The Future Belongs to the People

We are living in serious times. We stand on the eve of grave events. History has burdened the shoulders of the working class the task of solving humanity's problems. Failure to do so means the continuance of poverty, hunger, and wars, resulting in the possible destruction of all civilisation. To achieve socialism labour must first gain political power. The capitalist class under feudalism had economic power; it required political power to consolidate and guarantee its economic power; it obtained political supremacy by a revolutionary overthrow of the feudal nobility. The workers under capitalism have no economic power (except in the sense that they can bring industry to a halt by withdrawing their labour power) and neither have they political power. Before they can take over the industries and proceed to construct a socialist society, they will have to take power by capturing the State machine. This does not mean the creation of a workers' state or the imposition of a dictatorship of the proletariat as advocated by the Left. Democracy will have real meaning and no one person will be permitted to exploit any other person.

The necessity for any state exists only because there are classes in society, and one class requires the instrument of the state to rule over the other classes. Do away with classes and you do away with the necessity of any state. As classes disappear, the State loses its function. A peaceful revolutionary change is most desirable. The greater the strength of the working-class organisations, the less violence will be. The struggle between the capitalist class and the working class is a political struggle, and a political party is necessary. Because of the economic interdependence of nations, the Socialist Party has always said that socialism must exist on a global scale. It has been an axiom with all socialist thinkers that the working class of one country should cooperate with the workers of all other countries. A class-conscious worker does not consider himself a Briton or German or Russian first, and a member of the working class second, but considers himself, first and always, a member of the working class interested in the struggles of the workers the world over. The Socialist Party judges things and people from a class point of view.

Our aim is to create a world socialist movement section in every country. We invite our fellow-workers to participate in our struggle. Removing exploitation, not reforming it, demands the creation of new socialists. We need to abolish the unacceptable that’s been accepted for far too long. Revolution, not amelioration, is necessary.  Socialists have to make a merciless criticism of the economic, political, historical, philosophical, moral and religious ideas of the ruling class to deliver humanity from the nightmare which is capitalism. We can perceive a time not so far in the distant where with the needs of consumption and the powers of production will be scientifically calculated and things will be free. There will be neither wages nor prices. Human society will then once more enter the period of communism. The aim is the abolition of class-society itself.

The Socialist Party maintains that there is only one solution to the problems of the planet and it’s that all production and distribution become common property and be given over to the associated workers, who will operate them not for the profit of a few capitalists but for the profit of the entire population. Capitalism has only known how to cause humanity misery and unhappiness; socialism will establish peace and good-will among men and women. The anarchic production of capitalist civilisation, which only knows how to engender the poverty of the producers will be replaced by planned production, calculated according to the needs that are to be satisfied. Technological advances and inventions, no longer serving to enrich a few individuals but will increase the means of leisure and enjoyment of all members of society. What the socialist revolution is all about, in the last analysis, is confidence in the ability of mankind to build a future for the human race. Working people hold their future in its own hands.