The Future Belongs to the People

Capitalism is not an abstraction, it is a concrete force. To understand socialism, one must necessarily understand that under capitalism, society is divided into hostile classes: an owning capitalist class, whose members have ownership of the various parts of the instruments of wealth production. A working class, whose members possess nothing but their labour power, which is useless to the worker unless he can have access to the raw material and the machinery of production, which is owned by the capitalist class. This being so, the worker, in order to live, must sell his or her labour power to the capitalist.

 Our immediate demand is not to tinker and dicker about with the capitalist system. The social revolution is no longer an aspiration of the future; it is a fact our immediate demand. Through revolutionary parliamentary action the working class meets the capitalists in a  political class struggle, and parliamentary action actively promotes the general revolutionary struggle organising into one unified revolutionary movement all the latent powers of the proletariat for the conquest of power. The unity of all is an indispensable condition for the social revolution. Until the workers consciously and directly carry on their industrial and political struggles, confusion and compromise will persist. No dependence upon “leaders” nor concessions to employers; the workers must act independently, free from any taint of opportunism. State capitalism is not socialism and never can become socialism. State capitalism cannot substituted for the industrial self-management of the workers. 

Global capitalism has shown more and more clearly and obviously that it can reap its profits only while increasingly ruining the entire world while imposing on the people mounting hardship, and sweated wage-slavery. The capitalist world stands on the edge of the abyss of environmental destruction. What they really fear is that climate change will drive the masses once and for all to revolution,  the final uprising of the world proletariat. The efforts by world summits to create some kind of order amid growing climate chaos results, not in solutions but growing discontent and anger. World governments are incapable of guaranteeing that workers receive satisfying jobs, nutritious food, decent housing, and healthy surroundings but they display great capacity in organising war against the world.

We are revolutionists, not bomb throwers. We want to destroy the whole edifice of capitalist society, not the offices of some government ministry or corporation. We are not after the life of this banker or that industrialist. The road to revolution lies in the mass movement of the organised workers. We openly proclaim that the workers, who, being the vast majority of the population, have a right to establish their own rule. It plain and self-evident that it would be ridiculous and stupid for us even to attempt to achieve all of these in a secret, concealed manner without the knowledge and behind the backs of the millions of workers. Our aim, the enhancement of class-consciousness, can only be achieved openly. 

The executive of the capitalist class — the Government - grasp what the working class has not yet grasped, namely, that every large economic struggle between capital and labor becomes a political struggle — that is, a struggle for political power. It is, therefore, necessary to wage a political struggle against the whole system of capitalist state power, independent of the capitalist political parties. The workers must have their own class party representing the interests of the whole working class - a socialist party. Our aim, the liberation of the workers, the abolition of wage slavery, working-class control of industry, can only be accomplished if the great masses of the workers understand and agree with us. 

The essence of the Socialist Party’s case is to convince the majority of the workers of the truth of the ideas of socialism and a unified struggle against our common enemy, the capitalists. We appeal to all workers. Are you sufficiently blind to your class interests as to be able to ignore the call to action? With the increased determination of the ruling class to grind the workers down, we must offer more resistance. It is no longer possible to remain outside of the struggle. All are concerned and all must prepare to participate. We cannot sit back and wait for capitalism to collapse of its own accord. While the capitalist class dominates we will suffer more bitterly. Rally to the call for total emancipation! Let our battle cry be:
“Workers of the World, Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains; you have a world to gain."