It’s a crazy system

The economic basis of society is changing more rapidly today than ever before in human history, and as the character of society and all social institutions change correspondingly. Change follows upon change in the mode of production and distribution. Cheaper and cheaper production, more rapid and still more rapid methods of communication and transportation are demanded to supply the world’s elusive and shifting markets. Everything must be done on a gigantic scale to be done successfully, or even at all, for in the operation of the remorseless law of competition the weak, the aged, infirm, and all who lack the latest modern equipment are driven from the arena by the more powerful rivals with  little compunction.

Socialism is revolutionary in character and worldwide in scope.  Socialism will mean the end of the present capitalist competitive system and the introduction of its economic successor, the cooperative commonwealth. The socialist movement is international because it is born of and follows the development of the capitalist system, which in its operation is confined to no country, but by the stimulus of modern production, exchange, communication, and transportation, is no longer constrained by borders and frontiers. The whole world is now the theatre of its activities. By this process all the nations of the earth must finally be drawn into cooperation, as the economic basis of human brotherhood. This is the goal of modern socialism.

The only issue concerning the Socialist Party is the private ownership of the means of production. It involves the whole question of political equality, economic freedom, and social progress. The alleged issues of the other parties are all rooted in the existing economic system, a system which they are obliged to preserve and perpetuate, and a system which the Socialist Party is pledged to abolish.  Political parties, like individuals, act from motives of self-interest. The platform of a party is simply the political expression of the economic interests of the class it represents.  The Socialist Party platform is an indictment of the capitalist system by the exploited working class, and its declaration in favour of common ownership of the means of production is the clarion call of economic freedom.

You will find between two classes a conflict of interest; their interests are diametrically opposite. What is good for one is not good for the other and it is this conflict that finds expression in the strikes. the capitalist buys labour as cheap as he can buy it and the employee sells it as dearly as he can sell it. Society has been divided into two classes as a result of this and we are living today under the capitalist system. Under this system labour produces, not for its own benefit, but for the benefit of its employer. It has employment only so long as the employer can find a profitable market for the manufactured goods. The result is that when the capitalist has manufactured so many of his goods that there is no longer a profitable market in which to dispose of them, he closes down his shops and his mills and labouring men are left, often to suffer or starve in the very shadow of the wealth that his labour has created.  Throughout the centuries the few have ruled while the many have served. The few lived a privileged and luxurious life of leisure while the many have borne the burdens, lived in poverty, and died in destitution. Labour is the great power that made the world what it is. Labour it is that fashions the ore of the hills into blade and tool; labour it is that gathers the fleeces and transforms them into myriad of fabrics; labour it is that bids the forest to fall and in its place builds the home and factory. Everywhere labour has been responsible for the advancement of mankind in every direction. Shall it then not come into its own? Is it not time that labour should receive its just reward?

Socialism would establish cooperation instead of competition. Socialism is opposed today by the capitalist and the small merchant who has hopes of being someday himself a capitalist. They who oppose socialism believe that it would take from those who have and give to those who have not. Nothing is more untrue. But we do want the Earth. Socialism is not anarchy; it is diametrically opposed to anarchy. Socialism believes in all for all, not all for a few. Socialism finds no fault with the individual but rather with the system. The earth is or should be an equal heritage for all that inhabit it. A man ought not to be dependent on any other man for work and a livelihood. 

 Political liberty is of no great benefit without economic freedom, and so the workers of the world are organising themselves for the overthrow of capitalism.

  Under the capitalist system men and women must fight each other to survive, under such conditions we cannot respect one another. Our economic conditions must always determine our conduct toward each other. Slavery was legal while it was considered an economic necessity; when it was no longer a necessity it was made illegal. Under the present system a man can’t walk up to you on the street and rob or kill you, but he can rob and exploit you by more subtle means.

The capitalists like to make fun of us and call us “crazy” socialists but they are the ones who are operating this madhouse of capitalism. The more one examines the capitalist system – which is the one the peoples of the world are living under – the more crazy it appears. Reason dictates that the people of the world unite to create international socialism – the world organisation for peace. The natural resources of the earth and the new products made possible by science, all can be used and distributed according to human needs – with common sense international planning by the working people of the world.

THAT IS SANE. THAT IS SANITY.