The
victory of socialism means the political supremacy of the working
class and the abolition of every form of exploitation. To fight for
socialism is consciously to struggle for the overthrow of capitalism
and the institutions of the State designed and created to maintain
the economic and political dominance of the few who own capital over
the many who have only their own labour power. From where we are,
the capitalist system seem stable and solid; but with a bird’s-eye
view, we can see the widening cracks within its structure. Change,
change and change – that is the main lesson of Marxism. This world
is not fixed and stable; boundaries, laws, lifetime habits, opinions,
rights, governments, methods – everything tends to approach a fluid
state. The capitalists like to pretend that capitalism is eternal.
The fact is, however, that for the greater part of human history
mankind lived in tribal society under a system of primitive
communism, a system without classes, in which acceptance of the
authority of the elders did not require a special coercive force but
was freely given, and questions of paramount importance were decided
by the tribal assembly. In those times there was no state. With the
appearance of classes comes the division of society into rulers and
ruled. Because of antagonistic class interests a special apparatus of
coercion grows up, apparently standing outside of and above society,
but utilised by the ruling class to maintain its privileges, economic
and political. This apparatus, the state, consists of special bodies
of armed men, prisons, courts, etc. It is used by the ruling class
against other classes that might endanger its position. Thus the
essence of the state consists precisely in this, that it is an
instrument for the oppression of one class by another.
When
men and women sought employment and were willing to work, capitalism
declared that it could not open the factories and start the wheels of
industry moving. There was use for goods, but capitalism is not
production for use. All the scientists, all the statesmen, all the
industrialists, the bankers, all the politicians and economists of
capitalism, were unable to make capitalism operate to serve the needs
of the people. There were consumers at hand, but not profits.
Therefore there were millions of unemployed, but no production for
them.
Yet
for war, capitalism functions splendidly. Every factory works, some
of them around the clock. New factories are set up. Money flows like
water. There are consumers aplenty and undreamed-of profits.
Capitalism found an almost inexhaustible market for its wares. It now
works like a clock, ticking of blood and ruin with every second. We
have a social system that stands self-condemned. Its usefulness of
the past is now long outlived. If it is allowed to continue, the
world will only plunge deeper into slavery, suffering, degradation,
exhaustion and death.
Capitalism is a cold ruthless devourer of human life. Always and
everywhere, the inexorable drive for profit and accumulation,
expansion and profit, occurs at the expense of the worker.
The
tempo of thought and action becomes immeasurably accelerated in
mental attitudes and psychologies – that is, a profound shake-up of
human nature. One of the lessons of history is that it is so hard for
us, even for socialists, to realise the tremendous impact of each of
these forces, and the terrific potential which is being built up in
the world working people. The struggle for
socialism
is
the struggle for socialist consciousness.
This
system of capitalism is driving humanity into the ground. If you
like that idea and vision of a new economy, democratically structured
to answer to people’s needs instead of the profit imperative
welcome to the movement for socialism.
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