This is what we mean by socialism

Socialism will not be and cannot be established by decree. It cannot be legislated into being by any government, no matter how admirable. Socialism must be created by the people, must be made by every worker. There is no other way. Humanity must choose between the continuation of the capitalist system which leads to destruction or socialism which will make the Earth one country single and indivisible. Capitalism means conflict and bloodshed. Socialism stands for peace and the end of war. Socialism means peace and freedom for the entire world. Wars are inevitable under capitalism. Only socialism will bring permanent peace.

Workers must acquire a clear understanding of their real position under capitalism, of the nature of capitalist society as a whole, and of their mission in history. They must act consciously for their class interests. They must become conscious of the fact that these class interests lead to a socialist society. When this takes place, the workers are a class for themselves, a class with socialist consciousness. Against the ideas of capitalism and reformism, the Socialist Party works for the ideas of socialism. It combats the insidious ideas of capitalism so that the working class as a whole may be better equipped to fight its enemy. To imbue the workers with this rounded-out class consciousness, or socialist consciousness; to organise the struggle for socialism – that is the function of the Socialist Party. Socialism cannot be achieved, and the workers cannot effectively promote their interests, without class consciousness. Class consciousness means an understanding working class, a self-confident and self-reliant working class. The Socialist Party needs to win the working class to the principles of socialism. Socialism will never come by itself. It must be fought for. Without an organised, conscious socialist movement, socialism is impossible. The socialist revolution is the overthrow of capitalist despotism and the establishment of workers’ rule.

Capitalism is a world system, and it can be ended only on a world scale. The Socialist Party is internationalist because it considers nationalism reactionary and it is the brotherhood and equality of all the human race which is our aim. We consider that national frontiers have become an obstacle to further economic and social progress and a direct contributing source to conflicts and wars. It is internationalist because it understands that the class-free socialist society cannot be established within the framework of one country alone. Socialism cannot conceivably be restricted to one country, no matter how big it is. Socialism is world socialism, or it is not socialism at all. Just as socialist economy could not exist side by side with a capitalist economy in one country, so a socialist nation could not exist side by side with capitalist nations in one world. A socialist people would understand, to begin with, that “socialist” and “nation” are mutually antagonistic words. Socialism is worldwide , and to the extent that more and more nations wipe out the national divisions and unite their economies for socialist production, to that extent would the benefits flow more lavishly to all the people.

The struggle for socialism can best be conducted under conditions that are most favourable to the working class. The most favourable conditions are those in which the working class has the widest possible democratic rights. Hence, it is to the interests of socialism and of the working class to fight for the unrestricted right to organise, the right of free speech, free press and free assembly, the right to strike and the right to vote, the right of representative government, and against every attempt to curb or abolish these rights. It is the capitalist class which is, by the very nature of its position in society, anti-democratic. Its monopoly of wealth and power denies the common people real equality in the exercise of democratic rights. The more the ownership and control of the means of production and exchange are concentrated in the hands of the few – the greater is the centralisation of authority and power in the hands of the state and the further are the masses removed from control of economic and political conditions. Without the attainment of democracy all talk of the conquest of power by the working class is deceit or illusion, and that without the realisation of complete democracy all talk of the establishment of socialism is a mockery.

First ,it must be pointed out that there is no socialism “in practice” in Britain or anywhere else. A few nationalised industries which pay profits to the recent private owners in the form of interest on government bonds – profits at the same rate as under private ownership – can hardly be called socialism. A few nationalised industries directed and controlled by the late private managers now given fancy positions on government boards, while worker participation in industry control is only an empty gesture, is not socialism. Production for the market, with emphasis on export trade, as is the case in the UK, is not socialist production.