It is nationalism that divides the workers so that the workers of one nationality are struggling against the workers of another nationality for a few illusory crumbs the rulers throw out exactly for that purpose! It is nationalism that pits groups of workers against each other. What is socialism? If we are socialists, what are we actually for? Socialism is not the rule of bureaucrats over the people. Marxism has clarified many perplexing problems in philosophy, sociology, history, economics, and politics. Its supreme achievement is the explanation it offers of the key role of the working class in history. It is ironical that young rebels who reject conformism to big business mimic its low opinion of the working class. One reason for this attitude is a limited historical vision. They acquire so one-sided a view of the wage-workers by conceiving of them, not as the chief agents of production, but primarily as consumers motivated by suburbanite culture. The reactions of the workers are primarily and ultimately determined by what happens to them in the labour market and at the point of production. That is where they encounter speed-ups, short time, lay-offs, discrimination, insecurity, wage reductions, and other evils of exploitation. This class can be roused from its slumber by events beyond anyone’s control. That is why any drastic fluctuation in their economic welfare can quickly alter their tolerance of the existing state of affairs.
Marxism is the theory of the socialist revolution. In a revolution, the power and wealth of society change hands. They are transferred from one class to another. In our time, there are two fundamental classes in society, the working class, and the capitalist class. The minority class owns the wealth, profits from it, keeps down the standard of living of the majority class which has no wealth. Marxism formulates the goal of the socialist revolution – the abolition of private property, the abolition of exploitation of man by man, the social ownership of the means of production and their planned use for the benefit of the whole of society, leading to abundance. The Socialist Party does not put forward this goal as a utopia, as a mere vision of what would ideally satisfy people’s needs and make them all happy, but as a goal the practical attainment of which is made necessary by the actual conditions of modern society. Socialism will only be gained by waging the working-class struggle. And to wage this struggle and achieve the conquest of power, the working class must have its own independent political party. If the working class cannot be counted on to dislodge the capitalists, who else can do that job? It would be exceedingly difficult to point out another social force that could effectively act. The struggle against capitalist domination then looms as a lost cause and socialism become a Utopia. Socialism is not inevitable. What has been termed its ‘inevitability’ consists in this, that only through socialism can human progress continue? But there is not and cannot be any absolute deterministic inevitability in human affairs since man makes his own history and chooses what to do. What is determined is not his choice, but the conditions under which it is made, and the consequences when it is made. The meaning of scientific socialism is not that it tells us that socialism will come regardless, but that it explains to us where we stand, what course lies open to us, what is the road to life.
Socialism is a society dedicated to the interests of the working people, who make up the vast majority of the population. The basic means by which society produces its wealth – factories, mines, and farms – are transferred from private/state property to common ownership, and exploitation is for the most part eliminated. Socialism unleashes the creativity of the common people, who are capable of tremendous advances when not labouring under a system of exploitation. The working class has colossal tasks ahead of it. It confronts the most formidable and ferocious of adversaries. There is a need for socialist campaigns and angry denunciations of capitalism. But there is also a need for inspiration, for a vision of the goal which makes the struggle worthy. The theory of the Socialist Party is that if the enormous wealth of society, controlled by the few, were controlled by the majority of the people poverty could be eliminated, an end could be made to the mass murder of war, and mankind could live in peace and plenty. To achieve its final goal, this revolution would be necessary on a world scale. The Socialist Party stands for the abolition of the profit system, peace and plenty for all. The real solution to the many looming disasters is the socialist revolution.
No comments:
Post a Comment