The
capitalist class is the number one enemy of the people. It ruthlessly
exploits and oppresses the working class. Capitalism hold the working
class in subjection by the strength of its might and power, but
capitalism can not do it without the willing consent and acquiescence
of that working class. What is the secret
of the Socialist Party? The secret lies not in the personality and
the ability of orators and writers; it lies in the fact that all the
propaganda and teaching of this party was, from the outset, based
upon the class struggle – upon a recognition of the fact that the
struggle between the Haves and the Have Nots was the controlling
factor in politics, and that this fight could only be ended by the
working class seizing hold of political power and using this power to
transfer the ownership of the means of life, viz, land and machinery
of production, from the hands of private individuals to the
community, from individual to social or public ownership. This party
had against it all the organised forces of society – of a society
founded upon robbery, but it had on its side a latent force stronger
than them all, the material interests of the working class. The
awakened recognition of that material interest has carried us far; it
will carry us in triumph to the end.
Political
pundits are always telling us that the world has changed — the
system has changed and the whole nature of capitalism isn’t what it
used to be. The Socialist Party asserts capitalism has not changed.
The struggles between rival capitalists, the harsh conflict of
interests between workers and capitalists, the blind and wasteful way
in which worker is set against his brother worker — these things
remain, today. Socialism
will be the outcome of a process of social evolution that is going on
now. The culmination of this process will be the capture of political
power for socialism by the working class and the consequent social
revolution from capitalism to socialism. It is capitalism that paves
the way for socialism. Capitalism has already brought into being a
world-wide productive system that could provide a plenty for all and
the people to run this system. What it has yet to bring into being is
the desire for socialism on the part of those who work for wages
throughout the world. This is the only real barrier to socialism
today. If what our correspondent implies at one point is correct —
if workers can’t run society without the capitalist class — then
the time is not ripe for socialism. Our answer to this is clear and
the evidence for it can be easily seen by looking at the world in
which we live: the working class do now, as industrial, agricultural,
clerical and, yes, managerial workers, run society from top to bottom
even if not in their own interest. The capitalist class play no role
in production; they are superfluous. On the personal-level few are
even '‘skilled technicians”. Let’s get this straight: it is the
working class who run the world today without the help-of the
capitalist class. We are merely arguing that means of wealth
production that are at present socially operated should also be
socially owned and controlled, and that the people who run society
today can and should — run it in their own interests.
We
have no detailed plans for socialism. This is because socialism can
only be established by the working class once they have become
socialist. It is up to those people around at the time to work out
the exact forms of running social affairs in a socialist society. It
would be presumptuous and foolish of us today to predict the future.
All we can do now is say where we think the general trends we see
operating today are leading. When a majority of
workers have become socialists they will organise for political
power; then use this power to end private property in the means of
wealth production, thus ending also their position as wage-slaves.
This done, society can set about reorganising itself on a socialist
basis, with production for use and free access for all to what has
been produced. In such a society the government of people (and all
that goes with it like armed forces, police, judges and jailers) will
be unnecessary. Parliament as the means for controlling the machinery
of government too will be unnecessary. But this does not mean that
there will be no means for exercising democratic control over social
affairs. The exact form of such democratic social control once again
we can’t predict and don’t try to. Complex
productive apparatus as exists today can only be controlled
democratically by society through such means. If you find difficulty
in envisaging world wide organisation and control of production
consider that many organisations today are already world wide:
General Motors, Shell, World Health Organisation, International
Postal Union, to mention a few. Socialist society will allow a great
variety of forms of social control from the local to the world-wide.
Beyond this we can’t go today.
No comments:
Post a Comment