Unity and Victory

To-day, the world is in the hands of billionaires, the biggest banks, the biggest media companies; in short, the owners or controllers of the biggest corporations. They pull the strings and they use their power to make themselves richer and richer—at our expense. They hire workers to make profit out of their labour; their capitalist production is for profit, not for use: and to get more profit they slash wages, carry through speed-up and worsen conditions. This mad race for profit ends in a crisis; and then they try to get out of the crisis—at our expense. Poverty, insecurity and malnutrition making their inroads in the homes of millions of workers: low wages, intensified productivity, to the point of physical exhaustion, is the lot of the workers in the factories and giant warehouses: increases in the number of accidents and sickness amongst working-class mothers and babies. This is how it is to-day for working men, women and their families. 

This is the choice before us:

Security and prosperity for billions of workers who produce the nation’s wealth by their labour or security and prosperity for the tiny handful of profit-bloated corporations and the bankers, the parasites of the world. To acquire security, production must be taken out of the hands of the capitalists whose only interest is the fabulous profits they get out of it. The Socialist Party does not allow the profit-interests of the ruling class to stand in the way of the life-interests of the people. The Socialist Party champions socialism as the basic solution of the problems and conflicts of society today. All that socialism sets itself to do is to achieve plenty for all, peace, brotherhood, security, freedom. The Socialist Party calls upon the working-class militants to join and work with it toward this end, pledged to support of the whole working class. That is the road to socialism, to a world system, of peace, security and freedom.

No matter how easily accessible the best medical techniques might be made, the fundamental problems of workers’ health cannot be solved under capitalism. The best imaginable health program cannot be more than a feeble palliative so long as mass unemployment, crowded slums, low standards of living, chronic malnutrition, mutilation and death from war are the expected lot of most of mankind. Only through the final victory of world socialism can the vast stores of available scientific knowledge really be put to work for the full benefit of humanity. “Socialised medicine” is a meaningless phrase except in a socialised society.

There is no need for a single worker to be overworked or in dread of losing a job; no reason why an unemployed worker should lack the necessaries of life, or why he or she should not be brought back into employment. All over the world millions of workers are year by year coming to realise these facts and to see that nothing except the existence of capitalism prevents them building up for themselves a decent and secure world. Everywhere the workers are becoming less and less willing to put up with an entirely unnecessary state of impoverishment. They are showing themselves more and more determined to insist upon their right to food, clothing and shelter for themselves and their families. But to get this, capitalism must be overthrown. To get this is only possible by the building up of socialism, giving peace and prosperity, happiness and new life to the whole working population. Without breaking the power of the capitalists it is impossible to get rid of capitalism or to build socialism. It will mean that the capitalists will be deprived of their ownership and control of the factories and workshops, mills and mines, shipyards and transport. All these means of production which they have used and misused only to pile up profits for themselves and poverty for the workers will be taken from them. We have to-day ample resources for producing all the things we need. Today we are both unemployed and unable to get the things we need. The two things go together. For we are unemployed because the capitalists want to have their profits and will not let us produce what we need. Destitution and unemployment can only be cured simultaneously by taking over and running the industries. Workers will naturally produce far better and more willingly under their own management than they do now.