The Labour Party is a capitalist party. It lays claim to the title of socialist ideals, but has nothing to do with socialism. Whatever associations it has had with the working class were due to its links with the trade unions, but they have even now subordinated the trade unions to its dictatorship on behalf of capitalism. There can be no real democracy unless it is workers in power. Real democracy means the mass of the population being at once voters and administrators. This is only possible under a system of common ownership of all wealth and means of production. Then all can stand on equal footing and collectively participate in the conduct of their own affairs, the running of industry and the organisation of social life. The power of the working class is not the power of politicians in Parliament, but the strength of its own self-organisation. We want to turn communities over to the people, but without your efforts and support we cannot. Profit is the life blood of capital — the vital essence of the capitalist system — and when it shall cease to flow the system will be dead. Only when the capitalist can extract a satisfactory profit from labour-power is the worker given a job, or allowed to work at all. Profit first; labour, life, love, liberty always secondary. The most important thing about world socialist movement is the promotion of education to shed light, to arouse the workers from their torpor and t develop their faculties for thinking, teach them their economic class interests, effect their solidarity, and imbue them with the spirit of the impending social revolution.
We are members of one class above all else. We face a common situation and have a common destiny. It is the sweat and toil of the working class as a whole that produces the great wealth of this world, that makes everything run. But doing all this, we are robbed of its fruits by the ruling class of capitalists who run the government and all of society in their own interests. We produce, and the very wealth we produce becomes a weapon in the hands of our enemy, more wealth for the capitalists, more chains on the working class. We produce in common and in common we are exploited. Our goals are the same, too. We want a good life for ourselves and our families and a bright future for our children. And we don’t want it at the expense of our class brothers and sisters, but for the common benefit of all working people and the advancement of humanity. We can and we will build this good life and bright future, but we must be free to do so, free of the wealthy leeches who bloat themselves on the very blood of the workers.
The capitalist system is incapable of dealing with the problems facing the working class as it is the cause of all problems. Our objective is the workers’ control of their communities and places of work – the factories, mines, fields, offices, transportation services and communication facilities – so that the exploitation of labour will cease and no person will get rich off the labour of another person, but all people will work for the collective benefit of humanity.
The world is always in the process of change. Nothing holds still–not for anybody. And for the people in the world, change is good, because it means an end to oppression and exploitation. The very air is charged with a feeling of impending change. On the other hand, people don’t have much confidence in their ability to change things.
We have been played for suckers before, and we are not going to be played again. We shall help to create a world where all people will call each other sisters and brothers out of genuine love of each other.
THE SOCIALIST PARTY UNFURLS ITS BANNER
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