Why we need socialists

The change from capitalism to socialism is going to be the greatest event in human history, ending as it will, the age-long rule of private property and with it the exploitation of man by man, and establishing in its place the socialist commonwealth where money rules no more. The changes on all aspects of life will be correspondingly profound. Let the businessmen, the stock market gamblers and politicians laugh or weep or tremble at such a prospect. But what can they offer as an alternative to socialism? Nothing but the continuance of Hell under their system of capitalism. It is for you to choose, fellow-workers. Should we placidly accept that the present world-wide system of society— capitalism? Without an understanding of the present social system and a desire to bring about the social changes needed if we are all to have a future, simply rioting in the streets will not bring about the social revolution required to implement real global cooperation.

What makes socialists? The Socialist Party's advocacy is one factor in the process of education but far more powerful is the economic development with its increasing the insecurity of life for everyone who lives by selling his or her labour-power to an employer. It is this great factor that usually forces workers to listen to the Socialist Party case for socialism. The class division between workers and employers is more clearly shown. No wage slave is sure of his or her job. Long before the Socialist propaganda will reach the majority of these people the growth of the contradictions in capitalism will have forced them to examine various supposed ways of escape, and they will be compelled to take up the study of socialism as furnishing the only solution to these problems. Without the poverty of the poor there could be no riches for the rich.

Despite the Trotskyist belief in "revolutionary situations,"explanations of the nature of socialism are rarely found in their press or on their websites. As the revolution will take place at any moment, there is no need for this painstaking work. The line of their propaganda is rather like the instructions of a general staff to its army — " "Workers must fight for equal pay.” etc. Despite of their claims to be revolutionary, their platforms and policies contains the usual reformist nonsense, such as the "Nationalisation of the land, mines, banks, transport and all big industry.” etc.

The protests and demonstrations by workers against the effects of recurring capitalist economic crises are understandable but misplaced. Instead of agitating for a fair day's pay for a fair day’s work the working class should be engaged in political action with the object of abolishing the wages system completely. It must be obvious that the bumblings and blusterings of hypocritical politicians and “labour leaders’’ can no longer disguise the fact that they arc powerless to influence the actions of the market system.

Capitalism has run its course. The only question is how much longer the working class are prepared to see capitalism thrash about continuing to do untold harm to millions of workers. The working class has a choice. It can continue to choose to support a social system which brainwashes them, which bullies them, which suppresses them, which makes them homeless, which makes them hungry, which makes them poor, which exploits them and which kills them. Or the working class can choose to realize that we are many and they are few. It can choose to stop its own exploitation and decide to hasten the demise of capitalism and bring about a social system based upon common ownership of the means of production and distribution. The working class can choose to abolish poverty, abolish famine, abolish want, abolish lack of opportunity, abolish the wages system. abolish capitalism.

The Socialist Party's aim is to see established a democratic world community without frontiers—in which the natural and industrial resources of the world have become the common heritage of all humanity, and are used in co-operation to produce wealth directly for needs, with free access for all to the available goods and services, according to their own self-defined needs.
A money-free, state-free world commonwealth is the only framework within which current social problems can be permanently solved, since it is only on this basis that production can be oriented towards satisfying human needs. This social revolution can only be carried out when once a majority of wage and salary workers throughout the world want it, fully understand its implications, and organise democratically and politically to achieve it. Abolish prices once and for all, and replace this outdated system with a society of free and equal access for all, based upon self-defined needs. We don't need political confidence tricksters to run the world; we can do it ourselves for ourselves. We still see an inconsistency in being committed to the establishment of a free, socialist society through the democratic self-organisation of the working class without leaders and believing that humanity needs to be saved by some supernatural being who supposedly lived and died 2000 years ago and will return some day to establish his kingdom on Earth.