Building the Future We Want

 

Working people are certainly looking for a way out of the present insane system where millions of people are suffering want in the midst of a potential abundance of everything.

But someone attempting at the present time to convince fellow workers that socialism offers the only solution for the problems of the working class suffers from a severe handicap. For he or she is immediately confronted with the task of explaining the history of the former Soviet Union plus the failures of many other supposed socialist countries. Most people are under the false impression that socialism existed in the former Soviet Union, and knowing what they do in that country, they tend to be prejudiced against any speaker urging socialism as the solution to the ills of society. We have explained the situation in the Soviet Union was so contrary to the theories and ideas of socialism,  that instead of disproving socialist theories, actually do the opposite and confirm them.

Nevertheless, as an alternative to what they perceive, people instead propose gradual change suggesting that it may be possible to modify and reform the present system by eliminating its worse features. That is what many liberals have been trying to do for years and once again the Socialist Party analyses demonstrate its lack of success.

Another distressing problem confronting all of us is the problem of war which is such a distressing thing that many well-meaning people devote a great deal of energy in an attempt to find an answer that will make armed conflicts unnecessary. However, if a person is interested in peace, without holding that only by ending the capitalist system is the only effective way of assuring peace, he or she is liable to accept all kinds of Utopian ideas that have as their goal the prevention of war under the present system.

 The Socialist Party accepts the position that war is inevitable under the capitalist system and wants to use the desire for peace that exists amongst people as an aid in the struggle to overthrow the capitalist system. The Socialist Party does not argue whether this or that particular policy of the capitalist class will ensure peace.

To comprehend the real nature of all the many social ills confronting humanity we must we must analyse how the capitalist system functions. What capitalists do to make their profits is the key to understanding our world.

The basic idea of socialism is that all the means of production and distribution be owned in common by all of the people and that every person, who is not too young, too old, or too sick, cooperate in producing those things which every member of society needs and uses. Instead of having individuals or corporations own all the factories and hire workers to produce goods only when a profit can be made from their sale, society as a whole will own the factories, and the workers will produce the things required to feed, house and improve the health of all of the people, and to satisfy all of their cultural needs, Delegates to various administrative bodies will be elected by the workers to allocate resources necessary to satisfy the needs of society and then factories will be set into motion to provide more than enough of each item. Instead of the anarchy and competition of the market and exchange economy that prevail at present, production and distribution will be planned. A change in the system of property from private ownership, producing for profit, to common ownership, producing for use, will solve most of the problems inflicting working people.

The Socialist Party contends that industry has developed to a point where a sufficient quantity of goods can be produced to assure everyone a very high standard of living. The change from capitalism to socialism, by eliminating the waste inherent in capitalism, would easily provide for all the needs of everyone.