The wage system, under which labour has been reduced to a commodity, and millions of working people depend for their livelihood upon the permission of an employer, will be replaced by the cooperative system under which all may engage in useful occupation and work together in harmonious cooperation for the uplifting of humanity and the advancement of our civilisation.
Socialism starts out with the truism that our present system divides society into two classes, the “have all” and the “have nothing” class, and that it is the great mass of the people that do all the useful work who belong to the “have nothing” class. Socialism is class conscious. This does not mean that the Socialist Party must hate every capitalist individually, that some should be picked out as “scapegoats” while the economic power and political encroachment of all the others should be silently submitted to. It means that while we understand that every individual capitalist is the result of the present system as much as the wage worker, we still must fight the capitalists as a class because the producers cannot reasonably expect anything but exploitation from the exploiters as a class.
In spite of great economic expansion, working people do not benefit adequately from the increased wealth produced. Greater wealth and economic power continue to be concentrated in the hands of relatively few private corporations. The gap between those at the bottom and those at the top of the economic scale has widened. Millions still live in misery and insecurity condemned to a cheerless life, lacking dignity.
The world is characterised by stark inequalities of wealth and by the domination of the ruling group. Corporate wealth has resulted in a virtual economic dictatorship by a privileged few. The scramble for profits and the lack of any social planning despoils our planet’s rich resources.
The Socialist Party believes that our planet wise development and protection of its natural environment. Our industry can and should be so operated as to enable working people to use fully their talents and skills for the satisfaction of human needs. Unprecedented scientific advances have brought us to the threshold of a new technological revolution. Opportunities for enriching the standard of life are greater than ever. The challenge facing us today is whether future progress will continue to perpetuate the inequalities of the past or whether it can be based on principles of social justice. Economic expansion accompanied by widespread suffering and distress is not desirable. A society motivated by the drive for private gain and special advantage is one to aspire towards.
The SPGB seeks a society where relationships are built upon mutual respect and on equality of opportunity, a society where everyone will have a sense of worth and belonging and will be enabled to develop his or her abilities to the full. It is the cooperative commonwealth we strive for in the battle of ideas for people's minds to banish forever the fear of oppression and to free ourselves from aggression and repression.
The poor, hungry and underprivileged of the world must know democracy not as a slogan but as a way of life that sees the world as one whole. The WSM will not rest content until every person in every land is able to enjoy equality and freedom to live a prosperous and meaningful life as a citizen of a bountiful peaceful world. This is the cooperative commonwealth which the Socialist Party invites all others to join together and to build where states, territories, or provinces will exist only as geographical expressions and have no existence as sources of governmental power other than perhaps seats of administrative bodies. The political state of capitalism has no place inside the cooperative commonwealth.
We aim to replace the present capitalist system, with its inherent inhumanity, with a society from which the domination and exploitation of one class by another will be eliminated. The new social system at which we aim is not one in which individuality will be crushed by an order of regimentation. What we seek is a proper collective organisation of our economic resources such as will make possible a much greater degree of leisure and a much richer individual life for every citizen. The Socialist Party aims at political power so to put an end to this capitalist domination of our life. It is a democratic movement seeking to achieve its ends solely by constitutional methods. It appeals for support to all who believe that the time has come for a far-reaching reconstruction of our economic and political institutions and who are willing to work together for the carrying out of our goal.
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