Cameron And Refugees

 The British government has pledged sniffer dogs and fences in the effort to keep economic migrants and war refugees from entering its territory. PM Cameron said, "We rule nothing out in taking action to deal with this very serious problem. We are absolutely on it." Too bad he's not 'absolutely on' the major problems facing Britons today. Some world where you have to use dogs, fences, and worse, to keep people from their armed enclaves. John Ayers.

The Pope's Comments.

Pope Francis' approval rating in the USA has dropped twenty-seven percentage points to fifty-nine per cent just two months ahead of his visit there. Three weeks before the poll was taken, Francis proclaimed that climate change was man-made! You can't fool those Republicans. Topping that, The New York Times (July 19) reported, "His (Francis') speeches can blend biblical fury with apocalyptic doom. Pope Francis does not just criticize the excesses of global capitalism. He compares them to 'the dung of the devil'. He does not simply argue that systemic 'greed for money' is a bad thing. He calls it a 'subtle dictatorship' that 'condemns and enslaves men and women'. Has he been reading our web site? John Ayers.

We Can Win, We Shall Win

Forget six counties overhung with smoke

Forget the snorting steam and piston stroke

Forget the spreading of the hideous town;

Think rather of the pack-horse on the down,

And dream of London, small and white and clean,

The clear Thames bordered by its gardens green.

William Morris, ‘Earthly Paradise’

Socialism is not a social system in which everybody has been levelled down to a shared lower level of a so-called “equality”, but a society in which the classes have really been abolished, in which a rise has been accomplished in production that there can no longer be any comparison between the living conditions of the workers (i.e., of the whole population) under the new society and under the most highly developed capitalist state, and above all, in which the state power and coercion have died out, replaced by the administration of things. This assumes a tremendous rise in the productivity of labour.

Socialism does not propose to take the clothes off your back, to evict you from your home and commandeer your car. Capitalism is based on capitalist private property – not on personal possessions. It means the ownership by a minority of the population of the means of production and exchange. And when we say expropriate private property we mean nothing else but that. This ownership is what gives the capitalist class power of life or death over the working class and over society as a whole. To live, you, the working men and women, must not only work for the owners of the means of production and exchange – you must guarantee them a profit. Working for them is not enough; a profit is absolutey required for you to get your job; and that profit can be obtained in no other wise except by exploiting that which is your only real possession – namely your physical or mental capacity to work. That is all the worker has. 

Ownership on the one hand, non-ownership of the means of production on the other hand tht is today’s society and it is why two classes are hostile. To survive economically, the capitalist must accumulate; not that he wants to or doesn’t – he must accumulate in order to prosper. To accumulate, he must be assured profit. To profit, he must exploit labour. There is no other way. No one, no genius, not the greatest, has discovered another way. Capital always seeks to intensify exploitation; labour always and necessarily seeks to resist exploitation. Capitalism seeks what is rightfully its own, from its point of view: the maximum that it can get out of the worker. Labour seeks what is rightfully its own: that’s why it forms class organisations, labour unions. We, in the Socialist Party, argue that capitalism, which is founded upon and cannot exist without the ownership and control of the means of production and exchange by a minority, has brought society literally to the edge of a precipice, where it cannot guarantee security to the people, cannot guarantee peace to the people, cannot guarantee brotherhood to the people, cannot guarantee abundance to the people or protect the planet from ecological ravages. Any social system which cannot guarantee those to the masses of the people stands condemned. 

The only way to replace capitalism is to build socialism. Socialism demands not only the collective ownership of the means of production and distribution but the control of the working class. Anything less than that may be anything you want; it is not and never will be socialism. We declare with them that the most important work that men and women can engage in is that of helping on the overthrow of capitalism, and the creation of the socialist co-operative commonwealth. The truth in socialist utopianism is what shows the potential in the capabilities of workers. Socialism cannot be introduced without the actions of organised public opinion supporting the socialist ideal. Whether that support is won at the ballot box or through workers councils is not as important as that it be won. As long as the ballot can be used, even under difficulties as it is today, it should be used. That is why we look forward to bigger and better Socialist Party election campaigns. If that method is withheld from us in the future, we shall still have to go forward until we do gain the socialist commonwealth by the best means at our command. One thing seems evident. If we cannot get people to vote for our idea, there is little hope of getting them to take up arms on behalf of our cause. If the people who vote for a socialist do not do so because he is a socialist or because they do not know what socialism is, what earthly use can that be for achieving the socialist goal? The answer is “none whatever.” 

 On every occasion we state our socialist position and our socialist objective. The Socialist Party is and must be a political party throughout the year, and not only during election campaigns.

Wellfare For Capitalists?

The British government has approved the expenditure of one hundred and fifty - million pounds to renovate Buckingham Palace. They say there is no money for education, health and various welfare programs but they do have it to fix up a capitalist's house. We can call this a capitalist's welfare program. So much for government priorities. John Ayers.

When Do Unions Work Effecttively?

-About four hundred unionized jobs at Sobeys warehouse in Milton will be eliminated by 2017 as the supermarket chain shifts more goods into its new high-tech warehouse in Vaughan. The union can do little to save the jobs. This justifies the socialist belief that unions can only work effectively in periods of high production. John Ayers.

Against Capitalism - For Socialism

According to the media magnates, the “old fashioned radical” ideas of the socialist movement are “out-dated” and “obsolete” because we now live in a “Welfare State”, even if it is an ever weakening one. But the Socialist Party point out that in the process of capital accumulation by the capitalists, wealth is constantly accumulated at one end and poverty is accumulated at the other. “This,” Marx said, “is an absolute and general law of capitalist accumulation.” (Capital, Vol. 1) In capitalist society part of the workers’ labour that is plundered by the capitalists as surplus value, the source of all profit under capitalism. A parent’s feeling that their children won’t live as well as they have – under capitalism – is true. They won’t. That part of the capitalist dream is gone for now. And the ability of even the children of the “middle-class” suburbs, and of the country as a whole, to reach or surpass the income levels and status of their parents through a college education is rapidly being closed off by mounting fees and student debt. No longer is there guaranteed the road to the highly illusory “upward mobility.”

Wherever there is capitalism, there is unemployment. The official unemployment rates actually show only the tip of the iceberg about the true picture of joblessness under capitalism. Today there is a whole stratum of jobless who are permanently unemployed and who will never hold a productive job under capitalism. It is another example of how the Great Recession today is fundamentally deeper and more extensive than the Great Depression. The trend in this crisis is for more and more workers and poor to be forced into the ranks of the permanently unemployed. For black and other minority youth (and increasingly for white youth as well) this means that they may never know what a steady job and steady income mean as they hop from one lousy McDonald’s job to another. For older workers in dying declining industries many will also be forced onto welfare. Though the capitalist system has created increasing permanently unemployed and the deepening stagnation is driving more and more workers into its ranks, the employing class are ruthlessly cutting off the funds that keep them alive. Capitalism tears at and destroys the social fabric in which we live. The impact of the economic crisis on the family is profound, gnawing at people’s standard of living and taking a relentless toll and the family is under attack by the capitalist system as never before in our history. Unable to direct their anger at the real source of their desperation and destitution, the capitalists, many people inevitably lash out at anybody available, including their nearest and dearest. People go berserk, grab guns and say “I hate this world” as they randomly kill strangers. Demagogues are whipping up Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, pitting people against people, feeding on the desperation and fears of people.

For all the suffering borne by people, we have not seen any mass resistance of significance. A strange situation indeed – accelerating destitution and deprivation on the one hand and relative docility on the other.  This is the deepest capitalist economic crisis ever and the number of strikes is actually almost the lowest in decades. Disoriented, the vast majority of workers are still dazed by the full brunt of the capitalist crisis. People have not taken to the streets in droves (with a few notable exceptions), but they are in fact awakening to political life by the millions and tens of millions. Unlike any time in the last thirty years, the vast majority are open to political ideas, listening intently to all shades of political opinion. In every pub and club, in every living room, a great debate on every question is raging and discussions on politics are no longer taboo topic at the dining table. That the people will at some time soon vote with their feet is certain. They are trying to decide now what they are going to “vote” for. Soon there will be action but for a revolution to be any good, you have to be FOR something. We should be, without hesitation or embarrassment, Utopia, and demand the impossible.

We analyse the sources of surplus value, class exploitation and its termination in a socialist society of abundance for all with production for use not profit. We fret over the cruelty and the absurdity of unemployment, of want and suffering in the midst of plenty. We probe the economic and political roots of war and question how to eradicate them. We wish to  establish an economic order internationally where the antagonism between classes vanishes and the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end. We seek the human future of associated labour in which the free development of each is a condition for the free development of all. People want clarity and want to study. We want to teach. But above all, we ourselves also learn.

FOR WORLD SOCIALISM

Why we are socialists

WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE

Capitalism — the rule of business — must be abolished. Working people need to throw the capitalist parties out of office and fundamentally transform society. The needs of working people can only be met by creating an economy, where ownership and control of the means of production are taken from the tiny minority of capitalists and placed in the hands of the working people, to be run democratically. When we speak of the means of production, we mean that wealth which is necessary for the production of the necessities of the people. The industries, the railroads, mines, and so on. We have never proposed the elimination of private property in personal effects. We speak of those things which are necessary for the production of the people’s needs. When the vast resources available to us are used to serve the needs of all instead of the profits of the few, and there exists a world socialist commonwealth, then the way will be opened for unparalleled growth in culture, freedom and the development of every individual. In a socialist world of plenty, mankind is at long last freed of the dominance of economics, the tyranny of economics. We will for the first time be free to develop the full potentialities and capacities of the human individual, and see the full flowering of man’s spirit. This is the only goal worth fighting for today. It is the real freedom. Socialism is a name applied to a new form of society, and it is a name also applied to the movement working in that direction. Those of us within the World Socialist Movement visualise a social system that would be based on the common ownership of the means of production, the elimination of private profit in the means of production, the abolition of the wage system, the abolition of the division of society into classes.

Such a society is worth fighting for. Socialists often hear the comment that "Socialism is a good idea but it’s not practical." But today it’s becoming more apparent than ever that it is the present system — capitalism — that is impractical and unworkable. The Socialist Party want to change society. But we think that problems will not disappear by wishing or hoping them away. The only way we can get a rational society, based on the needs of the majority, is by organizing and fighting for it. We know that a better world is not only possible, but absolutely necessary. We in the Socialist Party stand for a society where ownership and control of the means of production are taken out of the hands of the tiny minority of capitalists, and placed in the hands of the majority — the workers. The capitalist system is run for the profits of the few, not the needs of the majority. Workers are thus continually forced to fight to defend their interests. Through these struggles, they will come to see the need for socialism, to replace capitalism. We feel that all the problems people experience in the context of our present society — war, poverty, pollution, the deep economic crises— flow from a cause, the nature of this profit-oriented society. We see that there are no real solutions to these problems until the entire society is changed.

We should be very clear about the kind of change that we are talking about. When we say that we are revolutionaries we are not talking about a change in society that would take place when some small group storms parliament and runs up the red flag. What we mean by revolution is the political and economic transformation of society and it is fundamental change because it will affect the property system and affects the method and means of production. A political revolution can occur without any radical transformation of the underlying economic structure of society, the property basis of society. A social revolution, on the other hand, affects not only the government, but affects the economic system. We are talking about a change that will involve the vast majority of people consciously acting to change the entire society and all the relationships in it, from the way people relate to each other, to the way people relate to their jobs. We're out to change the whole system. If you are serious about changing the system, about changing the world, it is necessary to confront the system and to build a political organisation capable of assisting in that. A few workers see the need for socialism. Others don't see that need. The task of the Socialist Party is to educate, agitate and organise.

The economy of the world now is all tied together in one unit, and because we think that the solution of the problem of the day—the establishment of socialism—is a world problem, we believe that workers in every country must collaborate in working toward that goal. We have, from the very beginning of our movement, collaborated with like-minded people in all other countries in trying to promote the socialist movement on a world scale. We have advocated the international organisation of the workers, and their cooperation in all respects, and mutual assistance in all respects possible. The Socialist Party is opposed to all forms of national chauvinism, race prejudice, sex discrimination. We visualise the future society of mankind as a world socialism where will have a worldwide division of labour according to their resources, a comradely collaboration between them, and production of the necessities and luxuries of mankind according to a single universal world plan

The reformists wish that the problems of the world could be solved by reforming capitalism. They don't recognise the existing reality today and what the possibilities are right now for building the socialist movement. They don't want to have to work for a fundamental change in society. They conclude that capitalism can be reformed. Bernie Sanders campaigning to win the Democratic nomination so he can contest the presidency simply says that the United States can learn a few things from Scandinavian states when it comes to having a stronger welfare state, socialised health care, stronger unions, and the like. He is diluting the meaning of the word socialism which for actual socialists refers to workers’ control of production and the democratic running of the economy for people and the common good, not the profits of a capitalist elite as much as advancing it. Bernie blames the US billionaire class for the increase in poverty, joblessness, homelessness, and even war. It also makes it clear that Bernie believes the system that created this relatively minuscule group of billionaires can reform itself given the right person at the helm with a large popular movement behind them. This belies the idea that he has a socialist understanding of how capitalists accumulate wealth. In other words, Bernie Sanders is no socialist. Instead, he is a progressive in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt. Like both of those men, Sanders believes that capitalism can work if it is properly tethered and monopolies are broken up.

Socialists contend that present day society is divided into two main classes. One is the capitalists, or the bourgeoisie (a French designation which is used by Marx interchangeably with the expression the modern capitalist). The other main class is the working class (or the proletariat.) These are the two main classes in society. We use the term working class, or proletariat, to designate the modern wage workers. The workers are exploited by the capitalists. There is a constant conflict of interests between them, an unceasing struggle between these classes, which can only culminate in the eventual victory of the proletariat and the establishment of socialism.

The Socialist Party view the trade-union movement as the basic organisation of the workers that should include the great mass of the workers, and must include them, in the struggle to defend their interests from day to day. We are in favor of trade unions, and participate in organising them wherever we can as individuals. The trade unions help the workers to resist oppression, possibly to gain improvement of conditions; that is for us a decisive reason to support them, because we are in favour of anything that protects the workers. In general we are in favour of industrial unionism. That is, that form of unionism which organises all the workers in a given shop or given industry into one union. We consider that a more progressive and effective form of organisation than sectional craft unionism but we do not believe in setting up rival parallel unions. We don’t condemn trade unionism although we are continually insisting upon a democratic structure of decision-making inside the unions, demanding the rights of the members to speak freely, to have regular elections of officials , and in general, to have the unions under the control of its members through the system of democracy.

When classes are abolished, as exploitation is eliminated, as the conflict of class against class is eliminated, the very reason for the existence of the State diminishes. Governments are primarily instruments of repression of one class against another. According to the doctrine of Marx and Engels and all of the great Marxists who followed them, and based themselves on their doctrine, we visualise, as Engels expressed it, the withering away of the State as a repressive force, as an armed force, and its replacement by purely administrative councils, whose duties will be to plan production, to supervise public works, and education, and things of this sort. As Engels expressed it the government of men will be replaced by the administration of things. The “government” of a socialist society in reality will be an administrative body, because we don’t anticipate the need for police and armies, jails, repressions, and consequently that aspect of government dies out for want of function.

We have the possibility of peaceful revolution by the registration of the will of the majority of the people in elections and it seems to the Socialist Party it would be utterly absurd to reject that, because if we don’t have the support of the majority of the people, we can’t make a successful revolution anyhow. Our party runs candidates wherever it is able to get on the ballot. We conduct very energetic campaigns during the elections, and in general, to the best of our ability, and to the limit of our resources, we participate in elections . The first purpose is to make full use of the democratic possibility afforded to popularise our ideas, to try to get elected wherever possible and advancing the socialist cause by democratic means. It is our opinion is that if the workers reached the point of the majority, and confronted the capitalist private owners of industry with the fact of their majority and will exercise their power, then the capitalist class will capitulate but if not then the workers will appropriate and remove them from power by force, legitimised by our electoral victories.

Quote of the Day

"I don't like nationalists. So my goat has been well and truly got over the past 18 months by the independence referendum. I don't like putting new lines on maps, breaking up countries into smaller parts. And I don't like people who bang the drum of their tribe, thinking that the coincidence of where they were born confers superiority on them..." -  Neil Oliver, Scottish archaeologist and historian,  presenter of TV series  'Coast' and 'A History of Scotland'

Talking Socialism

THE TRUTH HURTS

Capitalism does not know how to abolish poverty, hunger or war – but we socialists do! If capitalism, with its system of production for profit – with its international rivalry for domination of foreign territories and trade, which produces one war after another – if capitalist, which keeps millions exploited, by its wage system, – if this system cannot give peace and plenty to its people, socialism will.

Today with the global economy recovering from a protracted recession, rising unemployment and draconian austerity policies, working people are increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo. However, this discontent does not necessarily translate into support for the socialist option. While there are many reasons for this, one of the most important is that at the present time the socialist alternative does not appear so attractive to many. First of all, the word “socialism” is in the popular consciousness was closely associated with the former USSR and Eastern Europe. While these state-capitalist regimes were not socialist – for socialism means that the workers hold power, not a handful of privileged bureaucrats yet we never stop hearing that these countries typified socialism

Socialism means production for use and not for profit. Socialism means internationalism. It means that one working class is not pitted against the others in wars. It means that one worker is not pitted against the other in the fight for a job. The criteria for production in socialism would be – how much is needed? Some people will argue that it can’t work, it’s a utopia. We can only answer that capitalism has already ably demonstrated that it cannot work. A society organised on the basis of production for use would have more of a chance of working than our present economic system. The thing to observe is that for decades those who claim to be political leaders have never been able to devise any kind of plan to solve the basic ills of capitalism. They all seek to do the impossible: make capitalism work. Wars every few years years, untold misery, poverty and unemployment are the living proven facts that prove that capitalism doesn’t work – not for the working class, anyway. Our mission is not to preserve capitalism.

Socialism is a word that has been so misused for so long that it is worth re-stating its basic principles. Socialism means that the means of production are owned and controlled by society so that what is produced can be shared out according to people’s needs. Do we have a blueprint for a socialist society? Can we envision what such a society looks like? If we rely on the people, if we pool our own collective experiences we can. If more workers are to be won to the cause of socialism it is clear that we must greatly advance in our ability to explain the advantages of a socialist world and how we can achieve it. Socialism means expanding democracy, freedom not just in the political sense but economic liberation – freedom from want. Our compass for where we are finally headed should have socialism as its destination. We need to keep this end foremost in mind so to not to lose our way. We have a world of plenty. All around us are the signs that we can produce more than enough for everyone. If production is planned and its products shared fairly, there is no reason why anyone should be short of anything – nor why the environment should be polluted and destroyed in the process. We can end the dirty work and the drudgery. As for possessions, the whole point of common ownership of the means of production is that more is produced and distributed, not less. To every one according to needs, from everyone according to ability.

Working people will own the industries, plan the industries and work for themselves and not for the capitalist class. Socialism means a change in the relations of production. With socialism, control of production, the plan of production, determination of working conditions, are in the hands of the workers themselves. The working class and the minorities must vigorously oppose every transgression upon their civil and constitutional rights, from whatever quarter they come, and utilise every safeguard provided by law. But they cannot entrust the protection of their liberties to the capitalists or expect the powers-that-be to stop or eradicate the menace of authoritarianism. Class-conscious workers should not fall into the trap of demanding infringements of anyone’s civil rights, including those of the fascists.

We must be sure to stress that this new society do not exist in some text, nor can they be mechanically transposed from some other country. They will be defined and forged by the working people as we all advance in our struggle.

RISE is risible

Marx and Engels supported only certain nationalist struggles on the basis that it would help further development of the capitalist mode of production and opposed others which would retard that development. However, capitalism has now spread to every corner of the globe and every country is ruled by the laws of capitalism whether they wish it or not. For left nationalists, though, independence and “socialism” go together and that this struggle must be waged simultaneously because, according to their logic, independence is essential to socialism (in fact, some rank it above socialism). The Left nationalist puts the question of socialism on ice, shelving the struggle for socialism and replacing it with demands for reforms. Many of the Trotskyist groups, for example, have become Scottish separatists. The Trotskyists say they want to “radicalise” the movement for independence yet can we forget that one of the promoters of RISE sat alongside business leaders on the Yes campaign during the referendum debate.

One telling characteristic of the Left is that, although they are forever dividing, they always end up uniting to divide the working class movement. They become in favour of Scottish independence because this point of view is currently popular among Scots. As far as they are concerned the working class is too retarded in political consciousness to take up the socialist struggle. It needs a transitional programme of wishful promises. RISE’s basic belief is that the Scottish worker is more radical than his or her English counter-part. But being anti-Tory doesn’t necessarily correspond to being more socialist.  Yet many of workers’ struggles in Scotland and England have been linked together and the victory of each often depends on the other.  The Scottish, Welsh and English working class have not developed separately but, because of capitalism, have developed as part of one united working class. Independence may rupture the united British working class movement at trade union level. Scottish independence would disrupt the unity of the working class fueling the myths of national brotherhood between exploiters and exploited.  In reality, a socialist transformation of Scotland could only take place in a British (European and World) context. Mass movements would take place also in Wolverhampton and Walsall, as well as in Glasgow and Greenock. A socialist transformation would be on a world scale. There is no Scottish road to socialism. For there can be no socialist Scotland, socialism is global or it is not socialism. The Scottish working class is exploited in the same way as the English working class: by the English, Scottish and international capitalist class. The bosses organises internationally and those sympathetic towards RISE want to ensure our class doesn’t do the same.

The task before workers in Scotland and the UK is to join in struggle against their common enemy, whether they wave the Union flag or the Saltire. The overriding goal is not to build new, smaller states but to end the nation state system through social revolution. The Socialist Party stands for the overthrow of capitalism and a precondition for this is the unity of the working class in this common struggle for socialism. RISE offer the same stale promises of the old Labour Party all dressed up in new clothes. Although they speak of “socialism” against “capitalism,” they do not propose the overthrow of capitalism, the working-class conquest of power, the expropriation of the capitalists; their basis is still the same basis of capitalism, of capitalist democracy, of the capitalist State, and therefore the outcome can only be the same. Their only proposals are for the constitutionally re-organisation of capitalism by re-locating the Parliament and government. This is precisely its value to capitalism, to act as a diversion for workers in the name of phrases of “socialism.”

Socialists must tell the workers the truth. And the truth is that nationalism, regardless of how it is camoflaged with Marxist terminology, represents no way forward for the working people. The establishment of a separate Scottish state is the creation of a capitalist state. Scotland envisage by RISE (and particularly if in coalition with the Green Party) would be thousands of small businesses thriving. There's no virtue in being a small business. They make their money the same way as large ones, by paying workers less than the value that they produce. Often the working conditions of small businesses are no improvement on bigger enterprises: wages tend to be lower, insecurity of employment higher, less health and safety oversight making the work riskier, the pollution worse. Left nationalists such as RISE are simply spouting populist rhetoric. Being against big business but in favour of small business shows little understanding of capitalism or of class.

Somehow in this "socialist" Scotland profit would no longer be the raison d'être
of businesses (even if they were cooperatives). The logic of capitalist production is the preservation of the capital invested and the creation of surplus-value – the origin of profits. This is a logic which is fundamental and cannot be suspended. Instead of being siphoned off to shareholders (who would of course receive fair compensation for their loss), the surpluses produced by workers would be used to increase wages, reduce hours, improve working conditions. Socially owned companies such as workers co-operatives or council-owned.  Banks would become more like building societies again or nationalised.  The creation of community banks or credit unions is not really doing anything that is in anyway revolutionary. It's definitely not challenging capitalism and property ownership. It is not questioning the parasitic relationship of capitalist production which is all about money -- money expanding into more money, the accumulation of capital.  Yes, their vision of a "socialist Scotland" is a nice and not a nasty capitalism. Left-wing nationalists  imagine that businesses in their " socialist" Scotland will no longer be concerned with costs or competition or commercial confidentiality or market share. But capitalism is now more than ever a global system of production. Competition is a fact of life for the capitalist mode of production. It has destructive effects upon the lives of working people. However, competition is also frequently destructive to capital. It is so destructive that large capitalists try to eliminate competition by buying up competitors, ruining them in various ways or forming cartels and monopolies. For one country to be competitive means having a higher productivity, lower labour-costs and lower infrastructure and taxation costs than another country.  Capital looks for places where production can be set up with low wages, low taxation, low levels of regulation and few restrictions on pollution. To be such a competitive location for capital investment – on any serious scale – would require that advanced capitalist countries such as Scotland will have to lower wages, taxation, regulation, welfare provision and pollution regulations to a standard level or below the current average available in Asia, Eastern Europe elsewhere. Or increase productivity to such a high level that massive levels of relative over-production would occur and increase pollution and resource destruction. Competition on the world level requires mass-production and mass-production conducted with fewer and fewer workers. And if each country adopts this path – a competitive race to the bottom of welfare standards will ensue. So increased competition will lower wages, lower environmental standards, lead to more exhaustion of raw material resources and more crises down the competitive road of economic growth.

Of course, the solution RISE will present to save their "socialist" Scotland will be by increased taxation. Taxation, is revenue extracted from wages, salaries, profits and sales of commodities. Under capitalism wages and salaries come from the payment for two main types of labour – productive-labour and unproductive-labour. Productive-labour is that which is employed by capital and preserves value as well as creating surplus-value. This value and surplus-value is the source of money-capital from which, wages, profits, rents, interest and those taxes collected from these sources, is paid. In other words surplus-value is the source of direct tax revenue for governments. Even the taxes paid on consumption also comes out of the wages and salaries of workers which have their origins in surplus-value.

 The oppression and exploitation of working people is a product of capitalist society and can only be removed by the genuine socialist transformation of society, not pretend state- or municipal- “socialist” imaginations of a make-believe Scotland. This requires the unity of all workers, irrespective of nation, colour, creed, sex or language. It is our role as socialists to put across the case for socialism openly and honestly and not try to dupe our fellow workers into joining through the advocacy of so-called "transitional demands" and the like. The only way capitalism will come to an end is if a majority of workers decide to consciously replace it with non-market, non-statist alternative. Members of the Socialist Party understand well the urge to do something now, to make a change. That makes us all the more determined, however, to get the message across, to gather together our fellow workers to clear away the barrier of the wages system, so that we can begin to build a truly human society.

Wake Up, Workers

Socialism — what fear and anger the word arouses in the minds of the rulers of society! Daily the press pours out its denunciation and men in high places issue their warnings and threats against it. Socialism is dictatorship, it means bloodshed, wholesale murder and destruction. It means the collapse of orderly society, the breakdown of production, and consequent misery and poverty. Thus speak those whom socialism threatens with the loss of their privileges to amass wealth at the expense of the misery and poverty of the masses. Why does socialism arouse such dread and anger among the exploiters of the workers? Why do they fear it so? The answers to these questions are to be found in the writings of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels — who first formulated the principles of the socialist movement.

Marx and Engels said that the history of the past was the history of a class struggle. They said that in each period of the past there appeared a ruling class — rich, powerful, living in luxury and splendor — and an exploited class which worked hard and long but enjoyed little of the wealth it brought into existence. They said that in the past the struggle between these classes had resulted either “in the revolutionary reconstruction of society or the common ruin of the contending classes.” In modern society this struggle presents itself, they said, in a conflict between the capitalists who own the factories, mines and mills and the means of production generally, and the workers who have to sell their labour power to these capitalists in order to earn a living. They said that since the capitalists own the things that the workers must use in order to earn a living, the capitalists have the whip-hand and that they compel workers to sell their labour power for much less than the value of what they produce. In fact they argued that the workers usually receive in the wages paid them only just enough to buy the necessities for a poor sort of living for themselves and to provide for the raising of children so that the line of workers might not be exhausted. The workers produce the amount of wealth they receive in wages in two, three, or four hours, depending upon the technical development of industry, but they are compelled to keep on working up to eight, ten, or twelve hours and during the hours they work over and above the time required to produce their wages they produce “surplus value” for the boss. They said that naturally the workers attempted to improve their standard of living by an effort to secure more of the wealth they produced and that the capitalists resisted this effort of the workers in order to keep as much as possible of the product of industry for themselves as profits, and that, consequently, the there was a class war between the workers and capitalists. The working class are the grave-diggers of capitalism and the builders of the new world.

A better world is of course possible, if we ourselves make it possible, but a worse one is too! Capitalism has outlived itself as a world system. It has ceased to fulfill its essential mission, the increase of human power and human wealth. Humanity cannot stand still at the level which it has reached. Only a powerful increase in productive forces and a sound, planned, that is, socialist, organization of production and distribution can assure humanity—all humanity—of a decent standard of life and at the same time give it the precious feeling of freedom with respect to its own economy. Freedom in two senses—first of all, human beings collectively will no longer be compelled to devote the greater part of his or her life to physical labour. Second, he or she will no longer be dependent on the laws of the market, that is, on those blind and dark forces.

The Capitalist Reich

We come before you as an organisation advocating the principles of world socialism; that is, we seek a change in the basis of society - a change which would destroy the distinctions of classes and nationalities. Workers, although they produce all the wealth of society, have no control over its production or distribution. People are treated as a mere appendage to capital - as a part of its machinery. This must be altered from the foundation: the land, the capital, the machinery, factories, workshops, stores and offices, means of transport, mines, all means of production and distribution of wealth, must be declared and treated as the common property of all. The waste now incurred by the pursuit of profit and the amount of labour necessary for every individual to perform in order to carry on the essential work of the world will be reduced to something like two or three hours daily; so that everyone will have abundant leisure for following intellectual or cultural or sporting pursuits.  The Socialist Party aims at the realisation of complete socialism, and well knows that this can never happen in any one country without the help of the workers of all the world. For us neither geographical boundaries, political history, race, nor creed makes rivals or enemies; for us there are no nations, but only varied masses of workers and friends, whose mutual sympathies are checked or perverted by various ruling classes masters whose interest it is to stir up rivalries and hatreds between the dwellers in different lands. Socialism will be worldwide and universal, or it will be nothing.

Wage-workers are ravaged by this global scourge with lost jobs and low pay, wage freezes and wage cuts, downsized and diminished benefits, factory closures, out-sourcing and casualisation of labour along with strike-breaking and union-busting. What does the future hold for the working class? The prophets of profits talk of “free markets” and “free trade”. But how about freeing workers from wage-slavery? Marx said that the governments of the various countries were merely committees for administering the affairs, protecting the property interests, of the whole capitalist class of these countries. He said that all social institutions reflect the changes that take place in the economic life of a nation and that these institutions foster, and protect the economic owners of society in their private ownership and control. But capital today has become so absolutely global. To be effective socialists must array the workers’ Internationale against international capitalism.

They tell us progress and prosperity will ultimately trickle down. And we always ask “when?” and keep waiting. Working people have produced more wealth than the total output of mankind since the dawn of civilisation. But the gap between the rich and the poor is wider and deeper than ever in history. Despite all the advances in technology, billions today still have no food on their tables, nor clothes on their backs or roofs over their heads. The last 100 years of capitalism has been a century of over-abundance for the owners of capital and utter deprivation for those who live only by the sale of their labour. Is this the meaning of capitalist progress and civilization? Capitalism has been a history of wars and civil wars. Paradoxically, the esteemed professors and intellectuals teach that it is socialism rather than capitalism that is passé. Revolutionary movements which predicted the fall of capitalism are now likened to religious sects which prophesise the end of the world. But let these conceited academics beware the lesson of history. The barons of capital will be no different from the feudal lords and slaveholders of yore who thought they would rule forever. The capitalist reich will not last a thousand years. The workers have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

 But capitalism isn't going to end without a struggle. Nowhere is labour going to triumph without standing united against the foe. Socialism is coming but whether it be sooner or later depends upon us! The Socialist Party’s exists to make Socialists, and there is only one way of doing that — by teaching socialism, true socialism, revolutionary socialism, world socialism. Socialism must be seen as feasible and practical so that people are convinced that it will work. Socialist have find out from workers what they want most, and they must explain this in terms of and they must make the workers want more — make them want the Revolution. We must do this in words which can be understood immediately by the workers, in terms of their own lives. Our message is that all workers belong to the working class and must be conscious of it; that all the sources of wealth belong to the capitalist class — who are conscious of it; that this wealth must become the property of the workers before they can control their own lives

Man is a god to man

ALL THINGS ARE HELD IN COMMON

People will be guaranteed security, democracy, equality and peace only when our world is run on an entirely different basis than it is now; only when a socialist system replaces the present capitalist one. Anti-socialists charge us with fomenting the class war as though we had invented it! It is not by shutting our eyes to the war which divides and exhausts humanity that we shall arrive at the desired peace. The war of every moment is threefold:

War between the proletariat and the capitalist for their respective shares in the produce; on one side, wages, on the other, profits; each side exerting itself to carry off a maximum. Man becomes a wolf for his fellow-man. It is a question of eating one’s brother or being eaten by him.

War between workers and workers for the sharing of wages.

War between capitalists and capitalists for the sharing of profits.

General insecurity has become the normal condition of society. More and more has capitalist society proved its failure to produce anything from a superabundance of riches; of means of consumption and happiness, but misery, suffering, ruin and death! The solution of the social problem is to be found in the problem itself, such as I have just given in a short exposition. The greatest socio-economic evil of today consists in the ever more complete divorce of the two factors in production, labour and property or capital, and consequently the remedy can be found only in their unification. Under what form ought this unification to be effected? It is only collectively that the workers can and ought to possess the means of wealth (mines, railways, factories, etc.) socially operated. Capitalist evolution itself supplies the necessary elements, material and intellectual, of this appropriation and of this production by and for society now become a vast co-operative commonwealth. This economic expropriation—which would allow to the expropriated full participation in the benefits accruing from social appropriation—must be preceded by a political expropriation.

The state–the police, army, courts, bureaucracy and similar institutions–is set up and controlled by this capitalist class. These big businessmen–the bourgeoisie,–consistently use the police, army and courts to break workers’ strikes and generally to put down the rebellions of the poor who own little or no means of production. The police and military are never called out against the bankers and CEOs. In short, this state is a bourgeois dictatorship. This does not mean there is a dictatorship in this country of one or several men. It does mean there is a class dictatorship, where a tiny handful of profit-makers rules society and uses the state as their machine to suppress the working people. Most people do not think of their country as a dictatorship because the relationship of different classes is usually concealed. The monopoly capitalists do not openly admit their rule. Instead they claim that this is a democracy where everyone shares power and takes part in running the government. In fact, the bourgeoisie is no more willing to “share” power with the majority of people than it is to share the ownership of the means of production and the wealth that comes from this. For them to function as a capitalist class, they must exploit the working class; and to exploit the workers, who constantly resist this exploitation and oppression, they must use the state to suppress the workers. The ruling class goes to great lengths to cover up their dictatorship under the mask of democracy, for it is extremely difficult for a minority of exploiters to rule by force alone.

Of course the ruling class has been forced to grant the workers some democratic rights such as the right to vote, free speech, free press, etc. But these freedoms, like everything else in capitalist society, have their class content: they mean one thing to the ruling class and quite another for the workers. For the capitalists, freedom of the press and free speech, as examples, mean the right to fill the air-waves and daily newspapers with their propaganda and lies and to use them freely to debate with each other. For the capitalists, elections are a way to settle differences among themselves, while making it look like everybody has equal say. For the working class, democratic rights are the fruits of previous struggles, and we fight to preserve them for they make it easier to organize and mobilize for the day when the capitalists will be overthrown. Nevertheless democratic rights for the masses are primarily a sham, a mask, to cover the real dictatorship of the capitalists. This becomes especially clear when democratic rights come into conflict with the most basic “freedom” of bourgeois society–the right of the capitalists to their “private property” and to exploit the labor of the workers. In the final analysis all their talk about democracy boils down to one thing. The ruling class decides by struggle and compromise within its own ranks, and among its paid politicians, how it will maintain its system of exploitation over the people. Democracy for an insignificant minority, democracy for the rich–that is the democracy of capitalist society. This situation can only be reversed by socialist revolution to overthrow capitalist rule.

There will be an end to all class distinction and consequently an end to the class-war. All the members of society are at once and with equal title co-owners and co-producers. The State, in the oppressive sense of the word, will cease to exist, it being nothing more than a means of maintaining artificially, by force, order that a system of society, founded on the antagonism of interests would naturally give birth to. The government of men gives place to the administration of things. It is the reign of social peace and harmony. Commercial production of exchange-values with an end to realising profit will disappear, and be replaced by the co-operative production of use-values for consumption with a view to satisfying social wants. In place of robbing and exploiting one another, we will all help one another. Homo homini Deus, “Man is a god to man”.

When everyone in society can share equally in mental and manual work, in producing goods and services and managing the affairs of society; when the outlook of the working class, putting the common good above narrow, individual interests, has become second nature to members of society; when goods and services can be produced so abundantly that money is no longer needed to exchange them and they can be distributed to people solely according to their needs; then society will have reached socialism. Classes will have been completely eliminated, and the state as such will be replaced by the common administration of society by all its members. As this happens, throughout the world, mankind will have scaled a great mountain and will look out on a whole new horizon.

Glasgow: New slums for old (1962)

From the May 1962 issue of the Socialist  Standard In Glasgow recently, the press gave a great deal of publicity to the collapse of a tenement in the Gorbals. Photographs of this victim of old age and disrepair were spectacular, showing one side of the building minus a wall and exposing a rabbit warren interior where the tenants lived, ate and slept. To the newspapers it was a one-day sensation. To the Socialist it was something much more. Glasgow Corporation's publication Industry on the Move (January, 1959),  has this to say about the nightmare living conditions of workers in the city: There are over 80,000 people living at more than three persons to a room. And dealing with certain parts of Glasgow: These central districts home more than half a million people. In these areas most of the people have to share toilet facilities; only one house in five has an an internal water closet—and few of the houses have a bath. The promise of better housing for the working class was, of course, in the programmes of all the reformist parties in the recent municipal election. Indeed, the last Labour-controlled council had the audacity to boast of their record and point to the new housing schemes on the city outskirts and their "overspill" programme, as solutions to the workers' plight. "Overspill" is a scheme to get Glasgow workers housed in another town. It is proving far from popular, even among the desperate, as it sometimes involves moving great distances, and suitable jobs are not always available in the new areas. A sorry commentary on the housing schemes in the outskirts can be found almost daily in the Glasgow newspapers, in the forms of warrant sales. These are sales of household effects of workers hopelessly in debt. Many of them are in the homes of workers who live on the new housing estates and it is not hard to understand why. Although these houses are superior to the slums (it would be difficult for them to be inferior), the rent is almost invariably higher. This, coupled with the increase expense of travelling to and from work, lands many workers in the position of seeing their sticks of furniture compulsorily sold. In a single day recently in Drumchapel, there were five warrant sales in one street. To those who have lived in a single room, the change to a three or four roomed dwelling with interior water closet and bath must seem like Utopia. But when you consider that such places were built mainly of the cheapest possible materials, it does not take much imagination to recognise them as the slums of the not-too-distant future. Already, peeling plaster, shrunken doors and badly made window frames bear silent witness to the shoddiness of production for profit. And the grim irony of it all is that a physical shortage of houses does not exist in Glasgow. Like so many problems confronting Glaswegians and their brothers elsewhere, it is really one of poverty—the sheer inability to afford a decent place to live in. How then can this problem be solved within the present social set-up? The answer is a simple one. It cannot. But this is not something which our Tory, Labour and other opponents are telling workers during the current local elections. They can be safely trusted to carry on flying in the face of fact and promising to remedy this evil which is as old as Capitalism itself. It is left to the Socialist candidate contesting North Kelvin Ward to point out the unpalatable truth and to give the only answer, Socialism. Glaswegian.

Against All False Idols

The Socialist Party, being a voice of the needs and aspirations of the working class, takes as its aim the emancipation, by means of class struggle, of the whole working population from the yoke of capitalist society. To this end, the Socialist Party, linked to the World Socialist Movement is carrying on the struggle for the total transformation of society. The working class will take possession of the means of production (land, mines, factories, means of communication), which in the hands of the capitalists are the means of exploiting and oppressing the working masses, and will make them into social property. By suppressing the division of society into classes, workers will put an end to the exploitation of man by man, and will make it possible for all people to enjoy the fruits of their own and collective labour.

Nationalism is a bourgeois ideology which developed with the emergence of nations and the rise and development of capitalism. Nationalism serves the bourgeoisie in the sense that they are seeking a market for their goods, and their national market is always primary as capitalism develops. And nationalism serves to help that bourgeoisie secure its national market. It is nationalism that can divide the workers so that the workers of one nationality are struggling against the workers of another nationality for a few illusory crumbs the rulers throw out exactly for that purpose! It is nationalism that can pit groups of workers against each other with the most hideous rage, while their mutual oppressors skip off with both their purses for a little sun and fun. Nationalism means exclusivism and isolation. Any nationalism finally implies that those people are better than all others. We are the victims of nationalism that preaches superiority and inferiority. We have seen its obscene terror and oppression. We are not fighting so that we can put these on somebody else. Nationalism ultimately does not serve the real interests of the masses of that nationality. As ironic as this sounds, nationalism does not even ultimately serve the nation. This is true and has been proven correct time and again. Nationalism after a certain point isolates the oppressed people from their allies and delivers them into the hands of the exploiters and reactionaries of their own nationality. Zionism should teach us this more forcibly than anything else, how even the most “justifiable” nationalism, taken to its logical conclusion, can end up justifying the repression of almost anybody else outside the nation. The struggle that unifies the working class completely must be the struggle to abolish capitalism forever.

Despite recurring crises of the capitalist economy, capitalist society will not collapse spontaneously. Capitalism requires the conscious actions of the people to over-throw it. The victory of the working class, the destruction of the economic and social bases of the possessing classes, the putting into practice of the principles of the planned socialist economy – all these will lead to the creation of the classless society, where there will be no exploited or exploiters, nor class struggles, and all the efforts of society will be deployed to the common good. From the moment of the revolution and the establishment of the classless society it will make possible the complete achievement of socialist democracy and the abolition of the State. Society will then determine for itself the forms of its confederations and its organisational structure. The victory of socialism means the emancipation of all humanity. Socialism will create not only the new economic and social order, but also the higher civilisation of free mankind.

Religion is a social phenomenon in present-day society. Hence no amount of merely negative and critical propaganda can destroy it. Hence, to seek to abolish religion in a society founded on exploitation is futile. The ancient Greek and Roman freethinkers such as Epicurus and Lucretius demolished every theological argument as well as their modern successors have done, but when Paganism passed from the scene it was Christianity, not Atheism, which took its place. Only the positive achievement of a classless society can do that by abolishing its causes. It follows that religion cannot die out or be abolished in a class society, it follows equally and by the same reasoning that it could not survive inside socialism. Once a socialist society is fully established the twin foundations of religion, ignorance and fear, will be torn up by the roots. Socialism, by doing away with class exploitation and by developing to the fullest possible extent the unfathomed productive potentialities of the modern-age, hitherto hardly touched under capitalism, would make poverty and insecurity absolutely meaningless terms in an age of universal plenty. Whilst war, the third partner in the unholy capitalist trinity, would necessarily pass into oblivion along with the competitive capitalism and imperialism which is its sole efficient cause. All the social roots of religion would thus simultaneously disappear. And, of course, it goes without saying that the last remains of barbaric ignorance and superstition which still survive from pre-civilised eras would vanish before the impact of universal free education based on the scientific humanism that is inseparable from socialism, and no longer twisted as today by class domination into a mere machine for producing standardised wage-slaves, mechanical minders of machines, and servile robots. Whosoever therefore is capable of reasoning scientifically from cause to effect must realise that socialism means inevitably the definitive end of religion; which, deprived of all reason for existence, would become a mere anachronism in such a society. Religion becomes ever more obviously a parasite. With world socialism we shall arrive at that pleasing state of things where the Social Revolution will destroy religion by abolishing its effective causes and humanity itself takes the place of god.

In the meantime, the Socialist Party continues its necessary propaganda against all manifestations of capitalism, including those which belong to the sphere of religion. Whether it is necessary to attack religion specifically depends on local and on particular circumstances, but every reactionary movement of the Churches in our current society should be exposed. In all fairness we must draw attention to such movements as those of the Lollards and Anabaptists which were anti-ruling-class, and in some cases, even ‘communistic’ in their tenets. It is undeniable that such movements existed, that they reflected their contemporary class antagonisms and were, even, to a certain extent, revolutionary in their relation to contemporary states and society. To that extent accordingly they must be excempt from the strictures passed above on their official counterparts, the ‘orthodox’ churches.  We must also add, however, that their ‘communism’ was pre-scientific and therefore backward -looking: ‘When Adam delved and Eve span where was then the gentleman?’, as the Lollards phrased it: viz, in the beginning class distinctions did not exist. In all such Utopian ‘Communism’ history chases its own tail. Moreover, most of these movements were dominated by clerics—for example, John Ball and Thomas Munzer, etc. Had they succeeded they would have inevitably become themselves theocracies. Voltaire has summed up, once for all, the social character of all theocratic communism in his satirical description of the clerical ‘communistic’ state founded by the Jesuits in Paraguay (eighteenth century): ‘In Paraguay perfect communism existed: the Jesuits shared the wealth; whilst the Indians shared the work!’

What has been said of Christianity is equally true in respect of other religions also. For example, Islam has always stubbornly opposed even the modernization of the bourgeois revolution: Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, still strongholds of Mohammedan clericalism, are almost completely feudal. Whilst Hinduism, by means of its doctrine of reincarnation, has cleverly allayed the discontent of the Indian masses with their frightful conditions in this life! Even the originally rationalistic Buddhism had in Tibet become an obscurantist and oppressive monastic despotism. As far as the class struggle is concerned, official religion is, and always has been, on the side of the exploiters. Indeed, granted its social background, it could not have been anything else. And the same is true today.

The war against the gods is equivalent to the class war for a socialist society: Forward to the Social Revolution! Banish gods from the skies and capitalists from the Earth.

The Price of Cost-Saving

Steven Conway died while working at Diamond Wheels (Dundee) Ltd. There were no safety protocols in place at the premises, no risk assessment was carried out and there was no safe system of work in place.

The 33-year-old was sent in to remove debris from a tank containing "volatile" chemicals with limited protective clothing. He was wearing only trainers, tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt and fleece. The mask he was given did nothing to protect him from the toxic fumes let off by the chemicals and was actually releasing "contaminants" into his air supply. The gloves he was given had holes in them. He had suffered chemical burns from contact with hydrofluoric acid. Pathologists concluded he had died from inhaling industrial paint stripper.

Diamond Wheels, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act. They will face a fine as a punishment.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-34119674

By Us And Not For Us

WORLD SOCIALISM

There are people fearful of the word ‘socialism’ but what is important is not the word, but the ideas which remind us of the powerful appeal of the socialist ideal to people alienated from the political system and aware of the growing stark disparities in income and wealth. The word ‘socialism’ may still carry the baggage of past distortions usurping the name. But anyone who goes around the country, or reads carefully the public opinion surveys can see that huge numbers agree on what should be the fundamental elements of a decent society: guaranteed food, housing, medical care for everyone; equal rights for all races, genders, and sexual orientations; the rejection of war and violence as solutions for tyranny and injustice. We should recall times gone by when we had an enthusiasm for socialism - production for use instead of profit, economic and social equality, solidarity with our brothers and sisters all over the world. Today we have the opportunity to now once again re-introduce genuine socialism to a world feeling the sickness of capitalism - its nationalist hatreds, its perpetual warfare; wealth for a small number of people in a small number of countries, and hunger, homelessness, insecurity for everyone else.

The achievement of socialism awaits the building of a mass base of socialists, in factories and offices. The development of socialist consciousness must be the first priority of the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party must be seen as the parliamentary wing of a movement dedicated to fundamental social change. Capitalism must be replaced by socialism, by the common ownership of the means of production in the interests of the people as a whole. By bringing men and women together primarily as buyers and sellers of each other, by enshrining profitability and material gain in place of humanity, capitalism has always been inherently alienating. A socialist transformation of society will return to mankind its sense of humanity and community, to replace the sense of being a commodity. Socialists strive for democracy at those levels that most directly affect us all — in our neighbourhoods, our schools, and our places of work. The process is the raising of socialist consciousness. Socialists are no Utopians. They know perfectly well that Rome was not built in a day, neither was capitalist civilisation evolved in a week, nor will the complete machinery of a Socialist Commonwealth be a going concern in a month, for that matter. But true as all this may be, there is a distinction between the Labour Party type reformist , who is proud in what he is pleased to term the “evolutionary” character of his ‘socialism’, and the revolutionary socialist. The reformist seeks to make changes as little as can effectively be made which means that even what is acceptable in their principles trickles into practice on such a scale as to render it totally inoperative for serious good. You cannot empty the Atlantic with a tea-cup. As socialists, we are sincere in our avowed desire to create, as speedily as possible, a revolutionary change of a fundamental character in the present system of society. This change for the better can only be realised by the efforts of the workers themselves. ‘By us and not for us’ must be the motto.

The socialist revolution can have no other goal and no other result than the realisation of socialism. The working class must above all else strive to get the entire political power of the state into its own hands. Political power, however, is for us socialists only a means. The end for which we must use this power is the fundamental transformation of the entire economic relations. Currently all wealth belongs to a few private capitalists. The great mass of the workers only get from these capitalists a meagre wage to live on for hard work. The enrichment of a small number of idlers is the aim of today’s economy. This state of affairs should be remedied. All social wealth, the land with all its natural resources hidden in its bowels and on the surface, and all factories and works must be taken out of the hands of the exploiters and taken into common property of the people.

At the moment production in every enterprise is conducted by individual capitalists on their own initiative. What – and in which way – is to be produced, where, when and how the produced goods are to be sold is determined by the industrialist. The workers do not see to all this, they are just living machines who have to carry out their work. In a socialist economy this must be completely different. The private employer will disappear. Then no longer production aims towards the enrichment of one individual or group of share-holders, but of delivering to the public at large the means of satisfying all its needs. Accordingly the factories, works and the agricultural enterprises must be reorganised according to a new way of looking at things.

If production is to have the aim of securing for everyone a dignified life, plentiful food and providing other cultural means of existence, then the productivity of labour must be a great deal higher than it is now. The land must yield a far greater crop, the most advanced technology must be used in the factories, only the most productive coal and ore mines must be exploited. In order that everyone in society can enjoy prosperity, everybody should work. A life of leisure like most of the rich exploiters currently lead will come to an end. A general requirement to work for all who are able to do so, from which children, the aged and sick are exempted, is a matter of course in a socialist economy. The public at large must provide forthwith for those unable to work – not like now with paltry alms but with generous provision. For the general well-being, one must sensibly manage and be economic with both the means of production and labour. The squandering that currently takes place wherever one goes must stop. Naturally, the entire war and armament industries must be abolished since a socialist society does not need murder weapons and, instead, the valuable materials and human labour used in them must be employed for useful products. Luxury industries which make all kinds of frippery for the idle rich must also be abolished, along with personal servants. All the human labour tied up here will be found a more worthy and useful occupation. If we establish in this way where everybody works for everyone, for the public good and benefit, then work itself must be organised quite differently. Nowadays work in industry, in agriculture and in the office is mostly a torment and a burden for the proletarians. One only goes to work because one has to, because one would not otherwise get the means to live. In a socialist society, where everyone works together for their own well-being, the health of the workforce and its enthusiasm for work must be given the greatest consideration at work. Short working hours that do not exceed the normal capability, healthy work-places, all methods of recuperation and a variety of work must be introduced in order that everyone enjoys doing their part. Currently the capitalist, his overseers stands behind the worker with his whip. Hunger drives the worker to work in the factory or in the office. In a socialist society the industrialist with his whip ceases to exist. The workers are free and equal human beings who work for their own well-being and benefit. That means by themselves, working on their own initiative, not wasting resources, and delivering the most reliable and meticulous work. Every socialist concern needs of course its technical advisors who know exactly what they are doing and give the advice so that everything runs smoothly and the highest efficiency is achieved. Now it is a matter of willingly following these orders in full, of maintaining discipline and order, of not causing difficulties or confusion. The worker in a socialist economy must show that he can work hard and properly, keep discipline and give his best without the whip of hunger and without the capitalist and his slave-driver behind him. 

A socialist society needs human beings full of passion and enthusiasm for the general well-being, full of self-sacrifice and sympathy for fellow human beings, full of courage and tenacity in order to dare to attempt the most difficult. We do not need, however, to wait perhaps a century or a decade until such a species of human beings develop. In the struggle, in the revolution, people learn the necessary idealism and soon acquire the intellectual maturity. In a socialist revolution, we are creating the future socialists which a new society requires as fundamental.

The emancipation of the working class
must be the act of the workers themselves

Socialist Standard September 2015

• Editorial: Back to the 70s?
• Pathfinders: The Biggest Question? Don’t Ask...
• Letters: 'Corbyn for Leader?' & 'Blacklisted'
• Halo Halo! Catholics and Aliens
• Cooking the Books: Is He a Leninist?
• Material World: No Peace in the Pacific
• Greasy Pole: Catching a Crabb?
• Clause Four Resurfaces
• The Rainbow Party and Its Vision of ‘Socialism’
• More Union Bashing
• The Human Condition
• Cooking the Books: Who Pays the Working Poor?
• Mixed Media: Steel City
• Book Reviews: 'Postcapitalism - A Guide to Our Future', & 'The Deluge: the Great War and the Remaking of Global Order'
• Proper Gander: Under the Concrete Carpet
• 50 Years Ago: What Runs the Labour Government?
• Action Replay: From Ashes to Ashes
• Voice From the Back
• Cartoon: Free Lunch