Real and Radical

Many people are again talking and writing about socialism nowadays. While welcoming every move that the workers make towards a more vigorous prosecution of the class struggle against Capital, we must not relax our determination to build up the revolutionary arm of the workers. The Socialist Party realising that all economic wealth is produced by the social labour of the international working class sets out to organise the world's workers upon class lines, sweeping aside the poison of sectionalism and nationalism which sets worker against worker. Socialism is an industrial democracy. With the destruction of the capitalist State, the capitalist system will be destroyed. And with the destruction of the State, the work of the political organisation will be accomplished. But the ushering in of socialism—the constructive act of the revolution—must be the work of an industrial organisation. Parliament does not represent the whole community neither does it manifest the will of society. Parliament merely reflects the well of the class that has the organs of public opinion in its power.  Though its economic dictatorship, the capitalist class is able to dominate all the institutions in the modern “democracy.”  To them, the people are not citizens but commodities, bought and sold for wages in the labour market. The parliamentary Labour Party desire to use Parliament as an instrument for positive and constructive work, but we will use it for the very opposite, reason—to expose and oppose everything of any nature destined to buttress and stabilise capitalism.

The class struggle reflects itself in the domain of ideas. The property-owners seek to manipulate the ideas of the workers in such a way that their intellectual, industrial, and political activities may not be directed against Capitalism. Marxist-Socialism is but the intellectual counterpart of the class struggle. In so far as the revolutionary organisation of socialism asserts itself it is ferociously assailed by the ideologues of capitalism. And so in the domain of ideas, the theories of socialism are most viciously attacked. The very bitterness of these attacks prove with what dread the capitalists looks upon the socialism of Marxism. It instinctively realises that Marxism is the theoretical expression of the revolutionary movement which is destined to destroy capitalism. It is the recognition of this fact which has made many intellectual apologists of modern society declare that the destruction of the revolutionary movement of socialism can best be accomplished by destroying the theories of Marxism. It is strange that anyone cannot see that all modern education is hopelessly biased in favour of the perpetuation of capitalism.

In every phase of the development of socialist theory in this country, the Socialist Party has played a pioneering part. We do not consider that the strength of any party in the workers' movement is determined by the number of individuals which compose it. The real strength of a revolutionary party is rather to be measured by the manner in which it indicates the tendencies of economic development and outlines methods of action. When the Socialist Party first outlined the real function of revolutionary political action we were most bitterly opposed and earned us the title of “impossibilists.” We are convinced that socialism is the only hope of the workers. Neither reforms nor palliatives can in any way remove the great economic contradictions inherent in capitalism. The time has now arrived when all revolutionary workers must either join hands with the Socialist Party or strengthen the reformists and state-capitalists. The latter exercise an influence as great as it is sinister in the labour movement. We can only win the workers when the Socialist Part has been so strengthened that it can carry out its work upon an even larger scale. To that end the party appeals for members. In these days, when the world grows ever more darker, it is the duty of every socialist to be where he or she can best assist the movement. Neither personal feelings, nor a false sense of duty or loyalty to some other party which does not function as revolutionary in the militant army of labour in the class war, should prevent anyone from fearlessly throwing in his or her lot with the Socialist Party. Every-thing in these days must be subordinated to the class’ aspect of the struggle against Capital. We, therefore, appeal to those comrades who complain regarding the shortcomings of their present organisations to come inside and help us to convince the working class, to the policy we have so often outlined. Inside our party, you will become identified with the most fearless party of socialism in the country. Outside, your efforts are probably being exercised in a wrong direction. With the Socialist Party of Great Britain, your efforts will be directed upon the greatest work in history—the emancipation of the working class and the freedom of humanity.