How to recognise socialism

Capitalism takes several forms, be it the pure, privatized version of the system which exists in the U.S., Japan, Germany, etc., or the state capitalism, or Leninism/Stalinism, that exists (or has existed) in Russia, China and in all the nations that falsely claim the mantle of "communism" or "socialism." The name "socialism" has also been claimed by the liberal form of capitalism that exists in Sweden, France and previously, in Great Britain.

 The bottom line is that socialism has been terribly misrepresented. If we are ever to move beyond the current social system that is killing us and rapidly leading to global chaos. We must understand what capitalism truly is, how we can organise against it and what the next form of society should take. That system should be the humane, class-free society. It should be pointed out that human beings lived in peaceful cooperation for hundreds of thousands of years before the first class-divided society, chattel slavery, appeared. The fact that this happened was one of necessity. Despite the equality of humanity's first economic system, often called primitive communism, it was an equality of poverty. Once material conditions advanced to the point where a small surplus was available to society, the concept of class divisions emerged. In that primitive world, society lacked the industrial capability of producing an abundance for everybody. Hence, the only way for society to advance was for class divisions to emerge. Now, however, thanks to modern technology of production, we will have an equality of abundance, and not an equality of poverty that once made class divisions necessary for our distant ancestors. Ruling classes no longer serve a useful purpose in society, such as advancing culture and science, that they did in the class-divided systems of the past when the primitive levels of production didn't allow human progress to occur any other way

The ruling class can maintain their despotic wealth and privilege, continue fighting their useless and bloody wars with the full support of the general public and continue to dominate the world economy with their ideas and interests. The cost to the working class, i.e., the vast majority of citizens of the world, is poverty, massive unemployment, a culture dominated by nihilism, despondency, crass materialism, avarice and selfishness, crime, violence, constant attacks on our basic civil rights, repressive laws, environmental devastation and the continued threat of a nuclear war. All this so a few individuals can live in luxury, while the rest of us do not.

Genuine socialism has NEVER been tried in any country. In fact, socialism is a system that will be worldwide and isn't intended to function in just one country. The principle of "socialism in one country" was expounded upon by the Russian dictator Josef Stalin in a self-serving attempt to convince the world that the country he ruled was indeed socialist. Furthermore, socialists firmly believe that socialism will be brought about by working class organisation, and by no other means. It will never be brought about by politicians, whose purpose is to control the working class on behalf of their capitalist masters, not to liberate the working class from oppression, or to meet the needs of the working class.  Diversity will be tolerated as never before, as no one will have the power to gain dominance for a particular group of individuals. No one will have economic control over anyone else, everyone will be free to choose a job that they are suited for and have the talent to perform well, and the media, as it's called today, will be completely free and in control of the public. This is the society of the future, and we have the technology to achieve it now. All we need is to organize to establish it, and this future is ours for the taking.

Genuine socialism is a socio-economic system in which all of the industries and services (stores, restaurants, hospitals, mines, farms, etc.) are socially owned, not privately owned, as in capitalism, or state-owned, as in Leninism/Stalinism (i.e., often referred to as "state capitalism" due to its extreme similarity to "pure" capitalism). The industries would serve the needs and wants of everyone, not just the profit interests of the few. In fact, production is carried out exclusively for the needs of everyone, and not for private profit. People will work to improve society and to produce what we need, not to personally enrich themselves or to make the "owner" of the industry rich. Under socialism, no money or system of currency would exist.

 Instead, people would work according to their abilities and take according to their needs. Society would be one of free access, where no items were held from those who need them due to lack of ability to pay. We would live in a truly free society, with no political state to control our actions, and none would be needed in a system without the material conditions that breed crime and violence, thus making it "necessary" to pass laws to control our behaviour. We would be free from want, with no poverty or unemployment. As a result, crime would virtually vanish altogether, and we will have a society that functions with far less friction than any previous system in existence. We would be free from the violent and disturbed individuals that are bred by a capitalist society, which fosters ruthless competition among people, both within and across nations, and which routinely creates such tragedies as school massacres. Education would be free to all, without having to put ourselves into massive debt. The very idea of "financial debt" wouldn't exist any more. We would still be allowed to have personal property, such as a decent home. Although we would still have vehicles, it has often been stated that we would no longer have a need for separate cars to the degree that we do today. Instead, superior forms of mass transportation would probably replace cars to a large extent. Because the profit motive would no longer exist, sufficient health care, food, education, and recreation would be given to all directly in exchange for their work. No longer would anyone be forced into debt, and no small class of individuals would control the economy and use it for their own personal enrichment. Socialism will be a worldwide system. An exact detailed and specific blueprint for how this future society will be run isn't advisable before the system is actually established and the people have the opportunity to vote on it. 

Socialism can and must be established before capitalism brings our world into a second Dark Age. Currently, the working class is not class conscious. the working class is miseducated into playing the capitalist class' game for it. In our education, we are taught to support the government, to believe that the politicians are looking out for our needs and that we live in a truly democratic society. We are taught this in the capitalist-controlled media, schools, television and other sources of information. Most people never even consider questioning such tactics...we simply believe the propaganda that we have been fed all of our lives, and never think to question it. We may dislike certain politicians and policies, we may hate the crime, poverty and environmental destruction that capitalism creates, but never do we actually blame capitalism itself or even consider capitalism as the problem. Always do we consider "solutions" to the problems within the framework of capitalism, and never do we oppose the politicians and the capitalist class that controls them.

We are encouraged to work our jobs, grind our noses and ignore the daily exploitation that we suffer. We believe that the capitalists are necessary for production, that at least some of them deserve their wealth, that they earned their vast wealth through "hard work" (that we've never seen them do) and that all the social evils of capitalism are "necessary" for a democratic society. We dismiss socialism out of hand as that thing that Russia used to have, never knowing that this is a lie crafted by the politicians so that we will never question the power that they and the capitalists hold over us. We have had the technological capability for socialism for about 120 years now, and socialists will always recognise the 20th century as the "wasted century," as capitalism endured throughout the entire hundred years.

We must recognise ourselves as members of the working class, regardless of our occupations, income or employment status. Anyone who must work for a living is a member of the working class. Anyone who owns enough property to live off of the labour of others, yet never needs to work themselves, is a member of the capitalist class. It's that simple. We must cast off social mythology that casts us into fictitious classes such as the "middle class."  We must recognise this fact and unite. We must form our own political party which will be organised solely on the basis of fighting for socialism. Not for reforms, not for "nationalisation" of the industries, but for genuine socialism only. In short, the socialist political party will present us with the revolutionary ballot. The Socialist Party will capture the state with the express purpose of dismantling it. The Socialist Party will then vote itself out of existence.


 Poverty, hunger, racism, sexism, environmental destruction, unemployment, rampant crime, and war will become things of the past. Education will be given to anyone who has the desire to learn, This new society will herald a Golden Age for humanity, and it is within our grasp as soon as we organise to establish it.