The voice of the people

The socialist revolution is the process, on a world scale, through which the socialist mode of production is established and supplants the capitalist system. The goal of the socialist revolution is the abolition of capitalist private property, the abolition of all exploitation of man by man, the social ownership of the means of production and their planned use for the benefit of the whole of society, leading to abundance and universal brotherhood and sisterhood. The Socialist Party does not put forward this goal as a utopia, as a mere vision but as a goal the practical attainment. Socialism is a practical objective where the contradictions of capitalism are solved and the great technological forces of production be fully applied. Socialism will only be gained by waging the class struggle by the working class and the conquest of political power by the independent party of the working class. The aim of socialism is in accord with democracy and liberty – indeed, the only way in which socialism can be fulfilled. Socialism means the ending of exploitation of man by man, a society without class antagonisms, in which the people themselves control their means of life and use them for their own happiness. Ideas cannot be produced to order; they must achieve their own growth in the minds and hearts of men. Fostered and allowed to grow, they will truly and adequately express the experiences and aspirations of the people.

Socialism is not inevitable. What we call ‘inevitability’ consists solely of this, that only through socialism can humanity progress and social evolution continue. What course lies open for us to choose. The simple fact is that most workers are not socialists and most accept capitalism, believing it can’t be changed. Capitalist ideas appear to make sense because they reflect the world as we experience it and so to believe these things are ‘natural’ and ‘true’ seems simple common sense. It is this view the Socialist Party seeks to challenge. It presents, articulates and generalise socialist ideas to provide a deeper understanding of the workings of the world, to win those battles of ideas. If workers do not hold that the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the workers themselves, then they will look for salvation from above, or, worse still, come to the conclusion that no emancipation is possible at all. They are destined to disappointment. The party cannot substitute for the working class. It must be part of the class struggle. Socialism can only come about when the working class itself takes control of the means of producing wealth and uses this to transform society. Socialism is a theory of a system of human society, based on the common ownership of the means of production and the carrying on of the work of production by all for the benefit of all. In other words, socialism means that the land, all mass transportation, the mines, the factories, and all such things as are necessary for the production of the necessities of life should be collective property, just as our public roads, our public parks and our public libraries are examples today, so that all these things should be used by the whole people to produce the goods that the whole of the people require to live a decent life.

A revolution is coming that will place the working women and men around the world in full command over its vast resources. From combating individual capitalists or alliances of capitalists over immediate economic issues such as hours, wages, and conditions, the workers have been compelled to move out onto the political arena as an independent class force against the capitalists organised as a class and through their political parties in control of the state apparatus.

In terms of organisation and social influence, the Socialist Party has accomplished relatively little. Yet terms of developing socialist ideas it has been of importance which explains why it has struck a responsive chord and been able to maintain itself a veritable socialist institution. The Socialist Party struggles against economic slavery.