POWER TO THE PEOPLE - FREEDOM NOW

 “The state has not always existed. There were societies which did without it, which had no idea of the state or of state power. At a given stage of economic development, which was necessarily bound up with the breakup of society into classes, the state became a necessity, as a result of this division. . . With the disappearance of classes the state, too, will inevitably disappear.” (Engels)

The capitalists are the ruling class. But the class of capitalists is itself divided. We have small businesses and big business, small landlords and large real estate companies. The various capitalists have interests that conflict.

No ruling class has ever inscribed on its war banner: “We fight for the Greater Good of Our Class Interests.” That is, no ruling class has ever done so if it expects the mass of people to do the fighting for it. It always goes to wars for God, for country, for honour, for defence, for freedom – for an aim which is also shared by those who have to do the dying.

class-divided

The first step in a class analysis is to understand the antagonism of the two basic classes: capitalist and worker. Racism, like nationalism, is the ideological product of class divided society. This ideology serves to divide the oppressed classes and strengthen the oppressors, a basic economic strategy designed to maintain a surplus of labour and prevent the unity of the exploited. All aspects of capitalist ideology that penetrate the working class must be struggled against and overcome. The establishment of a socialist society will go a long way toward the elimination of present-day racism until racism is wiped out entirely.

People have been taught to bow before the modern state with superstitious awe. The State has been looked upon as something sacred, as a “neutral arbiter,” standing above classes and mediating disputes between them. In reality, government institutions are dominated by representatives of the capitalist class and ensure their rule. The State is the product and the manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms. The State arises when, where, and to the extent that class antagonisms cannot be objectively reconciled. And conversely, the existence of the State proves that the class antagonisms are irreconcilable. The State is a special organisation of force; it is the organisation of violence for the suppression of the working class.

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In socialist society, all means of production will be common property. There will be no classes and no class struggle. The consequences of class-divided society – racism, national chauvinism, male supremacy, the monogamous family based on property, etc. – will all have disappeared. There will be no wars, no armies, and no need for weapons of war, which will become historical curiosities. There will be no distinction between mental and manual work. Socialism will be a life of material and cultural abundance. Contradictions between people will remain, but these will not be antagonistic and will be resolved by mutual cooperation.

Forward to a socialist world, a society where peace, justice, equality and an end to poverty can be achieved.