We Serve the People

We live in an age, where the dominant mood is one of cynicism and despair, where horizons are narrow and aspirations low. The economy continues to crumble and poverty reaches new levels. Each day brings new revelations of corporate crime and corruption. Capitalism is as mired as ever in its own contradictions, yet any talk of an alternative society is dismissed with scepticism. Too many radicals have lost their sense of direction having rejected fundamental principles as ‘old fashioned’. There seems to be little hope for bringing about a society not dominated by the most voracious and destructive capitalist system ever known. Capitalism offers no solution but only one savagery after another, to make a genuinely human existence appear hopeless. We face a world of massive inequality.

We face a world in which we have been trained to obey those with money and power, and where it seems natural to spend many hours a day being bossed around while working for others so that they gain profits.

A human existence is possible. The productive forces have reached the point where life without starvation and homelessness is within reach, for all. Only the rule of one class over the rest prevents it. Capitalism exacerbates every social division to keep the working class divided. Clearly the world faces a choice between authentic socialism and an increasingly apparent barbarism. There is no room left for any alternative but socialist revolution. What does that mean? That all the problems of the world will need to be solved, and it will be the working people of the world who will have to develop ways to make decisions, ways to work together, and ways to protect ourselves and everyone from the damages that capitalism will have created.

The Socialist Party see the present time as one of opportunity to help with the rebirth of socialist thought, based unequivocally upon the concept of self-emancipation, centred on human freedom, and it is upon the richness and breadth of Marxist ideas that we wish to grow. The process of winning working people to the knowledge that life, work and culture can be more meaningful and fulfilling, as well as safer and more stable, with the socialist reorganisation of society, is long and difficult but can be exciting and rewarding. The working class does not need still more middle-class and bureaucratic “condescending saviours.” They have been a big part of the problem and not the solution. Come and help build and defend the society you want, a movement that is not built on sacrifice, anger, frustration and guilt. The gains of the past must be defended now. But the best way to do this is by understanding that unless the capitalist system itself is overthrown, those past gains and any temporary victories will be reversed by what drives of the bosses who own and control it. Trickery will not advance the cause of revolution. We call upon all workers everywhere to join us in the fight for humanity and a class-free world. Consciousness of the need for revolutionary change is growing.

By brutal means, capitalism has brought technology and the organisation of production to a point where the potential to adequately feed, clothe and house the entire world population is reachable. But the creation of abundance would end exploitation and destroy profits, so the capitalists themselves stand as a barrier to a society fit for human beings. Socialist revolution is the only solution. Our efforts are devoted to exposing, not hiding, the vacillations, capitulations and betrayals of the reformists. Many in the left have abandoned even the semblance of socialism and are disappearing into the ranks of the traditional reformists. Whichever road to reformism they choose, they use their new formations to promote class collaborationist populism with “Greens” and other reformers. They have taken up the role, virtually abandoned by the traditional parties, of left defenders of the capitalist system in the guise of its opponents and become a corrupted and gutted doctrine which passes as Marxism.

Given our different histories in different geographical areas we will have different conceptions of our immediate needs and interests, and of which problems it is most urgent to solve. We will also disagree over the best ways to organise decision-making at workplaces, in localities, and globally. All these disagreements will lead to differences within the working-class that we hope and expect will become united people of the world in solidarity through these struggles. If successful, we will create a world of freely associated labour where we decide what use values need to be produced, make them available to those who need or want them, and do this in an environmentally sustainable way in which we find ways to enjoy our lives and fulfil our potentials through actions that are sociable and helpful to ourselves and others as well.