Presenting the argument for socialism

It is of importance that the Socialist Party’s case should be made as widely known as possible, in particular our opposition to all other parties. The control of the political machine by a socialist working class means the enacting of common ownership—that is socialism. The socialist society will be carried on by the workers, whose common interests will be expressed territorially and industrially and in every field. The production of wealth will result from the organisation of industry arranged democratically by a socialist population. The capitalist system has now outlived its usefulness, and the capitalist class has become an unnecessary class. The class can be dispensed with and the system replaced with advantage to the working class, who are the great majority and can impose their will when they choose to do so. That is the basis of socialism. No other basis is needed. We are out for the abolition of capitalism, because an investing class is a privileged and totally superfluous class.

Capitalism divides the human family into two parts: one, a small minority class, claims title to all the resources of the earth — this group is known as the capitalists; the other class in our society, the overwhelming majority of the population, are known, appropriately enough, as the working class.

Since the capitalists claim ownership of all the resources of the earth, either as individuals, private or public companies or through the agency of the State, the workers are obliged in order to live to sell to the owning class the only thing they (the workers) possess, their mental or physical skills. These they sell in return for wages or salaries, which enables them to buy back from the capitalists a portion of the things they have produced.

The sole reason for producing goods under capitalism is to ensure directly or indirectly, for the capitalists, profit. Human needs are of secondary importance. This is true of all the capitalist countries of the world today. It is true of the “western” nations under “private” capitalism and it is equally true of the former ‘communist’ countries under state-capitalism.

Socialist Party candidates for election run on no programme except that which our readers see in our literature, and they would receive, therefore, the votes only of those who want Socialism and reject the programmes of the opposing candidates. The number of persons who want Socialism and would vote for it would, although small, be larger than our enrolled membership.

From its formation the Socialist Party has regarded the contesting of elections as a means of propaganda to be used along with other means of propaganda

We accept Marx’s dictum that the working class must achieve their own emancipation. But Marx, of course, did not mean by this that nothing should be done until the working class as a whole decide upon doing it. If that attitude were correct, then the Socialist Party could not have been formed. The action of forming a Socialist organisation of any kind at a time when "the working class have no desire for Socialism” would, according to such reasoning, "be anti-Socialist action.” Marx, it is interesting to observe, had considered this situation and wholeheartedly agreed with the attitude which the Socialist Party takes up. In his ‘Address to the Communist League’ he wrote:

“Even in constituencies where there is no prospect of our candidate being elected, the workers must nevertheless put up candidates in order to maintain their independence, to steel their forces, and to bring their revolutionary attitude and party views before the public”

The Socialist Party takes the only attitude the working class, conscious of its own position, can assume - contemptuous indifference for the intrigues of its masters for political power. The socialist objective is the only thing that matters to us who are socialists. Its achievement is possible whenever the bulk of our fellow-workers are of like opinion, howsoever the political or other barriers are arranged by our opponents, the capitalist class; and its achievement is not possible while we have a minority, under any conceivable political or social circumstances. To produce that majority is the immediate object of the socialist, by which time the movements of our rulers may have created a position entirely different from the present one in its political aspect. But in those movements we can have no part: they concern them, not us. We know that the economic position of our class is incapable of any essential improvement within the limits of capitalism, and are therefore out for its abolition, and we refuse to stay our hand from that work for anything any section of the masters like to propose for our temporary benefit economically, or for the alleged purpose of facilitating our movement politically. It is thus we make ourselves socialists in the present, and it is thus we shall win socialism in the future.

The present political situation makes more than ever necessary the Party which alone in this country is emphasising the need for conscious working-class action along political lines for the realisation of socialism—the Socialist Party.

Socialism is a form of social organisation wherein the convention governing the production and distribution of all wealth will be the satisfaction of human needs. All the resources of the earth will be the property of mankind as a whole and people will apply their skills and energies to these resources in order to produce the things society needs. Under such circumstances an abundance of all the things we need could be produced and it will not be necessary to find markets in which goods can be sold — for as all (save the young, the aged and infirm) will have engaged in the job of production, so all will take from the abundant wealth available. Money, a measurement of wealth and means of exchange under capitalism, will, in Socialism, be rendered superfluous, hence the humiliation of the wages system, with all the other ugly features of class slavery, will disappear, leaving the simple principle of socialist organisation: from each in accordance with  ability; to each in accordance with needs.

Is such a society possible?

Of course it is! When you consider the organised waste that the ending of the money-system alone will bring you begin to appreciate the great possibilities that lie before us. Think of all the useless functionaries connected with capitalism and essential to that system: we have the capitalists themselves, and their lackeys and flunkeys . . . armies of salesmen, touts, tickmen and agents of all descriptions . . . brokers, bankers, clerks. . . policemen, jailers and prisoners — to give point to the commandments of the system . . . soldiers, sailors and airmen, to fight capitalism’s wars — and, of course, the vast array of civilian brains and brawn necessary to the appetite of the war-machines, not to speak of the loss of human life and energy associated with “civilisation’s” wars. Very little mental exercise will show that we could fill many pages with lists of functionaries necessary only to the maintenence of capitalism.

With socialism all these useless functions will come to an end and the people concerned can begin to make a real contribution to the happiness of themselves and all mankind.

There can be no doubt that freed from the restrictions and organised waste of capitalism the peoples of the world have it within their power to produce their needs, thus opening the door to a full and happy life for all humanity. The question remains, how can the change to Socialism be accomplished?

Capitalism could not continue to exist without the willingness and assistance of the majority of the people whose role in that society is that of wage-slaves. Even more so will socialism require the participation of its people but, by the very nature of socialism such support and participation must be conscious. Only the unqualified and conscious support and participation of the majority of the world’s workers can bring about socialism. The socialist objective will mean freedom as humanity has never before known it; it represents the beginning of the highest form of social organisation that mankind can achieve, hence it demands of those who institute it a knowledge of what it is and how it will function.

Accordingly, the task of the Socialist Party and its Companion Parties overseas, is to use all the means at our disposal to bring about mass Socialist understanding; to build up an organised majority of conscious socialists to the end of gaining control of the state power and converting this from the agent of capitalist exploitation into an instrument of socialist emancipation.

Simply stated, socialism will come about when the majority of the workers of the world realise that they are the people who equip and run capitalism in the interests of their masters and undertake the task of changing the economic foundations of society in such a way as will facilitate the functioning of society in the interests of all, irrespective of race or sex.

Socialism is only as far off as the willingness of the workers to accept capitalism and attempt its reform leaves it. We cannot over-emphasise the fact that there is no bar to socialism now but the lack of socialist knowledge prevailing among the working class.

It is not usual for a political party to ask you to think and to ply you with something really worth thinking about. It is the practice to assure you that the party has your problem in hand and that “ So-and-So”, a “born leader” will collect your vote and put matters right. We hasten to assure you that we have no “leaders” in our ranks; we are an organisation of working men and women tormented by the problems and humiliations of capitalism and eager to enlist your support to banish that system from the earth.

We want to change the system, not our rulers