Few can deny that the world today is suffering upheaval,
chaos, turmoil and conflict. Against this insane capitalist system, the
Socialist Party raises its voice in protest and condemnation, declaring that if
our society is to be rid of the economic, political and social ills that plagues
it, capitalism must be replaced by a new social system, organised on the basis
of common ownership and democratic management of all the means production and distribution
and all of the social services. It must be one in which production is carried
on to satisfy human needs and wants. In short, it must be genuine socialism. Across
a world full of human gore, we, the Socialist Party, reach out the hand of solidarity
to our fellow-workers.
Capitalism is the last expression of class rule. The
economic foundation of class rule is the private ownership of the necessaries
for production. The social structure, or garb, of class rule is the political
State with no vital function other than the maintenance of the supremacy of the
ruling class.
Goals determine methods. The goal of social evolution being
the final overthrow of class rule, its methods must fit the goal. Capitalism
laid the economic groundwork for socialism, and provided the class that can
bring socialism about. The workers cannot rid themselves of their sufferings
without abolishing the domination that the state machine has over them. They can
do this only if they gain control of the state machine itself. By doing so,
they can end capitalism and reorganise of society. For the first time in
history, the state would be in the hands of the majority to be used against the
anti-social minority. The important thing is that there will be no need of a
public coercive force to maintain the power of one class over another, to
protect the property of one from the assaults of the other, to assure the
continuation of oppression and exploitation.
Socialism is based upon the planned organisation of
production for use by means of the common ownership and democratic control of
the means of production and it is the abolition of all classes and class
differences. The purpose of planning, is to assure the harmonious integration of
industry with the environment while still raising the standard of living of all.
It is the maintenance of capitalist domination of society that demands, more
and more, the abandonment of ecological balance and democracy. The raw
materials, machinery and labour power of the nation would be brought together
into an integrated whole. The waste of capitalist competition and the
stagnation of monopoly capitalism would be overcome. Production would not be
organised on the basis of the blind push and pull of the capitalist market, but
in accordance with the needs of the people. Production for profit would give
way to production for use. Capitalist motives for production was, is, and
always will be profit. It is not the needs of the people that dictate its
production.
Democratic process
and institutions are not merely desirable ideals, but indispensable to the
planning of production for use. Who is to determine what is useful and what
would satisfy these needs? Will that be decided exclusively by a small board of
government planners? No matter how high-minded and wise they might be, they
could not plan production for the needs of the people. Production for use, by
its very nature, demands constant consultation of the people, constant control
and direction by the people. The democratically-adopted decision of the people
would have to guide the course of production and distribution. Democratic
control of the means of production and distribution would have to be exercised
by the people to see to it that their decision is being carried out. Otherwise,
at best, it would be the benevolent regimentation of the people “for their own
good.” A government which declares itself to be for the people,
but is not a government of and by the people. Production
would be run by the autocratic will of a bureaucracy. Economic distortions,
social conflict, exploitation and oppression would inevitably result.
Production for use, aimed at satisfying the needs of society and of freeing all
the people from class rule, would be impossible. Democratic control, the
continual extension of democracy, is therefore an indispensable necessity.
With socialism, there is abundance for all. A rationally
planned organised society, sustainably using resources and renewable energy and
with better technology to come, could easily assure abundance to all.
Socialism is not a blueprint for society that exists in the
minds of the members of the Socialist Party. It is the direction that the
people must take in order to save society from disintegration, in order to
satisfy their social needs. To be a socialist, merely means to be conscious of
this necessity, to make others conscious of it, and to work for the realisation
of the goal. In the socialist society we will show that abundance, freedom and
equality are not only possible but the natural condition for the new history of
the human race.
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