Under a rational economic system, the resources and
productive capacity of world industry would be capable of assuring abundance
for all. If used for the benefit of the people this world’s resources is
capable of feeding, clothing and housing billions. Too often socialism has
unfortunately been presentedas a system not of abundance but of scarcity, as a
system not of increased leisure and comfort, but of self-sacrifice and sweated toil.
This is an era when for the first time in history, humankind can produce such
abundance that society can be free of hunger, homelessness and backbreaking
labour. The only thing standing in the way is this capitalist system of
exploitation and injustice. Behind all the fog of confusion and official lies,
the processes of capitalism grind inexorably on. They recognise no morality and
the only issue they are interested in is a healthy balance sheet.
The Socialist Party holds a vision of a world of plenty. New
technology provides better products with less labour. Society now has the
capacity to devote the energies and talents of its people to satisfying the
intellectual, emotional and cultural needs of all. The Socialist Party seeks a
society organized for the benefit of all. A society built on cooperation and
which can reorganize society so that the abundance is distributed according to
need. Automation and robotics can be the foundation for a whole new world.
Abundance, created by robotics and people working for the common good rather
than the profit of the few, will forever end poverty, exploitation, oppression
and war.
Politicians are fond of depicting themselves as men who have
capitalism firmly under control. They talk of capitalism as if it were a car,
which needs only a touch on the brake or the accelerator to keep it humming
smoothly along to prosperity. Capitalism cannot be controlled, no matter how
refined and delicately calculated its politicians' policies may be. The system
runs the politicians, not vice versa. More people in desperate need of a decent
place to live, less houses being built, more building material being
stockpiled. An inhuman muddle, but it does make sense in terms of the economics
and the priorities of capitalism, whether it is capitalism under a Tory
government or Labour. All capitalist political parties are basically the same
and, when the occasion demands they have no difficulty in closing ranks with
each other. They have little respect for what they profess as principles and
for the meaning of the very words they use. All of them are after political
power, and will do any sort of deal to get it.
Under capitalism wealth takes the form of capital. Wealth is
used to produce more wealth not to satisfy human needs but to make profits.
Most of these profits are re-invested and in this way capital accumulates. What
forces the capitalist to re-invest his profits (rather than consume them all in
riotous living) is competition. Each capitalist competes against other
capitalists for a share of the market. This means he must run ever faster to
stand still. He must use his profits to buy machinery that will cheapen his
costs. This has certain technical effects: it leads to an increase in the size
of productive units. This competition between capitalist enterprises is the
motive for increasing productivity.
But competition has another result. It tends paradoxically
to reduce the number of competitors. As the technical process becomes more
complex and more costly, only large enterprises can survive. The weak and
inefficient go under and their wealth passes into the hands of those who
survive. Thus, industry becomes controlled by fewer and fewer enterprises.
This whole social process makes socialism a practical
possibility. Ever-increasing productivity makes a society of abundance
possible. Socialised methods of production make the private ownership of
socially-produced wealth outdated—and worse, a fetter on production. As control
of industry is centralised into fewer and fewer enterprises democratic social
control becomes possible. Thus, does capitalism prepare the technical basis for
socialism.
Although both Tories and Labourites praise competition and
denounce monopoly they have long since ceased to tilt at the windmills on this
point when in office. They accept—and even encourage —the concentration and the
centralisation of control of industry.
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