Mammon reigns

Confusion is probably the strongest weapon in the capitalist armoury and a smokescreen of gibberish obscures the class nature of society.

 The interest of the working class lies in the immediate establishment of socialism, and this is the one and only object of the Socialist Party We are not to be fobbed off by the “Immediate Demands” or “Something Now' reformists. It is the Socialist Party view that the social problems that affect wage-earners in a particular country cannot be solved within that countries borders. Capitalism is the cause of these problems and capitalism is world-wide.  Because capitalism is world-wide so too must be socialism, the system which will replace it and whose common ownership, democratic control and production solely for use will provide the framework within which today’s social problems can finally be solved. This is why we sometimes refer to our object as “world socialism”, making it absolutely clear that we reject all nationalism and all national approaches to working-class problems. Now is the time, not to be disillusioned, but for fellow-members of the working class to study our case and understand its validity.

People running big corporations—indeed, those running businesses of all sizes—seek to maximise profits not because they are misguided, but because that’s their job in the capitalist economy. The common goal of both the private and public sectors is capital accumulation and market expansion – GDP growth in conventional economists' lexicon. Capitalists are not going to prevent climate catastrophe because they have only one purpose, and that’s to generate profits. This is why no governments have yet taken the actions that are necessary to drastically reduce climate change. They all seek the illusory trade-off between growth and greening of the economy. Governments and corporations talk the talk but they never walk the walk. The only direction government policies lead society towards is whatever generates the most profit. Real decision-making is left to the market and the stock exchange. Climate change appeasers with vested interests will say there is plenty of time to act, and they are aided by the actual climate-change deniers who say there is nothing to worry about.  Perhaps a section of the capitalist world, the fossil fuel industries, maybe made to pay a higher price for the consequences of their environmental destruction but the rest of the business world will get of Scot-free. As long as the profit motive is the driving force behind production the needs of people cannot be met. 

Socialism can only be brought into being by the political act of the majority of people wanting and working for it, we assume that the majority of people would want to co-operate with each other in running and maintaining a socialist society. Society will make decisions in its own best interests. This is not the case today. We do not claim that socialism will be trouble-free but compared with the madhouse of capitalism it will be a sane society indeed. Socialism will be the beginning of civilised history before which all societies will be classified as barbaric. We do not accept the permanence of capitalism any more than we accept the fact that the workers’ ideas of society cannot be changed. History shows that social systems change, and that these changes are accomplished by thinking men and women, and that peoples’ ideas change with them. This includes ideas on all subjects — religion, politics, morality, science, law and art. Ideas have changed considerably over the centuries and dramatically in the last 100 years. The spread of opinion, or social consciousness, as with mankind’s social life generally, develops in accordance with the development of productive forces.

Opinion today, or the prevailing ideology, is overwhelmingly capitalist, because capitalist ideas are socially sponsored, propagated and broadcast at all levels. Socialist ideas, which arise from the same economic conditions, are ignored or misrepresented or distorted in other ways. Yet the battle of ideas can be fought against such overwhelming odds. The question which obviously arises is does capitalism satisfy or can it be made to satisfy people’s needs? The answer is obviously — no. The contradictions within the system of poverty in the midst of plenty, its dependence on the market economy, its unpredictability and general anarchy, disqualify it as a social system rendering social service in the real sense of the term.  We apply our materialism, our factual analysis, continually to the economic background. Socialist propaganda is not aimed at man’s ‘innate goodness’ or higher nature, but at mankind’s practical material needs. It will be this factor alone which seen as an alternative will create revolutionary consciousness, and the subsequent political action based on that consciousness.  The establishment of socialism is a task well within the capacity of the modern working class. The alternative is to watch civilisation degenerate and deteriorate under an obsolete social system.