The Need for Socialism

For the thinking worker, the only way forward is to build the world movement for socialism. We live today in a world dominated by capital. Capitalism as a ruling system is far from being eternal. In Britain and Europe capitalist economic relations (those between the class of capitalist employers and the class of wage workers) grew up within feudalism and became dominant with the English Revolution of 1640 and the French Revolution of 1789.  Capitalism is a system of commodity production (that is, the production of goods for sale and not for direct use by the producer) which is distinguished by the fact that labour power itself becomes a commodity. The major means of production and exchange which make up the capital of society are owned privately by a small minority, the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie), while the great majority of the population consists of proletarians or semi-proletarians. Because of their economic position, this majority can only exist by permanently or periodically selling their labour power to the capitalists and thus creating through their work the incomes of the upper classes. Thus, fundamentally, capitalism is a system of exploitation of the working class (the proletariat) by the capitalist class. The development of exchange throughout history has led in the modern world to close ties being established between all the nations on earth. The emergence of capitalism as a social system greatly accelerated this process. It also brought forth two powerful, antagonistic classes, the decisive classes of the system: capitalists and workers. Its worldwide character meant that the struggle of the proletariat for its emancipation from class exploitation and oppression also became, and has remained, worldwide. Technological progress brings about a greater productivity of labour and increased social wealth, it cannot get rid of the evils of capitalism or solve the problems of the working class. Rather, it intensifies them. Only socialism, which results from the class struggle of workers against capitalists, can solve them. By replacing private ownership of the means of production by common ownership, by transforming the anarchy of production which is a feature of capitalism into planned production, organised for the well-being of all of society, the socialist revolution will end the division of society into classes and emancipate all of humanity from all forms of exploitation of one section of society by another.

Today, there is much ado over the leadership of the Labour Party by Jeremy Corbyn. None of the current arguments around the question of party democracy or policy is projected in terms of the social relationships within socialism but, rather, advance arguments about a more efficient management of capitalism. There is almost a total absence of any class analysis or any criticism of the state as an instrument of class rule. Nowhere do the left or right of the Labour Party indicate how the fundamental problems and contradictions within the capitalist mode of production can be resolved; nowhere do they discuss the dispossession of the capitalist class.  Perhaps it is of significance is the definition of the enemies of the working class used by the left of the Labour party (and the Trotskyist hanger-ons) generally consists of the City, the IMF/World Bank and the multinationals”, all of which are part of finance capital. Industrial capital is not only largely excluded, but is, indeed, seen as the lifeblood of the nation. The nature of industry, production for profit, and the relations within production are not criticised. The problem is characterised as one of decline within manufacturing industry, not capitalism. The Left are “socialists” without any socialism. If the Labour Party holds out no solution, what are the alternatives?

When the Socialist Party say that we are revolutionary we are not talking about a small group running up the red flag at the barricades. We are talking about a change that will involve the vast majority of fellow-workers 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 job. We're out to change the whole system. What is necessary in order to bring all the separate struggles together into one common fight to overthrow capitalism. Socialists need to be realistic about their prospects and recognise our failings.  Nevertheless, we have to view the bigger picture. The capitalist system brings workers together, men and women, black and white, young and old,  in large workplaces in order to exploit us, capitalism ultimately gives us the collective strength to overthrow it. Everything rests upon the future struggles of the working class. The future of socialism depends on the creation of a powerful mass socialist party. We in the Socialist Party believe that we have made a start at building such a party. We have no illusions of grandeur but our mere presence within the working class movement give socialist ideas a chance. We understand the daunting scale of the task compared to by our present size, influence, and resources. We don’t regard ourselves as the vanguard. We know that only the working class can transform society. We don’t seek to put ourselves at the head and in place of that class. We seek only to make workers conscious of their interests and of their power and to direct that power at the capitalist system.

If you agree with us, join us. 

Support socialism for survival

“The monopoly of land drives him (the worker) from the farm into the factory, and the monopoly of machinery drives him from the factory into the street, and thus crucified between the two thieves of land and capital, the Christ of Labour hangs in silent agony.” Ernest Jones, Chartist leader

The supporters of socialism are few in number. This indifference of workers to socialist ideas is hardly surprising. We have all been brought up in a capitalist society where it is taken for granted that everyone is selfish, where people are continually told that our ‘betters’ should be the only  ones only a privileged to make the key decisions in society. We are brainwashed into accepting many capitalist ideas. As Marx put it, ‘The ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class,’ and vast numbers of workers accept them.

Whether they like it or not, whether they even know it or not, workers begin doing things that contradict all the capitalist ideas they have previously accepted. They begin to act in solidarity with one another, as a class, in opposition to the capitalist class. The ideas of socialism that were once rejected now begin to fit in with what they are doing. Some at least of the workers begin to take up those ideas socialist ideas seriously – providing those ideas are accessible. Their conflict with capitalist ideas obliges them to question these ideas. When they find that other workers are doing the same thing, they begin to make more and more connections with the idea of socialism. Once knowledge begins to be acquired, it can snowball at amazing speed. The basic premise of the Socialist Party is that the development of capitalism itself drives workers into revolt against the system and a transformation of working class consciousness takes place. Socialism can only come about when the working class itself takes political control to permit the economic control of the means of producing wealth to transform society

Increasing profit and shareholder dividends is the bottom line of capitalism. And it doesn’t matter how much devastation ensues or how unsustainable their business model is. The problems associated with the capitalist system cannot be dealt with on a single-issue basis. It’s not just about engaging in endless debates. Despite all the promises of the past and all the pledges for the future, hundreds of millions still go to bed with empty bellies hungry, hundreds of millions continue to die or are inflicted from unnecessary diseases and illnesses, hundreds of millions endure sweated labour if they can find employment, and hundreds of millions suffer from war and conflict. The problem is capitalism. The core cause of all the problems is capitalism.

Work is the source of all wealth and culture, and the entire returns thereof should accrue to those who do the work. In the present society, the tools of production are the monopoly of the capitalists. That the working class is kept dependent on these is the ultimate cause of misery and all forms of oppression. The goal of the Socialist Party is, therefore, to abolish the existing mode of production (the “wage system” or “price system”) and convert private property into the common property of society. The abolition of the wage system is our organisation’s expressed goal, to which we must cling with fanatical conviction. The struggle for the liberation of the working is not a fight for new class privileges and prerogatives but for the abolition of class rule. The class struggle is the ceaseless struggle which goes on from day to day in every country and between the same combatants – the master class and the working class. Society is like a huge market where the capitalist brings money, and the worker his only commodity – labour power. The worker sells his labour power in exchange for wages which is the commodity that will bring him the subsistence of life. The system is capitalism, and those who control it are capitalists.

The history of the working class has been a history of unremitting struggle against exploitation and oppression by the capitalist class. Under the rule of the present capitalists, there can be no freedom for the workers – only freedom to be exploited as wage slaves. Today, the people of the world live under the dictatorship of the tiny capitalist class. The ruling class propagates many ideas about “democracy” and “freedom,” but in reality, the only freedom which exists is their freedom to oppress and exploit people around the world for profits.  Working people, get rid of your slavish idolatry. You set up such men as Bill Gates, Richard Branson as your idols. While you are worshipping your idols, their pals are forging ever stronger your chains.

Socialist organisation means getting together with a common understanding and a common end in view and working systematically for the attainment of that end. For the workers to organize effectively, they must have a correct understanding of their position in society and of the conditions under which they live and work. If they fail to understand these things, they will either not organize at all or will organize in an ineffective manner. The effectiveness of their organization depends on the correctness of their understanding. The better they understand conditions the more effectively they will organise. There can be no organisation without action, and it must be systematic, not haphazard action. Systematic action means each member doing what one is best fitted to do, in the best way he or she knows how, and in co-operation with every other member. It means each one doing his or her part, and all co-operating in the production of the whole. When a person understands the conditions in this class war as they really are, he or she is ready to join the Socialist Party.

The reward for our struggle will be a new and free happy system. Complete job control means possession of the source of all wealth and social power. When the workers control industry, they will own the earth. A system in which there are no more classes, no more wage workers and no more parasites, a system which will not be led by the privileged but carefully guarded by society’s useful producers, administrated by capable men and women.  Let our slogan be, the common ownership of the means of life, your weapons the industrial and political organisation of the wage slaves to conquer our own emancipation.

For the thinking worker, the only way forward is to build the world movement for socialism. We live today in a world dominated by capital. Capitalism as a ruling system is far from being eternal. In Britain and Europe capitalist economic relations (those between the class of capitalist employers and the class of wage workers) grew up within feudalism and became dominant with the English Revolution of 1640 and the French Revolution of 1789.  Capitalism is a system of commodity production (that is, the production of goods for sale and not for direct use by the producer) which is distinguished by the fact that labour power itself becomes a commodity. The major means of production and exchange which make up the capital of society are owned privately by a small minority, the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie), while the great majority of the population consists of proletarians or semi-proletarians. Because of their economic position, this majority can only exist by permanently or periodically selling their labour power to the capitalists and thus creating through their work the incomes of the upper classes. Thus, fundamentally, capitalism is a system of exploitation of the working class (the proletariat) by the capitalist class. The development of exchange throughout history has led in the modern world to close ties being established between all the nations on earth. The emergence of capitalism as a social system greatly accelerated this process. It also brought forth two powerful, antagonistic classes, the decisive classes of the system: capitalists and workers. Its worldwide character meant that the struggle of the proletariat for its emancipation from class exploitation and oppression also became, and has remained, worldwide. Technological progress brings about a greater productivity of labour and increased social wealth, it cannot get rid of the evils of capitalism or solve the problems of the working class. Rather, it intensifies them. Only socialism, which results from the class struggle of workers against capitalists, can solve them. By replacing private ownership of the means of production by common ownership, by transforming the anarchy of production which is a feature of capitalism into planned production, organised for the well-being of all of society, the socialist revolution will end the division of society into classes and emancipate all of humanity from all forms of exploitation of one section of society by another.

Farewell to Capitalism

We are living in a period in the history of mankind in which the course of history is taking a decisive turn towards world socialism or face unimaginable tragedies. The class struggle is the central, underlying feature of economic, political, ideological, and social life. At times, this struggle, which is the real substance of our everyday, ordinary existence, inevitably erupts in great events and crises which become pivotal punctuation marks of our history. Before us lies unlimited possibilities. Go to your brothers and sisters at your work or in your neighbourhood and talk to them openly that socialism will be a classless system, where goods are produced for use. not for sale, and because there will be no buying or selling so there will be no need for money, banks, insurance companies, salesmen, ticket collectors, check-out cashiers, stock brokers and all the rest of the cumbersome junk and paraphernalia which involves people in soul destroying, non-productive, non-creative activity so necessary in capitalist society. Socialism will mean that the problems of world poverty, hunger, disease, can be tackled and overcome in a coordinated way, that people will move freely over the face of the globe and that the roots of racism will be destroyed. Socialism will mean harnessing of all the world’s resources for the benefit of united humanity. Bring them to our meetings. Get them to join our movement. The Socialist Party is calling on all who want to see this system of minority rule of capitalists ended once and for all to join us. For the words of Karl Marx still hold good: “The emancipation of the proletariat must be the work of the working class.” The working class must constitute itself as an independent political force in order to advance its interests. This will be made a reality.

Socialism cannot be built in one country. Capitalism is a world system, and it can be thoroughly destroyed only on a world scale. The Socialist Party is internationalist because it considers nationalism and patriotism reactionary.  It is internationalist because it considers that national frontiers have become obstacles to further economic and social progress and a direct contributing source to conflicts and wars. It is internationalist because it understands that the classless socialist society cannot be established within the framework of one country alone. The workers of one country can begin perhaps the preparatory tasks. They can lay the foundations of socialism. But socialism cannot be established. If capitalism has developed a world market and become the dominant world order, socialism cannot conceivably be restricted to one country, no matter how big it is. Socialism is world socialism, or it is not socialism at all. Just as a socialist economy could not exist side by side with a capitalist economy in one country, so a socialist nation could not exist side by side with capitalist nations in one world, one or the other would have to win in the end. That is why the Socialist Party endeavors to promote the worldwide organisation, unity, and solidarity of the working class and created the World Socialist Movement, more an aspiration than reality at the present time.

 Overthrowing the whole of capitalism seems such a daunting task so is it possible? It is impossible to give any guarantees but, nevertheless, socialists are confident that it can be done. The global nature of the capitalist economy makes its conditions of exploitation and the recurring crises international too. The political impact of a socialist revolution will send shock waves that will circle the world. The very existence of an example of real workers’ power and workers’ democracy will challenge our rulers. The revolution will give inspiration to workers’ movements everywhere and the many divisions and splits in the workers’ movement will be healed, because there will be concrete proof of the actual correct strategy and tactics necessary to achieve victory. The working class taking power into its own hands make the case for socialism infinitely easier to argue. All of this will be greatly aided by modern communications, the internet, and social media. As the revolution unfolds the reality cannot be censored from our television screens.

Capitalism, by its method of production, has brought isolated workers together and constituted them as a class in society. Capitalism has made the workers a class in themselves. That is, the workers are a distinct class in society, whether they recognise this fact or not. Historical development calls upon this class to reorganise society completely and establish socialism. To do this, the workers must become a class for themselves. They must acquire a clear understanding of their real position under capitalism, of the nature of capitalist society as a whole, and of their mission in history. They must act consciously for their class interests. They must become conscious of the fact that these class interests lead to a socialist society. When this takes place, the workers are a class for themselves, a class with socialist consciousness.

How are the workers to acquire this consciousness – this clear, thoroughgoing understanding of capitalist society, their position in it, and the need to replace this society with socialism? The thinking of the workers is based on the ideas of the capitalist class, acquired directly from the capitalist press, schools, churches and the like. What the workers still lack is a fundamental and thorough understanding of their real position in society and of their historic mission to establish socialism. This lack of a socialist consciousness reduces the effectiveness of their organization, of their struggle, and prevents them from accomplishing their mission in society. To imbue the workers with this class consciousness, or socialist consciousness is the role Socialist Party has taken up. Its members are no cleverer, no more superior than any other worker but we have already come to understand the nature of capitalism and the historical task of the working class. Our aim is to develop the same understanding among our fellow-workers by persuasion and education, so that they no longer fight blindly but with the clarity of who their class enemy is, of what the working class itself really is and of what it can and must do in society. The Socialist Party, therefore, have no interests separate from the interests of the working class as a whole. We try to educate fellow-workers the full meaning of the class war to show how even the local struggles, against one capitalist, are really class struggles against capitalism by  pointing out the political meaning of the economic struggle. The Socialist Party endeavours to teach how the workers must organise as a class to take political power, and use it to inaugurate socialism. The purpose of our party is to improve the position of the working class, to strengthen it, to clarify it and supply it with the most effective weapons in the struggle – knowledge.

The Socialist Party is the only political organisation which solely advocates socialism. There are several parties which proclaim to share the same goal and we can sympathise with those ask: “How can I tell which party is right?” Or, “Why don’t you all unite because if you cannot agree among yourselves, how do you expect others to agree with you?” To judge different parties, check their words and their deeds. See if what they do in practice corresponds to what they say in words. Read carefully the claims made for each party and the description given of what it can do, and judge from experience which one really serves the purpose best. Examine the different parties, what they are for and what they are against. The Socialist Party possesses a long history and rich tradition. It is proud of the fact that its principles are founded on the teachings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, as well as other such as William Morris. The Socialist Party differs from the other parties in its conception of the road to socialism. The democratic structure of the Socialist Party corresponds to its political principles and its aim. A party that aims for an open free society must be constructed accordingly. Socialism cannot be achieved without class consciousness. Class consciousness means an understanding working class, a self-confident and self-reliant working class.  A party leader or bureaucracy cannot substitute for the self-reliance of the working class and they are an obstacle to it. It seeks to preserve its special privileges by curbing and stifling the workers and preventing them from acting independently with their organised strength. Socialism means peace and freedom for the entire world. The Socialist Party, therefore, has never ever given support to capitalism’s wars and has opposed them at all times.

Things Ain't Getting Better.

On August 5th, Statistics Canada released its monthly unemployment report which won't cause anyone to say "Let's party.'

Ontario lost 36,000 jobs in July over all of Canada. 71,000 full-time jobs were lost. The unemployment figure rose 0.1% point, to 6.9%. It was the fourth straight month of more jobs lost than gained.

Young workers with obviously most of their working lives ahead of them, were the hardest hit. There was a reduction of 28,000 jobs in Canada during July for the 24 year old age group. All of these were part-time jobs. The youth unemployment rate stands at 13.3%, nearly twice the national average. There were 66,000 fewer jobs for that age group this July than last year. A decrease of 2.7%.

Public sector jobs fell by 42,000, which is similar to last year, but, as always, the apologists for capitalism, or, to call a spade a spade, 'sooth-sayers' won't give up. An economist at CIBC said, "Federal fiscal stimulus and the regular see-saw in the L.F.S.'s data, would suggest that this particular category is headed for a rebound ahead."

They can say what they want, but, things ain't getting better.

 John Ayers.

THE ROAD AHEAD – SOCIALISM

We have no illusions. We know our task seems insurmountable, at times. All around us are the signs of a world in crisis, leaving the men and women of the Socialist Party feeling unable to do anything about it. Resources that should be used to feed the hungry are squandered on ever more costly weapons and destructive wars. We will do our best. All is not lost. There is no mystery about the development of socialist ideas. They will arise from what exists – from battles against capitalism. Each new wave can and will continue and elaborate upon what preceded them. If their thought and action are in accord with the needs and aspirations of the working class, they will be honoured by playing a useful role in transforming society. The class struggle itself is a form of war, social war, and class power decides the issue. As our class emerges to consciousness it throws off the domination of the ideas of the ruling class.  For most of its existence, socialism has been confined to a small minority in the working-class movement. But at times of great upheaval, when the mass of workers are thrown into a confrontation with the system, socialists can win mass support from fellow-workers who seek a way out of a world of poverty, unemployment, and destruction.

Parliamentary activity is an expression of the proletarian struggle, it is a form of expression of class power. Politics is the field in which all issues of the class struggle are in action. It is not a single issue, but the totality of issues arising out of the antagonisms of capitalist society that workers must struggle against. It is not through ownership of industry alone that the capitalist maintains his rule but also by his control of the State machine. The parliamentary struggle, waged in a revolutionary spirit, challenges capitalist supremacy. It is not through securing better wages and better working conditions that the working class conquers social power, but by vanquishing capitalism in all the issues that maintain its ascendancy. Parliamentary action centers attention on all these issues and it realises the futility, however, of solving these issues through reforms and palliative legislation. By concentrating on all issues that are vital to capitalism, revolutionary socialist parliamentarianism emphasises and intensifies the antagonism between workers and capitalists and awakens the consciousness of the working class. Both industrial and political action develops class consciousness. Socialists in Parliament, accordingly, will use it as an empty means of protest or a futile means of “democratizing” the state and “growing into” socialism, but recognising its limitations and usefulness will transform into class power to appropriate and dispossess the owning class.

 Outside Parliament, the mass action and general struggle against capitalism will present sharp, definite expression of the revolt of the workers. Mass action is the class itself in action, dispensing with leaders and intellectuals and, instead, acting on its own initiative. The process of revolution consists in the dissipation of the class power of the ruling class as against a strengthening of the class power of working people. It consists of undermining the basis of the power and legitimacy of the capitalist state, a process that requires extra-parliamentary activity through mass action. Capitalism trembles when it faces the impact of one strike of a vital basic industry. Capitalism will more than tremble when it meets the force of a general mass action involving a general strike of many industries against the whole capitalist regime. It demonstrate to both the workers and the bosses the power released by the energy of a conscious working class majority. Either it compels the capitalists to rely upon the brutal physical force of the military and legalised terrorism. Or accept their defeat and succumb to the inevitable. The socialist revolution is a test of power in which the proletariat requires a flexible method of action, a method of action that will not only concentrate all its available forces but which will develop its initiative and consciousness, allowing it to seize and use any particular means of struggle in accord with a prevailing situation and necessary under the conditions.

There is no alternative for our fellow-workers: Class war becomes social revolution. The old relations of capitalist production are torn asunder. 

Submit to wage slavery or fight it

To build a socialist movement we need to clearly state what it is. There is great confusion in the world today over this question. Our aim is to try to clear some of this up.

 The range of single-issue campaigns around which people are active is wide in diversity. Many have a critique that is not revolutionary or socialist. Nevertheless, they are not easily absorbed within the usual bounds of reformist politics either. The aim of the Socialist Party is the overthrow of the capitalist class. Every political party defends the interest of one class or another in society. On all questions, in every battle, our Party defends the interests of the working class and works to prepare its victory over the capitalists. A handful of capitalists control our planet and make vast profits off the labour of the working people and the natural resources of the land. All the major means of production - the factories, forests, farms, fisheries and mines are in the hands of a few capitalists. Capitalism is a system of exploitation. A handful of parasites lives off the sweat and toil of the workers. The capitalists get rich from the fruit of our labour. At the end of the week or month, a worker collects their pay. The capitalist claim this is a fair exchange. But it is highway robbery. In reality, workers get paid for only a small part of what they produce. The rest, the surplus value, goes straight into the hands of the capitalists. The bosses get rich, not because they have "taken risks" or "worked harder," as they would have us believe. The more they keep wages down and get fewer workers to do more work, the more they can steal from us and the greater their profits. If the bosses think they can make more profit somewhere else, they just close their factories and throw the workers out on the street.

 Capitalism has no regard for its senior citizens; once it has squeezed the working life out of the workers they are tossed away. Capitalist society also callously mistreats disabled people because everything is geared to the drive for profits. For working people, the future is less and less certain. Wages fall or remain stagnant while working conditions deteriorate. People live miserable conditions so a select clique of very wealthy individuals can live in luxury. The idea that everyone can get rich under this system is a lie invented by the rich themselves. Under capitalism, the only way to get rich is to trample on someone else. There is only room for a few capitalists - at any time the great majority must work and be robbed. This exploitative and oppressive system, where profit is master, has choked our entire society with economic crises, political repression and social decay. The drive for profits holds millions hostage to hunger and want; it has poisoned the very air that we breathe and water that we drink; it spawns cynicism and violence, drugs, crime and social devastation. The problems of capitalism - exploitation, anarchy of production, speculation and crisis, and the whole system of injustice - arise from the self-interest of the tiny group of capitalists. The essential feature of capitalism, that very thing which makes the system one of exploitation and robbery of the mass of wage workers by the ruling class of capitalists, namely the private ownership of the means of production and exchange, this remained untouched. This is why workers have only one choice: either submit to this wage slavery or fight it.

Socialism will be a better society, one which will present unprecedented possibilities for the improvement of common peoples' lives. Because working people will control the great wealth they produce, they will be fundamentally able to determine their own futures. The end of exploitation of one person by another will be a resounding liberating and transforming force. Socialism does not mean government control. Today we often hear of government control of the railways or post office as "creeping socialism" but that is state-capitalism.  Socialism is when the means of production - the large factories, mines, forests, big farms, offices, transport systems, media, communications, retail-shopping chains will be taken into common ownership. The economy will be planned to serve human needs rather than simply profit and luxury consumption by the rich. This will release the productive capacity of the economy from the limitations of profit maximisation. A great expansion in useful production and the wealth of society will become useful. Rational planning will replace anarchy. Coordination and planning of the broad outlines of production by public elected agencies will aim at building an economy that will be stable, benefit the people and steadily advance. Redirecting the productive capacity to human needs will require a variety of economic methods and experiments. There could be a combination of central planning and local coordination. Various policies might be used with changing conditions. But no matter what means are chosen, a socialist economy must uphold the basic principles of social ownership, production for the people's needs, and the elimination of exploitation. Factories and other productive facilities will be automated to eliminate back-breaking labour and ecological damage. Productivity gains will be used to shorten the working day and improve living standards, rather than create unemployment. Construction of housing, schools, medical, cultural and sporting facilities for working people will be a priority. With socialism, goods and services will be distributed on the basis of from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs. No longer will landlords and speculators live off the labour of others. Every person will get the opportunity to contribute to society as much as they are able.  Transforming the main productive enterprises from private to social ownership will allow workers to manage democratically their own work places through workers' councils and elected administrators, in place of the myriad of supervisors and consultants today. In this way, workers will be able to make their work places safe and efficient places that can serve their own interests as well as society,

Organise with the Socialist Party

Abolition of the wage system? Yes, we’re for it. Let’s organise to manage industry, eliminate private profit, plan production to suit the needs of the people – for peace, prosperity and plenty. But there is a war raging between the capitalist class and the working class. The capitalist class is easy to identify, they are the handful of millionaires and billionaires who own or control and who milk the factories, mines, and fields of our world. They are the class that owns and sells the products that we make and often can’t even afford to buy. We sell our labour to this class for a living wage, and very often less than that. The boss’s appetite for profits is looked after and protected by the State. The government is run by the capitalists for the purpose of maintaining the flow of profits. This is done in a lot of ways. Bail-outs for the corporations who also receive tax breaks and subsidies. A system of courts and police guard the property and the profits of the capitalists from the working class by injunctions against strikes and picket lines and strikes enforced by police who escort scabs into work. The government protects the boss’s right to practically dictate the terms of employment to us.

The war between the capitalist class and the working class is due to the system of wage slavery. For the young workers, first looking for a job, the middle-aged workers with families feed, and the older workers who are just clinging on until retirement, the capitalists have what we can’t live without. Jobs. We have to eat. To eat we have to work. To work we have to work for the capitalists. To work for the employing class we have to accept their terms. We are slaves of the wage system. The trade union aims to organise the working class and challenge the capitalists “right” to squeeze us, to give the screw one more turn. Through the unions, the workers wage a united struggle of resistance, confront the capitalists with one voice, demand better wages and working conditions, test their strength through downing their tools, and wring concessions. The trade unions can bargain with the capitalists over wages, but they cannot bargain away the wage-system. They cannot touch the foundations of capitalist exploitation. Workers cannot end exploitation without putting an end to the whole of the capitalist system. The Socialist Party’s purpose is to challenge the system of wage slavery itself. The fight to end wage slavery is our purpose. Our task is not to fight for better terms in the sale of labour-power but to fight for the abolition of the capitalist system that compels the working class to sell themselves as wage-slaves. As socialists, we believe that only by the whole of the working class ridding ourselves of the employers, their policies, their parties and their system, can the people build socialism so we can begin to control our lives. Socialism is based on a constructive and basically optimistic view of social progress.

There are many people who say that they are for socialism and claim to be in favour of the emancipation of workers. However, we mustn’t be taken in by these “socialists”. The function of the Socialist Party is to educate the people by criticising all attempts at so-called reforms, whose aim is not the realisation of socialism, but the hindering of it; and by encouraging the unity of the working class towards revolution and the abolition of capitalism. As socialists, we base our political policy on the class struggle of the workers, because we know that the self-interest of the workers lies our way. We raise high our unsullied banner, and with principles inviolate and ideals undimmed, we stand forth as the representatives of the Socialist Party, appealing to the toilers and producers to join us in building up the party of their class. We all hope and work for the co-operative commonwealth of socialism.

In the wage system you and your children, and your children’s children, if capitalism shall prevail until they are born, are condemned to slavery and there is no possible hope unless by throwing over the capitalist and voting for socialism. What you want to do is quit voting for every capitalist party of every name whatsoever. What you want to do is to organise with your class and assert your class interests. Why cast your ballot for a thing that will do you no good, a thing that you do not want? The Socialist Party teach the fellow-workers that their fundamental economic interests can only be satisfied by the destruction of the entire capitalist system and the creation of a socialist society.

The Socialist Party affirms as a fundamental principle that the class which creates the wealth of the world are entitled to all they create. Thus they find themselves pitted against the whole profit-making system. They declare that there can be no compromise so long as the majority of the working class lives in want while the master class lives in luxury. They insist that there can be no peace until the workers organise as a class, take possession of the resources of the earth and the machinery of production and distribution and abolish the wage system. In other words, the people as a whole must commonly own and operate all the essential industrial institutions.

The madness called capitalism

You are working for a boss. You are his “hands.” He uses you to make a profit. How is this profit possible at all? Because he makes you work more than is necessary to defray your wages. In other words, when you work you are not only reproducing the value of your own up-keep but you are also producing surplus-value which goes to the owner. The capitalist will sell the produced commodity in the market. If he can produce more cheaply than his neighbour, his profits will be larger. This is why he drives you on to work faster and faster. This is why he introduces labour-saving machinery which results in workers being displaced by new technology, reducing the workforce. They call it progress but it isn’t introduced as progress to better conditions, not to alleviate strenuous labour but to increase profits. This is capitalism in its modern form. This is capitalist civilisation. The antidote to capitalism is socialism, a democratic system of society where the wealth is owned and controlled by the people who produce it.

Socialists say there needs to be a revolution. We propose that all resources, all land and buildings, all manufacturing enterprises, the means of transportation and communication, should be, not private property, but the common property of all of society. We propose that production be made to serve the needs of those who work, rather than to serve the needs of a few parasites. We hold with science that production and distribution of goods can be planned on the basis of common ownership without any class division. The whole world becomes one big cooperative community. The rule is established: “let each person work according to ability; let each person receive from the common stock of goods according to needs.” This is socialism. Mankind itself changes under such circumstances. The State is no more needed. In a classless society, there is nobody to suppress or keep in check. Men and women no longer need the big stick of the State. They manage their affairs without the State force. Mankind is free, forever.

When we socialists s speak of planned economy we do not mean a plan similar to that of Stalin’s 5-Year Plans. What we have in mind is very simple. It is clear-cut. Do away with production for profit. Socialism is about cooperation. In a cooperative society, we can pool our abilities and resources to create more for everyone, and to share it out fairly.

Make a survey of all available resources, plant and man-power. Figure out how much of the products of each industry can be produced. Employ the best services of scientists to improve your machinery and your methods of work. Encourage scientific research to advance science for the purpose of improving life. Distribute the fruits of increased production among all the members of society. Improve their well-being. Increase production still more by further improving machinery and methods according to the latest science. Distribute the benefits of the increased production again among the population without exception, always heightening the technique of production to enrich the economic and cultural life of all the members of society and to ease their labour. Continue this process indefinitely. When you do so there will be no crises, no unemployment, no exploitation, no wars, no fear of the future. Is this impossible? Isn’t it utopian? Aren’t those dreams? We are not against dreaming, but our dreams are real. Our dreams are forecasts of realities to come. We are practical dreamers.

The Socialist Party says democracy has prepared for the workers the means necessary to achieve socialism. Let the worker class use universal suffrage to send Socialists into the legislative assemblies. Let the Socialist Party form a majority in these assemblies. When this is done, the road is open to abolish the capitalist system. To make socialism possible the workers must take hold of the State machinery of capitalism. The Socialist Party does not solicit votes in order to reform capitalism and thereby to make it more effective for the capitalists, we are revolutionary parliamentarians, by which is meant strengthening the working class and weakening its enemies. We go to the law-making institutions, not to tinker them up for the benefit of the capitalists, but to be a spanner in their machinery, preventing them from working smoothly on behalf of the masters. We use, while there, every step of those agents of the capitalists to expose them before the people, to show what these so-called representatives of the people and what all these so-called democratic institutions actually are.

Capitalism creates a situation where the people are dissatisfied, embittered, emboldened by intolerable hardships. Capitalism itself ripens the conditions for revolution. People themselves change under such situations. In the struggle of the working class to free itself from wage-slavery, it cannot be repeated too often that everything depends on the working class itself. The simple question is, can the workers fit themselves, by education, organisation, co-operation, and self-imposed discipline, to take control of the productive forces and manage industry in the interest of the people and for the benefit of society? That is all there is to it. Some argue that workers always need leaders to do the thinking, a “head,” and without this leader, workers would be helpless. It is not the Socialist Party’s theory. All the workers have to do is by self-enlightenment and self-education, collaboration and coordination seek social freedom. This seems simple enough and so it is, yet simple as it is it involves the greatest struggle in history. The capitalist class employs a vast army serves as retainers of and apologists to fight their battles for them. These servile puppets all insist that working men and women cannot determine their own lives.

This task on the part of the Socialist Party, made up wholly wage-slaves, no better and no cleverer than any other but who put their brains into working order, is a difficult one and we are the very last to underestimate its magnitude. But we are not waiting for some so-called “great man” or “good leader ” to come along , but are preparing to do things for ourselves.

The costs of capitalism

‘But of late, since Bismarck went in for state ownership of industrial establishments, a kind of spurious socialism has arisen, degenerating, now and again, into something of flunkeyism, that without more ado declares all state ownership, even of the Bismarckian sort, to be socialistic. Certainly if the taking over by the state of the tobacco industry is socialistic, then Napoleon and Metternich must be numbered among the founders of socialism.’ Engels, Socialism Utopian and Scientific.

The list of injustices in our society is endless; poverty, racism, homelessness, cuts in health and education, the plight of old age pensioners, the treatment of the disabled, police brutality, the oppression of women and gays and attacks on the unions. One of the crucial differences between reformists and the Socialist Party is that the former tend to regard each issue as an isolated problem capable of being solved on its own, whereas we view all of them as having a common root in the economic structure of capitalism. Our society subordinates everything to the accumulation of capital

Profit has become a “dirty word,” and quite rightly so in view of the misery and suffering inflicted on the mass of people in its name. The working class does not benefit from the pursuit of profit. Abolishing the role of profit requires production for need. Capitalism has evolved a system of economy - the anarchy of the market, within social and political conditions guaranteed by the capitalist state, accumulation of capital, money, credit, etc. This system is the fundamental basis of the maintenance of rule by the capitalist class, and the oppression of the working class; the liberation of the working class and the achievement of socialism is, of course, synonymous with the abolition of this system. The abolition of the capitalist mode of production requires the appropriation of the means of production by society. Revolutions do not take place in fact against backgrounds of poverty and recession. They take place when in a period of rising expectations the established order cannot satisfy the expectations which it has been forced to bring into being.

Capitalism is in an economic crisis and the capitalist class always reacts to an economic crisis in the same way: it attacks the working class. Because the capitalist crisis is world-wide, it is true for workers everywhere. Time and again the ruling class will return to the offensive striving to weaken union organisation, drive down wages, cut social services, slash jobs and undermine workers’ rights. All with the basic aim of increasing the share of surplus value going to profits.

The wastes of capitalism are so pervasive that the following is a sample list:

1. Cost of capitalist competition (duplication of product ranges between different firms where specialisation would be more economical, duplication of research facilities, unnecessary model changes and differentiation of products, advertising etc.)

2.  Costs of the capitalist financial system (the stock exchange, the banking system; insurance )

3. Costs dependent on the antagonistic relations between capital and labour. Any factory or office obviously requires people whose job it is to organise and supervise work, but under capitalism, there is a further function (often performed by the same individuals) of maintaining discipline. This function, as a specialised one, would disappear, as would probably the whole industrial relations department. It should not be forgotten of course that, modes of decision making within the factory would take time; one of the effects of the drastic shortening of the working week would be that workers would have the possibility of full involvement in the running of their units. Most of the repressive functions of the state (army, police, law, prisons) would cease. Another cost of capitalism which would be eliminated is the production of luxury goods for the consumption of the capitalist class. It is not possible to calculate fully what resources would be released by the elimination of these costs of capitalism. While some of the benefits would come rapidly others would inevitably take a longer time.

 4. The final and most glaring cost of capitalism is unemployment.

The full utilisation of society’s resources would allow a massive increase in production even before the longer-term advantages of a socially rational deployment of resources were realised.

Organise for socialism

"Organise—organise—organise." Ernest Jones, Chartist

Socialists consider the economic factor the determining factor in the development of society. The primary concern of human beings has always been to feed, clothe and shelter themselves. As human beings lived together, certain necessities drove them to invent certain machines and with the invention of these machines production increased and with the increase in production changes occurred in the economic and social system. Struggles arose between groups and the victors made slaves out of the vanquished. A system of slavery arose and the forces of production continued to develop. More machines were invented; the forces of production increased; society developed further and ever further and class struggles arose; slaves revolted against masters; the social system based on slavery could no longer function effectively and that social system was displaced by a new system. What is known as feudalism came into existence? He who owned land had the right to exploit the man who worked on the land and this man who worked on the land was called a serf. In comparison with the chattel slave, he was a free man but nevertheless he could not leave the land. The discovery of the Americas gave a tremendous impetus to the development of industry; new markets came into being; new machinery was invented; the forces of production grew and with it a new and powerful class arose – the merchant class of the Middle Ages – and it is this merchant class that constituted the beginning of modern capitalist class. We call that class the “bourgeoisie” and this class began a struggle against the feudal nobility and finally conquered and became the dominant class in society. Thus you see that, in the opinion of socialists, a class struggle has existed since time immemorial. The chattel slaves struggled against the masters, the plebeians struggled against the patricians, the serf against the feudal nobility; and today we have the fundamental struggle between the capitalists who own the wealth and the wage workers who create the wealth. And is this struggle a result of man’s will or desire? No, it is a struggle that is due fundamentally to the development of economic forces.

 Look at our social system and you can see for yourselves how the class struggle operates. Worker against the employer and against Wall Street. Why is our society subjected to these struggles? Because each social group wants a larger share of the income that society produces. In comparison to the number of wage workers, the Socialist Party constitutes a minute group; the class struggle goes on without us. Unfortunately, it has not as yet achieved an influence which can permit it to play a decisive role in that struggle. The struggle between the worker on the one hand, anxious to get a higher wage, and the employer on the other hand, anxious to make more profit, is a struggle that will go on regardless of the desire or the intention of any man. There are some employers who are willing to give higher wages but they are prevented by the law of competition under capitalism. By and large, the employers are anxious to make more and more profits and, because of that, the class struggle must necessarily continue.

To achieve socialism workers must first gain political power. Revolutions cannot be prevented by any law. Like convulsions in nature, they are the result of the evolution of forces beyond the power of man to stop. The capitalist class under feudalism had economic power; but also required political power to consolidate and guarantee its economic power. So they obtained political supremacy by a revolutionary overthrow of the feudal aristocrats and nobility. The workers under capitalism have no economic power (except in the sense that they can bring industry to a halt by withdrawing their labour power) and neither have they political power. Before they can take over the means of production and proceed to construct a socialist society, they will have to capture the machinery of government. Whereas all previous forms of state served the purpose of guarding the property interests of a minority of the people against the majority, once the workers have used the state as the instrument of the vast majority of the population for the purpose of abolishing all forms of exploitation and because the necessity for any state exists only because there are classes in society, and one class requires the instrument of the state to rule over the other classes,  the defining coercive elements of the state will wither away.

What is the aim of the Socialist Party? You can begin by reading our Declaration of Principles. We want a social revolution. We want a socialist society where all the productive wealth is owned in common and there is no exploitation. The fundamental basis of socialism is the development of the forces of production to a point where enough can be produced to satisfy the needs of all members of society. The productive forces of society will be so greatly developed and the education of the people will be such as to enable society to follow the principle: From each according to his ability; to each according to his need. The fundamental feature of a socialist society is that all the means of production – the railroads, the mines, the factories – are owned by the people and the goods that are produced, are produced for use. Under the present system, which we call capitalist, the means of production are owned by private persons or corporations or the government and, although there may be some owners who are benevolent employers they operate their industries not because people need the goods that they produce but because they want to make a profit. In socialism, the people will decide how many pairs of shoes, how much coal, how many houses are needed to satisfy the needs of the people and proceed to manufacture them. The productive wealth of society – not personal possessions such as a laptop or a car – but the productive wealth of society – machinery, factories, mines – will be owned in common by the people, and goods will be produced for the use of the people. There are no classes under socialism – that is, there is no class that owns the wealth and no class that is exploited. Today a worker has only his labour power and he or she sells that to someone who owns machinery and he or she gets a wage in return and the man who owns the machinery makes a profit out of the labour power. That is what socialists term exploitation of labour.

Socialism is a world system. All peoples will cooperate to produce enough goods to satisfy the reasonable needs of every human being. Every region will produce that which it is best fitted to produce. If one part of the world can produce good machinery then let it not busy itself with producing agricultural products. Let some other area best fitted for the production of agricultural products produce those products. Peace will come to a world cooperating in this way, which will be made possible only by socialism, which will do away with capitalist cliques fighting for colonies and markets. We reject the idea that one nation or one people is superior to any other nation or any other people. To us all human beings are equal. The prejudices that exist are a product of the social system and not inherent in human nature. The brotherhood of man will be made possible and real under a socialist society which will do away with economic conflicts.

The word “revolution” does not necessarily imply violence. It simply means a radical change and social revolution means a radical change in society. Do we not speak of the Industrial Revolution, a revolution in science, a revolution in transportation? The French revolution was a social revolution because the merchant and capitalist class displaced the feudal class. The power to rule society was transferred from the landowning feudal nobility to the merchants and industrialists. Our goal is to transfer the economic and political power from the capitalists to the workers. There may be political revolutions that are not social revolutions. The revolutions that occur frequently in Latin America are political revolutions because they do not change the social system. A social revolution may or may not be accompanied by violence and no one knows exactly how it will occur in the future. The responsibility for a revolution lies not upon us but upon the ruling class and what they do when they are democratically appropriated and dispossessed by the majority. Throughout history, there have been men who dreamed of changing society. They saw the poverty, the oppression, the persecution and hatred prevailed in the world despite that it is capable of producing tremendous quantities of goods to satisfy, beyond all imagination, the needs of the people.  Capitalism has reached a point where mankind must take control of the productive forces and begin producing goods for the use of the people – and this means socialism – or else it will be hurled into the abyss. This is our belief and this is what we teach.

We do not advocate the idea that people should take up arms and destroy the government and thereby bring a change in the social system. Blanqui insisted that a social revolution required only a courageous, armed small group. Marx declared that the liberation of the people is the task of the people themselves and not the task of a few agitators, no matter how determined and courageous. The majority of the people must understand what is necessary and must be willing to struggle to achieve their liberation. In the Communist Manifesto is found the following statement:

“All previous historical movements were movements of minorities or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority in the interest of the immense majority.”

Marx, therefore, accepted the fundamental principle: the necessity of convincing the majority of the people to accept the ideas of socialism. The Socialist Party aims to get a majority of the people to accept its ideas. Why should we advocate a violent change from capitalism to socialism? The fact that we want a majority of the people to accept our ideas proves beyond all doubt that we want a peaceful transformation. We want to take over the means of production peacefully. The only real possibility of avoiding violence is for the working class to organise so solidly and strongly that the capitalists will not attempt the use of violence.

The working class are the ones to initiate the struggle against the capitalist system. In the first place, they come more directly in conflict with the owners of industry – in the big steel mills, auto plants, mines, etc. In the second place, the workers are used to working together – cooperation is the key word under socialism and the workers in their factories learn to work cooperatively. They understand that it is necessary under conditions of modern industry to work cooperatively in order to build an automobile or a complicated machine. Our task in the Socialist Party is to inform our fellow-workers of our ideas. Our task is to convince them that our ideas and our solution to the problems of mankind are correct. We can use only the power of persuasion and no other power. We attempt to educate fellow-workers to act independently in their own interests on the political field and also to exhaust all possibilities of a peaceful change. The more we emphasise that possibility, the more the people understand that possibility and prepare for it, the less will be the violence. We are, of course, not pacifists. As much as we hate the violence that exists in society, we see no alternative to the necessity of destroying the violence of the minority with the violence of the majority.

The agony, the death of millions of human beings in senseless famines and wars are not abstractions to us. We feel them keenly and we react to them and we try to create a world where destruction and war and poverty and disease will not be the lot of mankind. We proclaim that it is possible to build a new social system guaranteeing every human being a decent livelihood and a chance to develop his or her individuality, free from economic worries, free from the dangers of war. We say that we have reached an epoch where mankind must go forward to socialism or else back to barbarism. We base our activities upon a theory that has withstood the test of time and events.

We have a world to learn--and a world to win.

There exists a crude view of humans as little more than machines encoded by their genetic molecular make-up with predisposed behaviour traits. While accepting the influence of genes, socialists see humans as responding and adjusting to their material environment. It is claimed by the critics of socialism it’s in our nature to look after ‘number one’ and that mankind is just too selfish for it to work together for the common good without being made to, either by stick or carrot. If you study the current capitalist society today the argument certainly seems true. It is a rat-race of rivalry and completion. Nations compete with nations, even in sport. Capitalists can only survive in business if they are more competitive than other capitalists. Workers are driven to turn against one another to acquire a job. In schools, children are brought up to participate in races for the best exam results.

Despite all this there is a deep element of cooperation under capitalism, for capitalism it not only involves people competing with each other, it also involves them working alongside one another on a scale never before in human history. In the modern factory or office hundreds or even thousands of people work together. Workers give such cooperation even when it is against their interests individually and as a class to do so. The most blatant example of this is wartime. The same cooperative selflessness which took place where millions with courage and bravery were prepared to sacrifice their lives for an ideal of “their” mother country will be available in a socialist society where selfless solidarity will again prevail.

Human beings have the capacity to reason and to reflect on our actions, but also we debate and discuss them with others. Thus, we can make our history. The Socialist Party cannot transform society but what we can start doing is help transform the people who may remake society – our fellow-workers. Our task is all about making socialists, not just recruiting members. It ought to be obvious to every socialist that socialism will not come into existence unless the majority of the people are willing to struggle for socialism and that means that they have some idea of what it is. If people who vote for a Socialist Party candidate do not do so because he or she is a socialist but because they do not know what is a socialist, of what earthly use can that be for achieving the socialist goal? Socialism must depend on the consciousness of our fellow-workers and not upon their lack of knowledge. Socialism cannot be introduced without organised support for the socialist idea. Whether that support is won at the ballot box or through revolutionary action of workers’ councils is not as important as that it be won. One thing seems evident, though. If we cannot get people to mark a cross on a voting paper for socialism, there is little hope of getting them to take to the streets on behalf of the cause. Moreover, as long as the ballot can be used, even under difficulties as it is today, it should be used. But if that method is withheld from us in the future, we shall go forward until we do gain the socialist commonwealth by the best means at our command.

From the point of view of achieving socialism a hundred votes, obtained conducting a campaign where socialist ideas is at the forefront, are worth much more than ten times the number of votes gained from a campaign where the necessity for the struggle for socialism has not been made clear. A campaign of value is one that teaches socialism. During an election campaign, the workers are more likely to listen to a discussion on economics and politics than at any other time. Nor should the Socialist Party be shoved into the background. In convincing fellow-workers of the desirability of a socialist society, it is inconceivable that a real socialist campaign should not also attract members to the party.  Obtaining votes for socialism and new members for the party go hand in hand. It must be remembered that a big vote can be piled up by a reformist party more easily than by a revolutionary party. And to be disappointed or disheartened by a small vote is not to understand the nature of a socialist election campaign. Votes obtained by a campaign conducted on revolutionary lines mean that those persons who voted can be counted on as being genuine socialists while votes obtained by offering all kinds of false promises are votes of those who will vote shift to some other party the next election who offers better but equally as unattainable reforms as before.

The Socialist Party is the only party that points out during elections that there is no alternative for the working class other than socialism. The Socialist Party clearly states that that the fundamental issue in an election campaign is socialism versus capitalism. The case put to fellow-workers by the Socialist Party is that the problems confronting them cannot be solved in a permanent manner except through the destruction of the capitalist system. One can shout from now until doomsday that socialism is necessary and that it is better than capitalism but to educate fellow-workers The Socialist Party explains history and economics to agitate the minds of people.

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, or too old, or too sick, cooperate in producing those things which every member of society needs and uses. Instead of having individuals or corporations or the State 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 clothe all of the people, and to satisfy all of their needs. An administration in various forms depending on local history and traditions will be elected by the people and they will figure out approximately how much of each article will be necessary to satisfy the local regional and global requirements of society and the factories will be set into motion to produce more than enough of each item. Every district and region will produce that which it is best fitted to produce. Instead of the anarchy and competition that prevails at the present, production and distribution will be thoroughly planned by recallable delegates at every level of production and distribution. It is impossible, of course, to furnish a complete blueprint indicating every detail of the functioning of society under socialism. The whole conception of socialism is based on the idea that industry has developed to such a point that more than enough can be produced to satisfy all the reasonable needs of the population. We socialists contend that technology has developed to a point where an abundance of goods can be produced to assure everyone a very high standard of living.

History teaches that when a system of society outlives its usefulness, when in the womb of the old society there has been prepared the possibility of a new social order, when the masses suffer needlessly, and when the ruling class is unable to solve the problems facing society—under such circumstances—the ideas representing the new social system are accepted and all the force and deceit at the disposal of the ruling class are helpless to preserve the old order. A revolution occurs and the next society in social evolution comes into being. And once people begin to rally around the ideas of socialism, nothing in the world can stop their progress. Nothing will save the present system.

Revolution - The Only Solution.

It is argued by many that although the present social order is undoubtedly exploitative and cruel, any attempt to create a new system of equality and freedom is doomed to fail because it is contrary to the unchangeable features of human nature and that the division of society into rulers and ruled, exploiters and exploited is inevitable because it rests on the ‘natural’ order of things. These nay-sayers tell us that there will always be some elite, (bureaucrats or technocrats) who will corrupt the revolution for their own ends and they will succeed because ordinary people are too conditioned and too dumb to construct and run socialist society – they require to be led by the intellectuals towards the promised land because the working class cannot emancipate itself. The ruling class justifies their privileged position since it is due to their personal superiority and that no other better system is possible because the masses are inferior. If their rule is sometimes hard, cruel and unfair, that is unfortunate but there no alternative.

People would not work if they were not paid for it, and they would grab whatever they could get if they did not have to pay for it, is the first and understandable response when socialists talk about a new society that is free from wages, free from money, free from private property, free from prices. Today, we are dominated by a way of thinking that is determined because we still live in a market exchange economy. When production is geared to social needs rather than profits, it is quite feasible that we can live and work without compulsion and to voluntarily contribute to the well-being of all to the best of our ability while in return freely accessing the collective fruits of everybody’s labour according to our needs.

 Some radical activists imagine that everybody will discuss everything locally and then each enterprise will set to producing goods to be able to exchange their products to supply each other’s needs and to satisfy the community’s requirements. Actually, things will not be so simple, and any attempt to realise that vision would only mean preserving market relations between independent enterprises, still not working to a common social plan. Those who call for shop-floor and assembly-line democracy should be aware that these by itself cannot transform capitalist social relations into co-operative ones. Too often we have witnessed the take-over of work-places by workers with no conception but to run it at a smaller scale of production, for it to be more “human” as a local “community” project yet still based on people working for wages under the supervision of (elected) bosses to produce commodities for sale on the market, confirming the socialist’s belief that capitalist production is the only system these “radicals” think can really work. Although it may help some of our fellow-workers to find a comfortable niche within the capitalist system where they can exercise a degree of self-management over some of their own affairs we should never forget that we seek to abolish wage-slavery altogether. The task of socialists is to strive for the authority over the world economy as a whole, and so that our fate is not still subject to the blind workings of economic laws beyond our control. If we want a world revolution, then somehow we will have to take on the functions of the decision making of the transnational corporations as well as government ministries. Just saying “the workers will do it” does not solve a thing. Who are these workers who will do it after the revolution, without discussing what they will do, before the revolution? Slogans simply demanding a change in power because it is “more democratic” will get nowhere. The issue of “who decides, who rules” only arises in the context of “what is to be done”.

A lot of production decisions have become fairly routine which could be readily taken over and transformed by workers’ councils. Workers will have no difficulty improving efficiency and productivity once the antagonistic system of employer/employee is done away with. Administration by a personnel department also turns into an essentially routine function made much easier by the elimination of “industrial relations” or “human resources” as it is called between hostile employers and employees.

 The purchasing office will be devoted to the core purpose – ordering supplies and raw materials where the sales department becomes concerned with the real actual demand from consumers. R and D continue with the development of improved and new products stemming from customer review and consumer research findings. These functions would all become aspects of production planning. They coordinate with the next level of the logistics and supply chain, from local to regional to global. All these networks exist now under capitalism and can be adjusted and adapted to be accountable at every stage of the process of production. Other tools of capitalism can be adopted such as “cost-benefit analysis” which measures benefit gained against resources expended.  Capitalism possesses no great technical mystery over its choices and allocation of social wealth. The “experts” and “specialists” who prepare the feasibility studies and recommendations are not the capitalist, but just highly-trained workers. By re-aligning their criteria, production for profit and the pockets of the rich, becomes production for the needs of the many. 

Public ownership is not common ownership

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation."

People, by and large, have lost confidence in the ability of the ruling class to maintain a peaceful, secure, orderly and prosperous society. Socialism is not a complicated doctrine. Socialism as a society dedicated to the interests of the people. The means by which society produces its wealth – factories, mines and farms – are transferred from private to common ownership, and exploitation eliminated. Socialism unleashes the creativity of the people, who are capable of tremendous advances when not toiling under a system of exploitation. The basic starting point of the socialist idea is that the working class is a revolutionary class and as such is capable of overthrowing the capitalist system.

All of the usual examples given of socialism/communism are nothing of the sort. They are either attempts to reform capitalism, or post-feudal attempts to introduce capitalist methods, such as Russian China, in the absence of a domestic capitalist class the state stepped in such as it did in Bismarck's Germany. Socialism and communism mean the same thing, common ownership or social ownership of the means and instruments for creating and distributing wealth. The distinction of socialism-communism is a Leninist distortion of what Marx was referring to when capitalism then was in its infancy and could not go straight over to a free access society. There is now no need for a two stage solution since the early part of last century. We can go straight into the post-capitalist society of abundance and plenty for all. Millions already do voluntary work. All the more so when they are freed from the compulsion of wage-slavery and work which will be superfluous and unnecessary inside a post-capitalist society.

Socialism is effectively a post-capitalist, production for use, democratic, free access, money-free society producing a superabundance of the necessities to enable free access i.e. moneyless distribution with democratic control by all and no elites governing over us, we govern resources ourselves, locally regionally and globally, using recallable delegation when required. The organising tenet is: "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs". Anything else, and you are being sold a capitalist pup with its twin concomitants of war (business by other means) and poverty (absolute or relative).

The solution is not to be found in capitalism where the economic bottom line prevails, despite good intentioned people trying the impossible task of reforming a monstrous system over you by electing reform parties. The Labour Party, throughout its various terms in office, has always supported the interests of capital against labour because it is a capitalist party. It has never been, is not and never will be, a socialist party. They may see themselves a 'socialists' or identify with 'socialism' but they are a part of the problem, as reformers, rather than the solution to capitalism which is a post-capitalist revolution. Public ownership is not common ownership but state ownership and is not even a step towards socialism. Nothing to do with state ownership or corporate or private ownership. Nothing to do with centralised control either. Socialism is a post-capitalist system, which utilises the technological advances of capitalism to produce for use to satisfy all human needs, using self-feeding loopback informational tools for stock measurements and control with direct inputs, at local, regional and global, levels to allow calculation in kind, as opposed to the economic calculation of capitalism, only necessary to satisfy profit taking. We will not need a market in a post-capitalist free access, socialist society.

It is a post-capitalist, production-for-use, prices-free, society without elites and with free equal access to the collective produce. Government ceases to be over the people a part of class society and becomes the democratic administration over resources as part of a classless, elite free society run by us all.

The Socialist Party is Britain's oldest socialist party and second oldest political party and has consistently retained the definition of what socialism is, a revolutionary, post-capitalism, despite its usurpation by capitalist political parties to mean reform. The traditional conceptual models of 'right' and 'left' politics were borrowed from the French bourgeois revolution and are used still by capitalist parties to brand different versions of the same thing.  Socialism/communism is not some left-variant of capitalism. Socialists of our kind are not on the Left. The Socialist Party exists to get rid of the market system and introduce production for use.

Wee Matt

Be Moderate - Demand the Earth

We are socialists because we see the damage and the destruction wreaked by capitalism which inflicts harm and misery upon the world’s people. This system we live under, by its very nature, crushes working people, sets one group against another and divides people at home and abroad. We see in socialism the method of achieving a more just, more cooperative and more peaceful world. Our political convictions prompt us to promote class struggle and to take sides in industrial conflicts. Socialism is the alternative which can meet basic needs of people and which is based on cooperation. Socialism offers a future free from the fears of poverty, sexism, racism, dog-eat-dog competition, joblessness, and the loneliness of old age. Socialism is all about creating a society that allows each person to contribute according to her or his ability and to obtain whatever she or he needs. The primary task of the Socialist Party is the fight for socialism. From this task arises the character of our organisation. Without unity on essentials, no serious practice is possible. Members are our most precious resource and as we grow grows, its internal party life will become richer and stronger. All our members view capitalism as a destructive system that hurts, divides and exploits the vast majority of our people for the sake of profits and power for the few.  We advocate and work for socialism–that is, common ownership and collective control of the means of production (factories, fields, utilities, etc.). We want a system based on cooperation, where the people build together for the common good.

For many the mere mention of revolution is too terrible to contemplate. It means civil war, bloodshed, and anarchy – altogether too horrible a thing. Decent, respectable folk, family men and mothers with children, have no sympathy with revolution and are for law and order. There is something rather alarming about such phrases as “class war,” “social revolution,” and “the overthrowing capitalism,” especially to those who are accustomed to tinkering and tweaking the system. But how is it that although mankind possesses greater command over the forces of nature than at any previous period in the history, can produce an infinitely greater amount of wealth with less labour than ever before, those who do labour and produce all this wealth are thus crushed by the forces they themselves should command? Why is there over-production of food and other necessaries of life that many want but cannot get because they cannot buy? The reason is because the workers have no control whatever over what they do produce. There is no orderly cooperation, but anarchical, self-destructive competition. The very introduction of new technology and automation, which would lessen the toil and lighten the drudgery but, instead, enhances the anarchy and aggravates the uncertainty for the working class. As long as profit-mongers rule the roost, those that provide the profits cannot benefit. The very power of the State itself, as was in the Post Office, is used to screw extra work, more surplus value, out of the wage-slaves, in order to reduce the taxation of the owning-class.

Socialists know right well that all existing parties are banded together against them, they know that Tory, Lib-Dem and Labour form but one party when the enslavement of the workers is denounced. But that makes no difference. The forces of to-day and of the future are with us, the cause we fight for will inspire people. We take up the battle where it was left by the Chartists. From generation to generation workers have fought for the people as we are fighting to-day. We inherit the results of their self-sacrifice and heroic exploits. It is for us then, as socialists, to appeal to our fellow-workers in all lands to bring about, in our own day, that world social revolution which can alone give freedom and happiness to mankind. Socialists say plainly that mere reform of our existing society is impossible, or if possible, useless. Socialists wish to see people well-housed, well-clothed, well-fed, well-educated, with plenty of leisure time to enjoy the pleasures of life. We are most moderate in our demands.