All of the marvelous complex technology and the scientific methods are under capitalism not for the welfare of the many nor the social good of the majority. It is for the exploitation of working people and for the enrichment of a privileged class. It is a system based upon exploitation for profit making in the interest of a capitalist class. Capitalism is organised for a class purpose. All machines, inventions, processes and scientific knowledge are made subservient to it purpose.
Only working people can act in their own self-interest. The employers will not. The government, controlled by the wealthy, will not. Politicians will not, for they seek to control the power of the many for their own personal gain. To create that new vision there needs to be a foundation to build upon. At the beginning of the labour movement, workers organised into trade unions. When they found that this was not effective, they organised into political parties. What’s good for the capitalists -- poverty wages, freedom to destroy the environment we live in, no protections against abuse at work, no social assistance to those who have been hurt by their policies -- is bad for us. What’s good for us -- control over working conditions, wages, and benefits that let us lead dignified lives, protection against lay-offs -- hurts profit and the employing class will do all they can to increase profitability. Those in power portray working families as the problem, yet they lead lives of wealth, privilege and power most of us can’t imagine and will never experience.
The self-interest of the working people is a society that is based upon the well being of all, not a society that is designed for the benefit of a few. Think about it; think of your own well-being, and that of your family and your fellow workers. Think about the well being of future generations. If you are tired of working for the benefit of the wealthy few, then think about joining the Socialist Party and start to work for those who really matter to you. The Socialist Party stands in solidarity with workers all over the world who are struggling against capitalism. The ruling class has diverted the minds of working people away from the true cause of their problems. They create the myth that black people are out to take jobs from white workers, that so-called “illegals ” or “immigrant” workers are trying to steal jobs away, or that women are taking jobs from men. In reality, these workers only want what every worker wants, a decent living. Rather than blame each other, working people need to place the blame for low pay and rotten conditions where it belongs, and that is on the employers who profit from our misery. All workers are oppressed by class.
Prevailing society, controlled by the ruling class, is based on a Eurocentric viewpoint. In other words, European or “Western” civilisation is the centre or standard of the “civilised” world. A good example of this is a world map familiar to most of us where Europe and North America dominate the centre and occupy two thirds of the map, with the remainder of the world squeezed onto the edges and the remaining third. The map distorts the world and our perception of it to the apparent advantage of the dominant countries. For example, India appears on this map to be smaller than Scandinavia, even though the subcontinent is three times the size of the combined Scandinavian countries. The Euro-centric ideology often views indigenous peoples as “uncivilised”, even though many of these peoples live in social systems far older and more complex than Western society. Accordingly, the dominant society sets out to “civilise” the native people by stealing their land and natural resources and turning them into wage-slaves or corpses to facilitate the theft. The working class must cast off this Euro-centric ideology and try to develop a more international view, where all people who work within any sort of social system are regarded as being of equal importance and worth, and where indigenous people, like all working peoples, have a right to their land, their lives, and their self-determination. If the labour movement fails to do this, it will be nothing more than a pawn used by the ruling classes to defeat foreign fellow workers and, ultimately, to defeat itself.
When we workers act as a group we are making a statement to each fellow worker involved. This statement is clear; We are willing to stand here with you, if you are here to stand with us. We may win this fight, or we may lose, but that statement always stays with us. It resonates with us as we go through our lives. When we organise and when we take action that effectively challenges our ruling class, we have the power to demand the changes we want to see.
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