socialist Party (the establishment of a system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in the interest of the whole community) is cite in response to the misnomers to any of these "State Socialists" they have two replies. First that it is impossible, which, of course, only means that it would not suit them, because it involves the abolition of capitalism the world over, and not merely the substitution of State for private control in the workshop;
And secondly— the reply which is met with more frequently— that there are recognised authorities on the subject who say otherwise. But recognised by whom?
One thing is common to all these confusion mongers. Without exception they do not understand the operation of capitalism and, in consequence, they do not appreciate what socialism implies. They do not agree that it is necessary for the majority of workers to understand and desire socialism before it can be established. They consider that it is only necessary for a sufficient number of people to support the political party that advocates their particular brand of so-called socialism to put that party into power. The party can then start serving out socialism slice by slice. From the time that the party takes power until the last slice is handed out is a period that they consistently refer to as the “transition period.” We are told that we cannot have socialism overnight. There must be a period between capitalism and socialism is the argument. Then, the problems created by capitalism are paraded and we are informed that this transition period is necessary in order to solve these problems before we can have complete socialism.
The more orthodox Leninists have been driven to substitute the word communism for socialism and then to explain away the present stage of capitalist development in Russia as socialism, this being, they claim, the transition period between capitalism and communism. The Trotskyists would set themselves up as the revolutionary vanguard of the working class, attempt to so popularise themselves that the workers will, sooner or later, at the ‘‘psychological moment,” put them in a position of power. They will then establish the rule of the working class, more popularly known as The Dictatorship of the Proletariat. During this period of dictatorship (which would, in reality, be the dictatorship of their party) all the transitional problems would be ironed out. The Labour Party idea is that with political power they can reform capitalism, a step at a time until it is such a benevolent system to all members of society that it is nothing short of socialism. On the strength of this, they call themselves socialists. The step by step process is, for them, the transition period.
Whilst the majority of the workers are prepared to support a system based on private property we shall have capitalism in some form or another. Whatever camouflage may be used, whatever disguise may be used, whatever name may be used to disguise it, it will still be capitalism. It can be called “State Socialism,” and poverty can be levelled out but if the ownership of the means of life is in the hands of a section of the community, the remainder will be a subject and exploited class. When the workers recognise the need to abolish this system of class ownership they must organise in a political party for this purpose. When they thus gain control of the governmental machinery they can, at a stroke, wipe out legal ownership. The claiming of property rights in the means of production and distribution can be rendered illegal. It will not require a transition period to do that. With the machinery that was used to enforce recognition of lawful ownership taken out of the hands of the capitalist class by a working class that understands and wants socialism, the capitalist system is finished. There are then no longer owners of the means of. production to employ workers for wages. The relationship of wage-labour and capital is ended. Capitalism is dead. Socialism is established. All barriers to the solution of such problems as housing, unemployment, malnutrition, poverty and a host of others, will have been removed. Socialist society can then tackle the job unfettered by the claims of property, of profit and of class interest. Today production is social but distribution is not. It is necessary to harmonise production and distribution by making the wealth produced available freely to society as a whole. Standing in the way of this are the reactionary interests of the Capitalist class. The revolutionary act of dispossessing the capitalists and placing the means of production in the hands, and under the democratic control of society, will allow of this social evolution to go forward at an accelerated pace. The act of severing the bonds that keep the working class in subjection as an exploited, wage-earning class is practically instantaneous. When it is accomplished new productive processes that are stifled by capitalism, will be freed. Labour-saving machinery that today serves to intensify the toil of the workers, will really be labour saving. Poverty will disappear. The solution to all ills will be real and permanent.
No clique of intellectuals will ever be able to shepherd the working class, via a transition period, to socialism. A working class that knows its class status, that understands and desires socialism, knows that “The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself.” Those who talk to you about transition periods do not credit you with sufficient ability to understand and act in your own class interest. They seek to lead you. They want your un-class-conscious support in order that they may gain political power. Whether they know it or not, if they get that power they will have to use it to operate capitalism. That is what their transition period will turn out to be; capitalism, with them in the saddle. You will have exchanged one bunch of exploiters for another. And it will be a case of “out of the frying pan into the fire.”
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