We see the promise of socialism

 

The Socialist Party aspires to a just society that cooperates with nature instead of destroying it. We are now being confronted with several scenarios of the imminent destruction of civilisation and even possibility of humanity on Earth. Hoping that governments or new political leaders will save us from this, is missing the point. It is not this politician or that administration that brought us to the brink of the abyss, but capitalism. Avoiding possible collapse, therefore, means transforming the economic structure of the planet, without doing so we will end up in a delusion. The truth is that capitalism is the most dangerous social system humankind has ever created. No previous form of society has come so close to such a potential for annihilation.

The fundamental principle of the global economic machine is the endless accumulation of capital. In other words, it’s about making the money grow in an eternal cycle of profit and reinvestment. This principle is embedded, among others, at the heart of the most powerful economic institutions in the world. These institutions have, in their legal constitution, only one goal: to increase the financial returns  of shareholders, and that at all costs — even at the risk of ending civilisation itself. The system that brought humankind to the brink of the abyss remains increasingly unstable and unpredictable.

This logic is the engine of the aggressive expansion and permanent growth that the system needs to exist. New markets and new sources of energy must be made accessible by all means and ever larger natural spaces are being exploited. According to this logic, any pause, any deceleration or moderation is equivalent to a crisis. Commodities, products ,be they cars or medicines, or guns, food or energy — are interchangeable means for this purpose. Once the demand for certain products is satisfied, new demands must be created. That is why it is essential to transform citizens into consumers, whose contribution to social life is reduced to buying things.

The capitalist system cannot exist without the modern state, which has developed in a co-evolutionary manner with capital. The International Monetary Fund has calculated that states subsidise fossil fuels to the tune of $5 trillion each year. That is, taxpayers finance the destruction of the planet to maintain the profits of the fossil fuel industry. The same goes for the automotive industry, aviation, big banks and industrial agriculture.

The business model is also based on the armaments industry. the spoils of the pillaging and the looting of weaker foreign countries has been the driving force behind the cataclysmic wars and colonial expansion.

Crises will continue to recur — financial crises, pandemics, failed states, ecological degradation — and each crisis will oblige members of society to engage with the issues and make choices. 

The Socialist Party does not hold the belief that it is inevitable, a ‘scientific’ certainty, that capitalism will  lead to the socialist revolution. Marx was not the sole originator, but there were traditions of socialism that preceded Marxism. Socialism will foster participatory democracy. Socialists insist that we can only learn what a socialist society will look and feel like by building it, and this failure to imagine has sometimes blinded us to the both the possibilities and problems that might arise.

Perhaps individual members of a socialist society may not feel or act lovingly toward others in many instances, but the culture will support a system that nurtures compassion and altruism. Socialism will limit the socially destructive aspects of competition and egoism. Socialism will not construct any bureaucracies rife with corruption. In capitalism, individuals may have the right to choose their own lifestyle options, but the choices are restricted by the ways commercialism influences and limits our desires, molds our identities, and produces only customers.

 The Socialist ideal obliterates all differences of race, creed, color, and nationality. It celebrates the brother and sisterhood of all workers everywhere. It crosses all national boundaries, it transcends all language barriers, it ignores all religious differences. It makes sharp and clear, around the world, the impassable chasm between all workers and all exploiters. 

The Socialist Party seeks to enlighten fellow-worker to the possibility of a new world, a class-free world, a peaceful world, a world without poverty or misery. It is the promise of socialism, the real family of mankind. There is but one race – the human race! Workers of all nationalities, immigrants, political refugees, exiles, from every foreign land; native born must seek a common, determined demand - socialism.

They laugh at us, the rulers. We are small voices, crying out in the wilderness, but are we dreamers when we say conditions can’t change human nature and ask what would the world be without the profit incentive?  Socialism –  world of peace and plenty, the cooperative commonwealth. No bosses, no landlords, no bankers, no ammunitions makers, no loan sharks, no uber/gig employment agencies; no child labour; no prostitution; no unfinished incomplete education; no more being broken by old age; no long hours; no low wages; no speed-up; no unemployment or under-employment; no rich, no profiteers, no capitalism. 

There is very great need to-day to clearly define what is socialism. The Socialist Party says we must dismantle the foundations of capitalist society and replace it with another economic system that do not serve profit but the common good. We must transform the basis of our civilisation and create the cooperative commonwealth. The road ahead may be rough but it is shorter than the road behind.