The ruling class must force the workers to forge the gilded chains that enslave them. The wage-slave is showing signs of bewilderment towards present day events. We cannot make head nor tail of the explanations politicians or economists give us. The puzzled wage slave knows that things have gone wrong somewhere but we do not hit upon the cause, and feels inclined to blame oneself. For too long the working people have had their strength drained by poverty and economic insecurity. They have accepted their condition as being inevitable : content with the reform crumbs that have been grudgingly given after bitter struggles. As yet they know of no alternative. The slogans of the masters. “There have always been rich and poor” , “You must have capital and labour” ,‘‘Hard work never hurt anyone” ,‘‘The bosses have got the brains.” These phrases have dulled workers' political alertness, because, always hoping to rise in the social sphere by hard work, they eventually discover there is nothing on that road but toil and poverty. They do not know the alternative.
Capitalism is run by the capitalist class for one purpose only, the obtaining of a profit. Profits cannot be realised until goods are sold. The market of the world consists of the purchasing power of the people of the earth. In proportion to what is placed on the market the purchasing power of the producers is becoming relatively less. The trouble is further complicated by constant capital in the shape of machinery having always to be sold to capitalists; working men and women do not buy machinery. As the capitalist class have only claims on wealth yet to be produced they are finding things extremely difficult at the present time.
Poverty is a social disease which has undermined the health of the working class. The “middle-class” suburbia, think the term poverty refers to the slum dwellers, of the homeless and beggars . It is never on their own doorstep. It is always the other person who is poor. The suburbanites desire to ‘‘get on” in the world. Being snobs, they try to find out what the other fellow does ‘‘in the city.” It is never called work. They receive a ‘‘salary,” not a wage.
They wear out their lives trying to keep up appearances and have been known to go without food in order to do so. Property-conscious, with shoddy clothes and affected speech, they ape their masters in an endeavour to hide their poverty. Their condition is wretched, for they are acting a lie throughout their lives. All have one fear — the fear of losing a job.
Not only do you produce the wealth that the capitalist class enjoy, but they control your thinking, and you are content despite your wretchedness, that this should be so. It is true you grumble—that is a safety valve, but animals do not whine and skulk in corners.
One can understand the capitalist class defending their power, prestige and property. They have got a lot to lose, but you have only your poverty.
You are the toiling millions who produce the wealth of the world, for others to enjoy. As yet, the capitalist class is not afraid of you, for they have got you where they want you, but when you begin to think in your own interests, they will not be so flagrant. The newspapers will not show a photo of super yachts with their millionaire oligarchs on board, and on the same page, mention the prevalence of food banks.
It is the above facts that are driving governments to indulge in all kinds of tricks and experiments to induce the worker to produce more per man hour. The wage slaves are re-acting well, they don’t like the idea of speeding up, their class instinct warns them that there is something wrong with what the leaders advocate; they smell treachery but can’t detect exactly where it is. Neither do they like the irksome restrictions that are everywhere in evidence. The country is fast becoming one huge slave camp and feelings of frustration are everywhere being revealed in the expression on the faces of those of our fellows we meet on the street and on the job.
The emancipation of the working class cannot be brought about by developing the mechanism of capitalist production; the present machinery was not designed for the wage slave’s benefit, but to exploit him or her. To achieve a state of society in which goods are produced solely for use, a complete transformation of the mechanism of production will be essential. Socialism means as great a change in the mode of production as in the mode of distribution. The society of the future is one of associated humanity; people must be the main consideration. The welfare of mankind is the sole aim of socialism. The aim and object will be quality, pure food, the best of clothing. homes that are homes—for everybody. Ours will be a world without money and without price. Labour applied to the natural resources of the earth will give us everything necessary for our existence and well-being. When the workers have the intelligence to abolish the wage system and establish their own social order we emerge into what may be described as a new world.
Workers, rouse yourselves from your lethargy. Try to understand the world in which you exist. Join with us in working for a society where poverty and degradation will be replaced by comfort and a fulfilling life for all.
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