Working towards a socialist future

The Socialist Party is the party of the working class, in fundamental opposition to all other parties. It declares that the increasing wealth in the hands of the rich, side by side with the increasing misery and poverty of the proletariat, cannot be eliminated within the framework of capitalism unless the working class overthrows the capitalist class. It has as its aims the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a society in which the means of production will not be the private property of the few, will not be based upon profit and not be based on class division, The Socialist Party therefore is the deadly foe of capitalism and capitalist parties. It advocates the mobilisation of the entire working class in a direct fight against the capitalist system. It is part of a worldwide movement aiming to rally the workers of all lands for the common struggle for socialism. Socialism is possible but not inevitable. It is more urgently necessary in 2019. We begin our work with modest means and forces but with an unshakable faith in the future. Our tasks are of international significance.

In this period of recession, a fall in the rate of profit forces the capitalists to make up the loss by the most drastic steps. If they intend to continue to exploit the workers, they must change the ratio of necessary labour (wages) and surplus wages (surplus value) to their interest. The lengthening of the workday has given way to the speed-up and flexibility of the uber gig economy and the reduction of wages in order to reduce the necessary labour and increase the surplus labour to keep up the falling rate of profit. In crises, and in sections of the industrial structure the capitalists are still able to lengthen the workday, but the general trend is in the opposite direction, due to the developed productive forces which forces them to resort to speed-up and general wage cuts. The developed productive forces since the war have forced into the structure for the first time an absolute decrease of the number of workers employed in production, which opened the door for a permanent army of millions of unemployed workers.

Cancer must be cut out early or the body perishes. The time to act against the canker of capitalism is NOW when there is still time to cut it out with the least injury. That is the only way to reduce its anti-working-class politics.

In thinking about what socialism will be like people should realise what will be the outlook of those who establish socialism and what socialism itself will involve. Conditions determine the behaviour of people. When the mass of people have decided to abolish the conditions that cramp their minds and bodies they will already have recognised the evil of unsocial behaviour and the value to themselves of social behaviour. When the new society has got upon its feet the conditions that breed unsocial behaviour will have disappeared. Some inkling of this can be gained by the behaviour of people in tribal societies although tribal society is far short of the conditions that will obtain under socialism.

Under capitalism the aim is to make a profit out of what is produced and to reduce costs accordingly. With socialism no effort would be spared that would make work as comfortable and as enjoyable as possible.

All wars have sprung from economic motives. Speaking accurately there have been no religious wars; they have only been “so-called religious wars.” The economic motives have been cloaked by religion just as the last war was cloaked by such things as a fight for democracy. The motives are there even though the participants may not be conscious of them.

Many workers pass such remarks as “The case put by the Socialist Party is sound, BUT...” or “I would support you IF...” Such statements imply a recognition that socialism, offers the only remedy to present-day social evils together with a vague doubt as to how or when it can be established. The IFs and BUTs show that the full significance of the socialist alternative, the means by which it will be achieved and its place in the process of social evolution has not been completely grasped. The Socialist Party wants to clear away all doubts, its wants to prove our case to the hilt. Workers who attend will receive a warm welcome and will have all their questions answered in a comradely atmosphere. Don’t wait until the next election to get the “low down” on the many political sharks who will then be seeking their prey and cadging your vote. Get them in line and learn how you can take your place in the struggle to end wars, the wages system, class society and all the consequences that you abhor.

The Socialist Party recognises that a person's relations to another are dependent on very material conditions. In other words, our behaviour, our morals, even the way in which we amuse ourselves, can be related to the method which society employs at the present time to produce and distribute the things we need.

Mankind is not born with an inherent instinct to perform all the most insidious and diabolical cruelties to his or her fellow creatures. The capitalist does not oppose workers’ demands for higher wages and better conditions because of a desire to see millions of people squirm in poverty, filth and degradation. His economic position dictates his policy and if he ignored the rules he would soon find himself ousted from the markets by more astute members of his class, and possibly flung into the exploited class himself.

It is the capitalist system with all its ridiculous contradictions and anomalies that puts class against class, race against race and nation against nation. It is the capitalist system that twists and perverts people’s sense of values so that they are shocked and disgusted by sexual promiscuity but accept and condone the mass murder and butchering of millions of helpless people.

You do not need to delve into the mysterious labyrinth of the human mind to discover the reason for mankind’s inhumanity. The fault lies not in mankind but in mankind’s inability at the moment to understand and grapple with the economic machine which dominates his or her whole outlook and relationship with fellow beings. Once humanity has discovered the real cause of its problems, there is no power on earth that can stop us sweeping away capitalism and introducing a new form of society based upon different economic laws.

This will not only abolish persecution of one another but also the economic problems of war, insecurity and want. These things are the root of all the mental phenomena and disarrangement which our psychologists and moralists would have us believe can be cured and finally abolished if only we could learn to control ourselves a little better.

When the socialist asserted that the condition of the working class in capitalist society grows steadily worse, his work-mates just can't make it out. They compare certain aspects of their way of living with those of their fathers or to their earlier days and disagree. The socialist explains that the difference between the conditions and ways of living in the past and those at present make it very difficult to draw any comparison. The Socialist Party viewpoint is that the only way to estimate the progress made by the working class in society is in relation to the wealth they produce, or in relation to the wealth they could produce with the existing productive forces. From this aspect, what they receive in relation to what they produce, the standard of life they have compared with what they could have, the working class are worse off than they ever were. When colleagues hear this they say, “Well, I suppose, looking at it that way, you’re right, but things are a bit better.”

Capital is wealth used to extract profit. Profit arises from the difference between what the workers produce and what they receive, in other words from the exploitation, the robbery, of the working class. So more capital formation means more working-class exploitation.

Do the parties of capitalism offer any change to this continuing deterioration of the position of the working class in society? In their election manifesto both Tory and Labour pledged themselves to increase production and lower costs. Labour maintains this can be done better by state intervention and government and controls. The Tories claim that free enterprise and a minimum of State interference is the better method. For the working class, increased production means working harder, and lower costs means less wages, at least less wages in relation to what they produce. While capitalism lasts these conditions will remain. The only alternative is to study socialist propaganda and equip yourselves with the knowledge necessary to abolish capitalism and establish socialism.