Our World

 

Right now the whole world is under the rule of capitalism. This rule is based upon private property and the production of commodities for the market. A small group of persons is in possession of the monopoly of the means of producing these goods, and of the means of distributing them; this group is the capitalist class. This monopoly assures this class undivided economic domination over millions of working people, who possess no means of production, and who are forced to sell their labour-power.

Capitalism separates the producer from his or her tools. The owner of the tools (factories, machinery, transport, etc.) buys labour-power (or hires workers, as we would say) to operate them. The more they produce, the higher their profit. When it is not profitable to produce, he lays off the workers.

Capitalism has made labour-power a commodity to be bought on the labour market. As with any other commodity, the cost of labour-power (wages) is determined by the cost of production. The cost of production of labour power is in the main what it takes to maintain the worker at his accustomed standard of living. It is, therefore, the cost of living that determines wages under capitalism.

The economic domination of the capitalists is secured by its political rule, and by its state organisation, which gives it a monopoly over the means of applying coercive force. The working class, economically oppressed, subjected politically and culturally, is the slave of capital. Capitalist society, built up on the exploitation of an overwhelming majority of the population by a minority, is torn in two, and its whole history is one of conflicts between the classes. The struggle of the capitalist system for world domination leads to a special form of competition among the capitalist states, finally expressed in wars which are equally inevitable accompaniments of capitalism, as are crises and unemployment.  In truth the worker is the slave of capital.

We have been saying since our founding that with capitalism removed the production of socially useful articles and services could be vastly increased, so that a socialist world, with people taking freely what they need, is a practical proposition. Let our rulers deal with problems of the present system, we refuse to help them. We are with our class, we are glad to see them kicking and we hope they will continue to do so until a consciousness of what causes the conflict between capital and labour enables them to see the necessity of joining with us to put an end to it. The implements of labour must not be allowed to remain in the category of capital. The people must own in common all those things upon which they in common depend, so that wealth may in future be produced for the use, benefit, and the enjoyment of mankind.  It is high time working people realised that the great barrier in their way, the great barrier to their enjoyment of all the nice things they make, is the fact that they don’t own the means of producing them, the land, mines, factories and transport systems. For the workers to wipe out this great barrier something far different to nationalisation. They will have to democratically take over industry and transport and run it for the benefit of society as a whole. They will have to abolish the wages system and achieve the organisation of a society in which all things are made for use only, and are freely distributed to all.

Time was when the Labour Party paid lip service at least to the idea of dispossessing the capitalist class of its wealth. Only a few years ago they were pushing the panacea of nationalisation, that travesty of a conception of socialism, but that has disappeared from any election manifesto. Now, nationalisation has become a dirty word. The latest idea is a wealth tax—nothing too sweeping, mind you. But let us come down to fundamentals. Income is any case dependent on wealth—it is ownership of wealth that really matters and all the wishful thinking in the world cannot wish away the fundamental fact that the pattern of wealth ownership has remained virtually unchanged. Roughly 10 per cent. of the population still owns roughly 90 per cent. of the country’s wealth. And that is the fact that matters.  The existing social system's fundamental basis is that the means of production and distribution are privately owned and concentrated in the hands of a small minority.