The Socialist Party is against any and every war. It’s task is to work to turn that war into a class war.
Before being able to combat evil, one must know its cause. Thus, seeking the primary cause of war is the first step in preventing it. It is impossible to understand modern wars without understanding the class basis of society.
It is a paradox. The world and its people have never been so closely inter-connected than today, yet there are more fences and walls separating them than ever before. With almost 200 states that insist on their national sovereignty, effective international action and regulation are hard, if not impossible, to achieve. We are in the middle of a struggle between the forces of autocracy and nationalism on the one hand and democracy and global awareness on the other. World unification is no longer a philosophical consideration. It is becoming a practicable possibility. The people of the world need a global democracy and a global administration that represents all citizens of the world. Intergovernmental organisations such as the UN or the WHO are only as effective as their member states allow them to be. Otherwise, their hands are tied. The UN does not represent humanity. It is an exclusive club of government executives whose job it is to pursue national interests. It is time that global institutions be equipped with the power they need to deal with global threats and manage global commons. If the people of the world unite behind this vision it can soon be at the top of the political agenda.
Socialists predict the inevitability of war if capitalism is not overthrown. The real roots of the war can be seen in the class system of society. A study of the nature and causes of modern war proves that war is an essential part of capitalism. The contradictions and conflicts of capitalism lead and must lead to war. A common misconception is the wide-spread belief that the anti-war is independent of the class struggle in general, that a broad alliances of all sorts of persons from every political group can be formed around the issue of fighting war, since – so the reasoning goes – these persons may be all equally opposed to war whatever their differences on other points. War is thus removed from its social base, considered apart, from its causes and conditions. War is not the cause of the troubles of society. The opposite is true. War is a symptom and result, of the irreconcilable troubles of the present form of society, that is to say, of capitalism.
The only way to fight, against war is to fight against the causes of war. Since the causes of war are part of the inner nature of capitalism, it follows that the only way to fight, against war is to fight against: capitalism.
It is of little use to cry out against war while we tolerate a social system that breeds war. No one can uphold capitalism – whether directly, as an open adherent of the capitalists, or indirectly, from any shade of liberal or reformist position – and be against war, because capitalism means war. Only a socialist can fight against war, because only a socialist takes the road to the overthrow of capitalism. To suppose, therefore, that socialists can work out a common platform “against war” with non-socialists is an illusion. There is only one anti-war policy: the programme for revolution.
The socialist revolution can and will eliminate war because, by overthrowing capitalist economy and supplanting capitalism with a socialist economy, it will remove the causes of war. With socialism there will no longer exist the basic contradictions that lead to war. The expansion of the means of production, under the ownership and control of society as a whole, will proceed in accordance with a rational plan adjusted to the needs of the members of society. Socialism will remove the limits on consumption, and hence permit the scientific and controlled development of production. Thus, with socialism, war will disappear because the causes of war will have been removed.
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