Demand Tomorrow Today

What is socialism? If we are socialists, what are we actually striving for? 

The Socialist Party conceives of socialism as the next stage of social evolution. The builders of the socialist society of the future will be the socialist generations themselves. The Socialist Party refrains from offering these future generations any instructions or blueprints. Auguste Blanqui, the French revolutionist, said: “Tomorrow does not belong to us.” We recognise that. The people in the future society will be wiser than we are. We also assume that they will be superior to us, in every way, and that they will know what to do far better than we can tell them. 

The Socialist Party can only point out the general direction of development, and we should not try to do more. But the prospect of socialism and what the future socialist society will look like is a question of interest and has a great importance. We trace some of the broad outlines of probable future development; the general direction, if not the details. Socialism will undoubtedly bring about a revolutionary transformation of human activity and association in all fields. There is the necessary evolutionary reorganisation of the labour process and the premise for a society of shared abundance.

The World today is full of stark and bewildering contradictions. The greatest industrial and agricultural power in history cannot feed, house and provide a decent livelihood for millions. Countless others sweat and toil away all their lives just to survive while billionaires squander fortunes on pet projects such as spaceships. Poverty and economic insecurity exist alongside affluence and extravagance. Politicians say they want international cooperation and peace, but they continue to build mighty military machines. Politicians endlessly speak about the sanctity of the family and morality. Yet the world suffers social decay. Violence against women and their sexual exploitation are unmatched. Mass media may be very sophisticated technically, but offer not much more than fantasy and escapism. Real life, in contrast, cries out for work for the welfare of humanity.

What is the reason for these contradictions between the promises, the potential of this society, and its stark reality? Why is there such an agonising gap between what is and what could be! The answers to these questions cannot be found in cynical condemnations of “human nature” or apologies about the “way things are.” No!

 Capitalism, a system of exploitation, violence, racism and war, the social system under which we live, is responsible for the contradictions in society. Capitalism thrives on the private ownership and control of society’s wealth and production – production involving the interconnected efforts of millions of working people. The super-rich have one basic goal in life: to make more and more profits, and they accomplish this by dominating the economics, politics, and cultural life. The capitalists will throw workers out into the streets to starve, promote violent racism, and build a military arsenal that can destroy the world several times over – anything for profits! This is an irrational and unjust system. But life does not have to be this way.

We can improve our lives and we can eliminate exploitation and capitalist injustice, by overturning the capitalist system. We can replace capitalism with a rational and humane system – socialism. Socialism is a social system where social wealth is genuinely controlled by society and for the benefit of society; where the common good, not profits, becomes the chief concern. Such an economic and political transformation will be radical, but a revolutionary solution is what it will take to bury the miseries of capitalism. The socialist revolution has become a historical necessity and possibility. There is no other choice today but for the working people to organise to struggle and win socialism.

 Socialism will qualitatively improve the lives of the working and oppressed peoples of the World. If the working people, and not the corporations, controlled the great resources of our society, we could improve all our lives. We could have a society which lays the basis for the equality of all. We could live in a World that is not preparing constantly for war and environmental self-extinction. These are the hopes that encourage the Socialist Party forward. The first 1% takes forever, 10% is like waiting for a sneeze – you know it’s inevitable but it takes longer than you think after that to 50% happens incredibly fast.