A socialist looks at Israel and Palestine

The assumption underlying the Zionist movement was that to establish a "national home for the Jewish people” was the only way to end their age-old persecution, especially under the yoke of the Tsars.   The Jewish Labour League, the Bund, which was affiliated to the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, had as its purpose Jewish cultural autonomy within a Social-Democratic Russia. They saw that on the principle of divide and rule the Tsars had actually fostered anti-semitism. They were convinced that the Jewish problem was a by-product of the private property system and would end with the end of that system. They did not think in terms of a return, to “the promised land” as a solution to their problems. 

The end of the second world-war saw Zionism reaping a harvest of disillusionment and despair. Out of the camps, emerged the Jewish survivors. Few who had witnessed the holocaust of the Jews could fail to be moved by the determination of the survivors to have a home of their own, to live in a land where they could walk with heads held high, where they could till the soil and make the desert bloom and little by little heal the wounds of two thousand years. Despite the brutally callous turning back of their ships by the British Labour Government, many joined with the pioneers to oust the British and set up the Jewish State.  True to form, the territorial demands of one set of Nationalists were diametrically opposed to the demands of the other set. In Palestine, where a majority of Arabs had lived for centuries, the territorial demands of Jewish and Arab nationalism proved utterly irreconcilable. When the clash came the Zionists, who were then militarily superior and created an entire new exodus. Israel was not established out of nothing; large numbers of Arabs had to be expelled to make room for the new state. With calculating cynicism normal to ruling classes, the Pan-Arab capitalist class left the Palestinian refugees idly by the frontier, to grow in hate as an invaluable political weapon.  A flag-waving mentality to convince that one Israeli is worth any three or whatever number of Arabs is easier to pound out of the propaganda machine than explain the distinctions between Arab rulers and their pawns. The evidence is with us. Zionism has failed to achieve its objectives. Inevitably so. So long as there are Jewish workers attached in any numbers to the divisive and anti-working-class national idea, so long as their (and our) Arab brothers believe likewise, so long will strife ensue, so long will their respective ruling classes remain in the seat of power. The Jewish problem remains with us. It is an aspect of the working-class problem which has no solution outside of world-wide Socialism.

As they run to the shelters as Hamas or Hezbollah rockers fly, Israelis may well have wondered whether there is any country in the world where Jews are less safe. Zionists are always complaining about anti-semitism, real or imaginary. They use such complaints especially as a gambit to de-legitimise criticism of Zionism and Israel. From the start, however, Zionist opposition to anti-semitism has been superficial and selective, because Zionism is itself closely connected to anti-semitism. Thoughtful Israelis may also wonder how much of the anti-semitism in the world today is generated by Israel itself through its mistreatment of Palestinians and Lebanese. The Zionist needs anti-semitism like heroin addicts need their fix. What if the Jews in a given country are well integrated, face no significant anti-semitism, and show no interest in being "normalized"? Originally Zionism was conceived as a means of solving the problem of anti-semitism. From this point of view, where the problem does not exist there is no need for the solution. However, ends and means were inverted long ago, and Zionism became an end in itself, with anti-semitism a condition of its success. Anti-semitism might still be regarded in principle as an evil, but as a necessary evil. Often it was also said to be a lesser evil compared to the threat of assimilation supposedly inherent in rising rates of intermarriage. Against this background, it seems a trifle naive to ask why Israel's ruling circles don't realise that by their own actions they are generating anti-semitism. They fully realise. But they make it a point not to give a damn what the world thinks of them. There is nothing unique about the affinity between Zionism and anti-semitism. Russian nationalism thrives on Russophobia (the denigration of Russians), Irish nationalism on anti-Irish prejudice, Islamism on hatred of Moslems, and so on. To escape the vicious circle, we must respond to ethnic persecution not by promoting "our own" brand of nationalist or religious politics, but by asserting our identity as human beings and citizens of the future world cooperative commonwealth.

One myth propagated for many years by supporters of Israeli nationalism was that when it came to running an economy there could be none more successful than a Jewish state. Despite this hope on the part of those many Jewish workers who have invested their hopes and lives in Israel that country, like all others, is a part of the world capitalist system and will not escape its inevitable crises.  Israel is just another capitalist state. The Zionists who thought they could create a land of security for all should go and talk to the destitute Jewish workers of Israel. The ignorant anti-semites who imagined that every Jew drove a big car and smoked fat cigars should look at the slums in which their fellow wage slaves live. And before the Arab nationalists gloat at the failure of Israeli nationalism, let them ponder on the fact that while Arab oil billionaires are loafing in palaces their subjects are dying of malnutrition or living on paupers' incomes. The prejudices of capitalism are once again being struck out by the hard truths of experience.

The meia goes to great lengths to portray the Israelis as a people strong, but tolerant and peace-loving. Little publicity is given to the fact that the Israeli Cabinet has included convicted terrorists and extremists. Palestinians on the West Bank have been dispossessed of their homes in favour of Israeli settlers. They must carry identity cards and are subject to military orders which, for instance, prohibit such subversive acts as the planting of olive groves.

Like the Zionists, the Palestinians have embraced a dangerous myth about the past; in their case, the myth that pre-1948 Palestine was some kind of paradise. It was no such thing: most Palestinians struggled along on tiny plots of land, under the weight of massive debts, exploited by a class of landlords. Palestine did not belong to the Palestinians, any more than modern Israel belongs to working class Israelis.  It is easy to see why the oppressed people in the refugee camps might view the promise of Palestinian self-government as an answer. It is not surprising that settlement of the occupied territories by orthodox Jewish zealots who subscribe to the racist religious nationalism which advocates the expulsion of all Arabs from “Greater Israel”, has resulted in an equally vicious hatred of Jews by many Palestinians. But to strive for the replacement of an oppressive Israeli state by a Palestinian one cannot be an answer. It can only result in continued oppression — class oppression — by a Palestinian ruling class that would replace the Israeli ruling class. The dreams of Jewish workers of a life free from persecution and oppression finds its echo today in the dreams of Palestinian workers. Jewish dreams have not been answered by the setting up of the state of Israel and Palestinian dreams will not be answered by the establishment of a Palestinian state. Today some Israelis are also questioning why young conscripts should be sent into the West Bank to repress its inhabitants and defend the illegal Jewish settlers. Was this the kind of society that they have, on so many occasions, fought to defend and that their parents and grandparents dreamed about and struggled so hard to bring into existence?

The Zionist movement has pleaded the case for a Jewish Homeland as the answer to the problems of Jewish people everywhere. Those who have settled there have been subjected to continuous warfare, violent "incidents," and continuing poverty. The Palestinian elite gives out the same nonsense to their workers. Both Zionism and Palestinian nationalism hold back the growth of class consciousness among the working class in Israel and Palestine.  Until the hold of nationalist and racist poison on the minds of the world's workers is destroyed, it will not be possible to live the full and satisfying life of socialism. Stand up for yourself as a human being and fight for the only worthwhile end — the achievement of a free humanity.

 'Zionism as the dream of capitalist Jewry the world over for a Jewish State with all its trimmings, such as Government, laws, police, militarism and the rest. In other words, a Jewish State machinery to protect the privileges of the few against the many.'  , Emma Goldman, 1938

Capitalism Is A Divisive System

According to an Ontario Human Rights' survey released on December 8, negative feelings towards those on social assistance was surpassed only by the Muslims who were disliked by 21 per cent of the 1501 respondents.

The questionnaire found 63 per cent thought race or colour to be one of the most common reasons for discrimination on Ontario, followed by sexual orientation, 34 per cent, disability 25 and creed or religion, 24.

This hammers home clearly what a divisive system capitalism is pitting workers against each other in the competition for jobs and homes, which is an excellent reason to abolish it.

For socialism, 

Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.

Imagine a better world.

 

Our political goal is to abolish private property by the organised working class.   We seekcommon ownership and democratic control achieved with a class-conscious majority, most likely accomplished peacefully. It requires a social revolution in people's minds, convincing workers by debating anyone and everyone.  We study. We learn. We experience. We reflect.  We aim to put  permanent end of the daily humiliation and deprivation of the poor.  We're talking about a fight for our very existence and the re-establishment of liberty and democracy. The revolution will force Capital to drop its mask of respectability. Capital has always been authoritarian by nature. It seemingly rules by consent because it manufactures that consent.

 Humanity is not a group of individuals. We are an intrinsically collective species.  Every freedom we have interlocks with the freedoms of others. Its impossible to talk of individual rights without talking about collective rights. Inalienable human dignity is a religious idea. Nothing is inalienable. Anything can be taken away from you. You can be conditioned to believe that you never had it and shouldn't want it. That's what makes the fight for our freedom so pressing. We hold that there still are ideas floating around that remind us of what it was like to be collectively empowered but there are no guarantees that these ideas will live forever if they are not fought for. The present state of society creates a huge amount of alienation which manifests as mental illness - depression, anxiety, etc 

We’ve become conditioned to accept a dystopia not a utopia. But it is possible that we can choose a healthy vision. Think about the future—the future you want for your community, and your world Imagine, for a moment, the future you want. What does it look like? What’s good about it? What are your grandchildren enjoying? Have a clear vision of what you want for tomorrow, and let that vision guide your actions today. What should you do today to help achieve your vision for the future? Having a constructive vision for the future can empower you. What can you do, today, to help create a better future for yourself, your family, your community and the world? Envisioning a different world and taking the steps to create it may seem difficult. Yet that is the only way forward, for each of us.  Change it for the better. There can be no resistance without hope in a better world. Envisioning a better future necessitates knowing exactly what you're resisting.   Not only should everyone be clear on what they're resisting, but why. 

There is only one way to avert the crisis humanity is heading towards, and that is the establishment of socialism. Survival means political and economic power— to acquire more for more people. In the of interdependence, technology is providing tools to do it. The painful irony, though, is that these tools are being used to accumulate profits for the parasite few. Today there’s enough to go around. We don’t need to hoard vast amounts of anything.   There is only a future that’s coming that we can help create our connection to nature, to re-establish our social cooperation, altruism, and reciprocity over the invisible hand the market and competition. Socialism does not mean solving capitalism's administrative and taxation problems. It has become almost the universal rule for capitalist parties and leaders to clothe themselves in socialistic and egalitarian sounding slogans.  If words could bring prosperity we would now all be living in splendour.

A British admiral once said “It's perfect rot to talk about civilised warfare. You might as well talk about Heavenly Hell!" And another time, he explained " We can only have community of interests in the masses of people always being on the side of peace, because it is the masses who are massacred, not the kings and generals and politicians." We all grow up now under a dark cloud of socially organised violence. Nobody can feel secure when the world itself staggers from one crisis to another, always with the horrible feeling that the next might be the one to press the red button marked FIRE.  

Stuck In Debt.

One would hardly call the Readers Digest a radical journal, therefore it was surprising to see an attack on a social evil in their last edition. Though student debt is a well-known problem, many may not know the extent of it. "There are roughly 44 million in debt to their educations. Their average bill is $32,731.''

Some years back the government gave private companies a, ''piece of the action,'' and now banks and private investors are making a killing on student loans, which grow by some 80 billion a year.

All this makes for a docile working class; a worker up to his/her eyes in debt isn't likely to make waves. So either way the capitalist class win.

For socialism, 

Steve, Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.

Why we Stand Alone

When automation does all the work, who will own the robots? The answer, of course, is that the capitalist class will continue to own them unless the working class acts to establish an economic democracy in which the means of production and distribution become the property of society. Unless that is done, the modern technology that could be used to provide economic security for all will only benefit a few. New technology is fated to bring more unemployment than we have ever known, more economic insecurity than we have ever imagined and human misery than we ever thought possible. The working class must come to grips with this problem or else be prepared to be reduced to a state of abject poverty and economic ruin unlike anything experienced since past ages, when the majority of people were either chattel slaves or serfs. The Socialist Party declines to believe that the working class will commit collective suicide and permit it to happen. However, workers will have to make a conscious effort to organise their economic and political strength to resist capitalism's anti-social misuse of modern technology. We require to assert or revolutionary right to determine our own destiny.

There is plenty of capitalist testimony to prove wages are down, profits are up, and workers are producing more than ever before. Fewer workers are producing more than more workers used to. Better still for the bosses, they are doing it in less time and for lower wages. Today, there is a huge capitalist outlay for labour-displacing technology. Workers' wages as a percentage of GDP are far lower than they were. Capitalist economics is politics. Socialist economics is politics.

Capitalism has produced wonders that surpassed the wonders of the ancient world. But its wonders of manufacture and commerce produced the monstrosities of capitalist war, of almost universal exploitation and of insecurity. It has proved wasteful to humanity with its ruling class robbing, enslaving and killing. Social democracy can only be revitalised through genuine socialism, offering humankind and its society realistic hope rather than with despair. Nothing much will ever be achieved until the workers have taken control of the state machinery for the purpose of ending capitalism, and that cannot be done until there are socialists to do it. Vague left-wingers who do not understand socialism are as good as useless for the end in view. The reformists say that the way to make socialists is to work up enthusiasm for “immediate demands" and has built up an organisation out of this non-socialist sentiment, gained control of councils and Parliament The workers would be converted to Socialism by seeing how the Labour Party was doing practical everyday work. The leaders would go on preaching socialism and would get a receptive hearing for it because of their successful administration of the central and local government. But has it worked out? Every time we try to explain to the workers what socialism is and how it differs from capitalism we find that the great majority of workers already think they know what socialism is and what is a socialist party. Socialism, they think, is some sort of state-capitalist nationalisation or the welfare state, muddled and confused by the reformists half-measures which were supposed to be a path to socialism.

Nothing so sharply divides the Socialist Party from non-socialist organisations as the recognition that the world needs a different social structure—not just different men or different political parties to administer capitalism, but deliberate understanding action by the working class to replace the existing social system by a socialist one. The extent to which this is appreciated is a measure of political maturity. Those who are politically naive, believe that if they have “good” “wise” leader these saviours can purify capitalism, solve its insoluble problems, rid it of unemployment, poverty and war. etc. Experience proves this to be unfounded. Politicians with no mandate to establish socialism do not when they become the government, have the power to impose their good intentions on capitalism. Instead, they are in its clutches, for instance, Labour Governments which had preached disarmament, peace and high wages in practice rearmed, supported war and imposed wage-freezes. They end by being hardly distinguishable from the avowed supporters of capitalism.

Some people who don't think that socialism is a good idea declare that the Socialist Party objective—a world commonwealth in which money and a lot of other things would not be required—is impractical because some sort of money (or labour-time voucher) is a necessary part of all human societies, even the primitive ones. Without it. they say, no society could hope to work. They are wrong. In any society, an article is money only when it acts as a medium of exchange and as a measure of value and when it contains within itself the social embodiment of human labour power. It must also be able to measure and to equate all and any commodity against any other. The change from private to common ownership—from capitalism to socialism —will mean that as trade and markets cease to exist so also will the need for a multitude of currencies, indeed, for any currency at all. Money could not be of any use in such a cooperative commonwealth.

Budding Desire.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh came in for some harsh criticism, early in December, from Justice for Migrant Workers, a group which advocates for better conditions for farm workers. They accused Singh of cozying-up to Windsor area greenhouse owners which, '' are part of an industry that systematically exploits radicalized migrants for profit.''

Singh had previously said he would address their problems in an upcoming party platform. He said he is using his time to travel and visit communities to build momentum for his parties brand and ideas. Perhaps that does mean he has to confer with capitalists, especially if he wishes to administrate capitalism.

Here is this man who has been NDP leader for a short time and hasn't a seat in the House of Commons, who obviously wants a long and successful career in political life in trouble at the start. It will be interesting to see how he gets on in the years ahead.

For socialism, 

Steve, Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.

Depleting Nature Of Capitalism

Recently I happened to journey through parts of Toronto where I haven't been for some years and was dismayed at the changes I saw. 

What were pleasant residential areas have now become a mass of condos.

Also in some of the business areas, what were once buildings with character had been demolished to make way for massive glass and steel monsters. The midtown Yonge-Eglinton part, in which construction is continuing, is similar to the concrete canyons of New York.

It's safe to assume that the above is happening in other big cities. It's all so drab and depressing, but if that is the result of real estate tycoons making money that's how it will stay; at least as long as capitalism lasts.

For socialism,

 Steve, Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.

Sops or Socialism

If the working class is ever to succeed in establishing a free and democratic society in which all will enjoy peace, abundance, and security, it must first have a proper understanding of capitalist society. It is correct to say that the capitalist system will destroy itself. It does not follow from that with equal logic that socialism will be the successor. 

Whether the reforms proposed by the liberals are direct aids to capitalists in exploiting the workers, or in perpetuating the capitalist system, or in deceiving the workers into believing that their fate can be improved under the capitalist system, the fact remains that their reforms and their "resistance" to ever more reactionary restrictions on workers are generally contrary to the interests of workers. They invariably are designed as, or turn out to be, props for the collapsing structure of capitalism, or even as weapons for the use of the plutocracy in consolidating its power and stranglehold on society. It does not require any great insight to see that hope for a sane and decent society does not lie with the oligarchs and plutocrats; nor with any government. Nor do they rest with men and women "of good will," no matter how sincere or commendable they may be. Our hope lies with the World's working class and their latent political and industrial might, the only power that can neutralise and defeat the capitalist class and provide the basis for a new democratic and prosperous society.

Neither the welfare state or the social security safety-net has anything to do with socialism; yet, it may also be said that they are a result of socialism. It can be said that all reforms designed to ease the pain capitalism has on the working class result from capitalism defending itself from the advance of socialist ideas. They are in the nature of capitalist strategic manoeuvers in the face of the socialist challenge. The purpose is not to ease the burden of the victims of the profits system, but to deflect the socialist movement and, if possible, to split it.   Reformism is a skillful piece of political strategy that has worked like a charm, as the difficulty the socialist movement has had in overcoming the seductive lure of such reformists shows all too well.

The reason social reforms has anything to do with socialism, of course, is that socialism implies an end to the poverty and insecurity that come from private ownership and control of the economy. There is but one principle that the Socialist Party holds and that is the unconditional surrender of the capitalist class and the abolition of wage slavery. Bridging the gap between the establishment of socialism and the prevailing consciousness of the working class has always been a challenge for the Socialist Party. Something now reformism and making immediate demands has been at the root of the decades-long debate as to what constitutes proper strategy and tactics between the Socialist Party and those other workers' parties. This question impinges directly on socialists' attitude toward, and involvement in, workers' daily struggles against both their exploiters and the executive committee of their exploiters -- the political state. The Socialist Party holds that any involvement by a socialist organisation in the daily manifestations of the class struggle will inevitably cause that organisation to stray from the revolutionary path.  We contend our case for socialism is undermined by being associated with other organisations that aim at anything less than the overthrow of capitalism. 

The Socialist Party clearly recognises the dangers that lurk in the swamp of reform. It keeps uppermost in mind the need to promote among the workers it reaches a clear class-conscious understanding of the nature of capitalist society and its inherent contradictions. A socialist revolution is needed to abolish the entire system based on private ownership and control of the means of production by a parasitic capitalist class. The potential of cooperatives can be fully realised only by replacing an economic system based on exploitation, competition, the market and the profit motive with one based on social co-operation for the common good.

A state-run economic system is not socialism! Karl Marx and Frederick Engels clearly distinguished between state ownership of the means of production and social ownership. They opposed the very existence of the state. A society divided into classes is not socialism, and a society without classes has no need of the instruments of class oppression. State ownership means the continued existence of a governmental power over and above the people themselves; it signifies continued class rule. Social ownership means that the people themselves, collectively and democratically, govern the use of the means of production. Marx and Engels described socialism as a society run by "associations of free and equal producers."

Socialism means the abolition of classes -- of two groups of people, one of which owns and controls the means of wealth production and distribution, and one of which owns nothing but their ability to perform productive and otherwise socially useful labor -- and with the abolition of classes any need for the state, i.e., the instrument by which class rule is enforced. Socialism, as Engels expressed it, is to be an administration of things. The things to be administered are the products and services that flow out of the industries, and the administrators will be the useful producers democratically organized to carry on production and the delivery of goods and services. Socialism, as Marx said, must be the class-conscious act of the working class itself. The role of the party now, as the Socialist Party sees it, is to stimulate class-consciousness and to urge the working class to organise itself.

The World We Live In

Members of the working class are:

1. own none of the means of social production;
2. they must sell their ability to perform productive labor -- their "labor power" -- which is given the special name of wages, in order to live;
3. they perform all socially useful labor; and
4. they have no voice in the disposition of their product.

This definition includes workers who wear white collars, blue collars, or no collars at all. It includes so-called "professionals," whose wages are usually called "salaries." It includes the self-employed, those who are sub-contractors. Capitalist propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding, owning small holdings of stock do not make a worker a capitalist.

The distinctive features that define the capitalist class are these:

1. Its members own all the means of social production
2. appropriate most of the wealth created by labour; and
3. as owners perform no socially useful function whatsoever.

The Socialist Party is concerned with the future of all humanity. Emancipation from capitalist wage slavery, and the indignities it heaps on the working-class majority will free the entire human race and put an end to classes and class divisions.

There obviously are differences between chattel slavery and wage slavery, but there are also many similarities. One similarity is that the modern system of slavery is one in which people are put to work for the benefit of a small owning class. One difference is that wage slaves are not bought and sold by individual masters at a slave market. Today, human beings are subjected to an even greater indignity -- they are forced to sell themselves piecemeal on the labour market. Ironically, this indignity helps to create an illusion of freedom. What this "freedom" amounts to is that workers may leave the master who employs them whenever they like. However, when they do quit they must immediately seek out a new master. This compulsion to seek a new master exposes their essential servitude. It also shows that wage slavery is really the enslavement of one class by another, of the workers as a class by the capitalists as a class. Another difference is that today's wage slaves often accumulate some personal property, such as a car or a house. This contributes to the illusion that workers have a stake in the capitalist system. What workers do not own, however, are the tools they need access to in order to live. Therefore, they must sell the one real commodity they do own -- their power or ability to labour -- to the capitalist master who owns the tools. This fact exerts a silent, unremitting pressure on the worker to follow a life pattern of economic dependence essential to capitalist production.  Today's wage slave may never be "sold down the river," away from spouse and children. However, by wage cuts, lay-offs, shut-downs and other decisions over which workers have no say, the capitalist master class destroys more families than the slaveholders of the old South ever ripped apart.

"Free labour" is a cornerstone of the capitalist economic system, without which capitalism as we know it could not survive. This follows because "free labour," which is only another way of saying wage labour, is the source of profit, and thereby the source of capital. Without a system of labour under which workers produce an excess of wealth over what they are paid there would be no source from which profits could be drawn, and without profit, there would be no way to increase capital. What this system of wage labour amounts to for workers is that they are "free" to sell their ability to perform productive labour on the labour market to the capitalist who is willing to pay the highest wages. This system of wage labor is a cornerstone of the capitalist social order. That is, the ability of the capitalist class to keep its place as the dominant and ruling class in society depends on its ability to restrain its greed for profit to the extent that the dominated and exploited working class can maintain an acceptable standard of living. Otherwise, workers may come to realise that the capitalist system promises only poverty, insecurity and degradation for themselves and future generations.  There are signs that the increased ferocity of capitalist competition on a world scale is leading to conditions in which the ground is being eaten from under the system of free wage labour. As modern technology continues its relentless sweep through all industries, and as capitalism's requirement for human labour declines, plus the free mobility of labour to cross borders is increasingly policed, the ability of workers to earn a decent living is declining precipitously. The spread of modern industrial technology, the vast displacement of human labor, and the resulting competition for jobs that are driving wages down all over the world is setting the stage for a social catastrophe of enormous dimensions

Chattel slaves feared to speak out openly because their masters might retaliate by selling them or their families away. Wage slaves quietly accept capitalist decisions that affect their livelihoods and threaten the economic security of their families are doing essentially the same thing. The modern slave class of wage workers cannot look to any outside Abolitionists for help. They cannot look to any "superior" class to assist them. They are on their own. Not only is capitalism "unfit" to dominate society, it has become a menace to the future of the human race. It is urgent that workers organize their political and economic power implicit in their vast numbers to abolish that system before it leads the world into a new Dark Age in which the vast majority of humanity is reduced to a hopeless level of enforced poverty and social bondage comparable to chattel slavery. Achieving that goal is indispensable if workers are to become the masters of their own destinies and thereby remove the yoke of economic despotism that is synonymous with the capitalist system.

OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

The Socialist Party works for a society in which the workers will commonly own their collective products, without parasites leeching off their toil.

 The key to understanding how the working class is robbed is to recognize that wages do not reflect the value of the workers' product. Wages are the price of workers' labor power, or ability to work. Under capitalism, workers, in order to make a living, must sell their labour power, as a commodity, on a labour market, in which the capitalists are the buyers. Under capitalism, there are certain economic laws -- principally, the law of value -- that govern the price of commodities. Like other commodities, labour power has a definite exchange value, around which the price (wages) will tend to gravitate, despite the fluctuations of supply and demand.

Basically, the economic laws of capitalism operate such that workers, on average, receive a "living wage." There are variations for different kinds of labor power, of course -- an engineer will tend to command a higher wage than a farmworker. But on the whole, workers, when employed, receive just enough to support themselves and raise a new generation of workers. However, the value of workers' labour power and the value of workers' product are two different things. Under capitalism, workers create much more value than they receive in the form of wages.

Typically, in an 8-hour workday, the value of the products that workers create in about the first 1-1/2 to 2 hours of work will equal their wages. For the other 6 to 6-1/2 hours, workers are creating surplus value -- value, in the form of real wealth, which goes to the capitalist class, not for working, but for "owning." That is what socialists mean when they say that the capitalist class exploits the working class.

It is out of this surplus value that the capitalists make their profits, after they pay off any other capitalists owed rent, interest, advertising fees, etc., and pay the taxes needed to support the government. Remember: The real battle facing the working class has nothing to do with taxes. The real battle is to put an end to the robbery of the working class by the capitalist class so that workers can collectively take possession of the full value of their labour.

Everyone is a consumer, but only the workers are producers, and the workers are robbed by the capitalists who buy their labour power for wages and who appropriate the product of their labour. Wages are determined by the price that labour power fetches as a commodity in the market, and this price fluctuates according to supply and demand. The workers ARE robbed as producers. Apart from a few exceptional instances of cheating, they are NOT robbed as consumers. Workers who take a dollar to the grocery store normally get a dollar's worth of groceries in exchange. They get the same amount of groceries for their dollar that the capitalists, who are also consumers, get for theirs. In long run, however, the price of labour power (wages) coincides with its value -- and its value is equal to the amount of labour (measured in labour hours and minutes) that is embodied in what workers consume to keep themselves in working condition. In everyday language, the worker normally gets a living wage. This is the key to the robbery that goes on under capitalism. And it is precisely for this reason that The Socialist Party focuses attention on the worker's wage-slave status and the need to alter this status. When, under socialism, the workers cease to be robbed of the major portion of their product they will be enabled to consume in proportion to what they produce, but not until then.

On the whole, workers are not cheated as buyers of merchandise. They are cheated as producers of merchandise. Marxian science demonstrates that when the workers sell their labor power to the capitalists they receive a wage that amounts to only a fraction of the value of the new wealth their labor creates. The cheating, the legal robbing of the workers, consists of the capitalists' appropriating the workers' products and paying them only a fraction of the value of these products in wages. The fact is that the workers are robbed at the point of production. The robbery of the working class by the capitalist class is a class act. As a class (exclusive of all other layers in society) the workers are robbed as wealth producers. As a class, they must organise on class lines to abolish the robber system, capitalism. It is important for the workers to understand that they have no interests in common with the capitalist class and its various reformers. Yet, if the workers were robbed as consumers, they would have interests in common with everyone, since everyone is obviously a consumer. If the workers are deluded into thinking they are robbed as consumers they inevitably become victims of reforms and reformers, and the real robbery -- the robbery at the point of production -- goes on unabated. On the other hand, when the workers understand how and where they are robbed, the solution is clearly indicated. It is not reform, but revolution, the complete abolition of capitalism with its wage system and exploitation.

ARM YOURSELF WITH KNOWLEDGE

Socialism was born in response to the social problems generated by capitalism's uses of technology in the Industrial Revolution. Socialism grew out of the disruption of society capitalism caused. It was pitiless and inhumane as it used the factory system to exploit human labour and it made the socialist movement necessary. Socialism is not an idea that fell from the skies, but a natural response to the material conditions and social relations that took shape as the capitalist system of production developed. Even after nearly two hundred years, the need for socialism has only grown stronger. Socialists don't deny that the world is changing.  No one can deny that computers and other technological advances in the implements of production have swept through and profoundly transformed many industries.They were the first to point out that capitalism cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. But the nature, pace and purpose of such changes are not determined by society: they are governed by the whims and needs of that tiny minority that owns and controls the means of producing and distributing wealth. That is one of the two constants in capitalist society, no matter how many changes come along. The other is that the majority -- the working class -- has no say in the process. Capitalists hire and fire to suit their needs. As long as that division exists class divisions will continue. As long as class divisions continue the class struggle will exist. Today, the whole purpose of the socialist movement, is to apply its solution to the the grave social ills resulting from the march of technology monopolised by a numerically insignificant capitalist class so that the possibilities and advances of modern technology may benefit all of humanity. The goal of the Socialist Party is to replace capitalism with the economic and social democracy of socialism. The working class is the only progressive force capable of transforming society into one in which economic freedom and material security will be the birthright of every human being. And by the working class we understand all those who must sell their abilities to perform useful mental or physical labour to live.

It is absolutely certain that capitalism will continue to introduce new and increasingly sophisticated technology into industry. It is a certainty that millions of workers will be expelled from the economy -- and not only workers in the manufacturing and extractive industries, but millions who now hold service and so-called "white-collar" jobs. Promises that capitalism would create re-training and "high-paying" jobs to replace those that have been eliminated have proven hollow. A capitalist future of human misery is almost certain because of the economic laws on which capitalism is based -- laws which compel every capitalist concern to strive for the greatest possible profit at the lowest possible cost. That can only mean one thing. It can only mean that permanent joblessness is the only future that millions -- perhaps the majority -- of workers can look forward to as long as capitalism survives. Unless the working class becomes conscious of what a capitalist future holds the time may well come when it will be reduced to the beggar state of the proletariat of ancient Rome who was rendered useless by chattel slavery; that of today's proletariat is being displaced by computerized machines. At some stage in the mass displacement of workers by modern technology and automation the fear that already touches millions of workers will mature into the realization that they must act in their own defence. The realisation will grow that there is no solution to the problem within the capitalist system. Thought, discussion, enlightenment will produce action. The real question, therefore, is: At when will this occur? The answer will doubtless involve many other factors, not the least of which will be the bread and circuses. The spectacles used to distract our fellow-workers may well keep workers apathetic. The Socialist Party does not think it will, and we shall do our best to ensure that they won't. Nevertheless, it is possible. In this case, society would move into an era of industrial feudalism which, while it would not last forever, might keep the workers in a state of industrial serfdom for decades to come. To avert such social regression the Socialist Party works hard to spread the ideas of socialism.

The sad fact is that workers still buy into the notion that capitalism can somehow solve the problems and miseries it creates and confronts them with. This misunderstanding is no accident. That misconception is nurtured deliberately by capitalism's politicians, and by assorted capitalist agencies of mis-education and mis-information -- the media, the intellectuals and academics, and the ever-present reformists, whose interests are primarily concerned with the preservation of their system -- the source of their wealth and their positions of privilege. They will not and do not hesitate to mouth any promise, no matter how hypocritical. A sane and decent society can never be realised within the confines of the capitalist system. Furthermore, the system cannot be reformed, regardless of how well-meaning or how good-intentioned the reformers may be. Capitalism is beyond fixing. The task of the Socialist Party is to arouse the working class to abolish capitalism and replace it with socialism. For sure, the capitalist class appears to be all-powerful and seems to be winning the class struggle. That, however, is because the capitalists are united in their battle against the workers, despite differences regarding strategy and tactics and their own rivalries. They have their goal clearly in mind -- the pursuit of ever-greater profits through the continued and ever-intensified exploitation of the workers. The capitalist system prevails by default. It exists because the working class is weak. The working class is weak because it is unorganised. It is unorganised because it lacks a fundamental understanding of the class nature of capitalism and its own class interest. The workers must realise that the hope of their emancipation is in their hands. They must focus their concerns and political perspectives on themselves, on their collective interests as a class, on their latent economic and political power and its potential for changing society in a manner that will assure economic security and social welfare for all.

WORKERS' UNITY FOR SOCIALISM

 "While theologians are disputing the existence of a hell elsewhere, we are on the way to realising it here: and if capitalism is to endure, whatever may become of men when they die, they will come into hell when they are born." - William Morris

Capitalism means every individual's hand raised against all others. Freed from the compulsions of competition and the profit motive that presently hurl capitalist nations into war, socialism will also be a society of peace. Socialist society will be a society of secure human beings, living in peace, in harmony and human brotherhood. It will be a society in which everyone will have the fullest opportunity to develop his or her individuality without sacrificing the blessings of cooperation.  Organising to bring the industries under the ownership of all the people, to build a socialist society of peace, plenty and freedom, is the only future people have.

Everyone knows that there is strength in unity and that disunity brings only weakness and confusion, demoralisation and defeat. Strikes are not simply a struggle between employees and their employers. It is a struggle between the working class and the capitalist class -- a CLASS STRUGGLE that is inherent in and inseparable from the capital-labour relationship. Compelled by the profit motive and competition with their capitalist rivals, employers try to keep wages low and to get ever more production out of their workforce. The workers, on the other hand, driven both by sheer necessity and by normal ambition to rise above a state of constant want, resist and seek to raise pay. Never in our history have workers been asked to do so much for so little. Under capitalism, labour (labour power) is a commodity, a mere "means" of production that capitalists buy in the labour market the same as they buy raw materials in the raw materials market. By accepting the capitalist system, workers accept their commodity status.

The Socialist Party aims to achieve solidarity of labour. However, before workers can achieve genuine solidarity they must r become class-conscious. They must learn that their own interests as individuals are linked together with those of every other worker. Then and not until then can they organize themselves as a class, employed and unemployed, skilled and unskilled, office worker and factory worker. Divided, they are exploited and deprived of their potential collective strength. United, they are more difficult to oppress and repress. The political and economic organisation of the working class provides the best chance for a peaceful change from capitalism to socialism. Through their overwhelming majority, the workers will assert their power to own and operate collectively the means of social production. They next will be able to abolish the political state of class rule. The Socialist Party will be the battering ram with which workers will pound down the walls of capitalism. Every other organization or movement that touches on social questions have one thing in common. That one thing that they all share is that none of them offer any challenge to the misconceptions, illusions, prejudices or fears of the people they campaign to attract. They have no interest in challenging them, for that would only "scare" people away. Instead, they count on and build on those misconceptions, illusions, prejudices and fears. They thrive on them, nurture and exploit them. That is the key to their "success." And as a result they also eventually disappoint those whom they have attracted and recruited. These false movements, have confused the judgement of working people, weakened their hope and squashed their courage until there is apathy and cynicism amidst discontent and despondency. That many of these other organisations claim that they are socialist is a deplorable and they must be confronted and exposed. if you want other workers to know what's going on -- then support The Socialist Party in every way you can, join with the class warriors who comprise the membership of the Socialist Party. We of the Socialist Party know that we are in a race with time. We will either succeed or fail in our mission to penetrate the consciousness of the working class before the capitalists destroy the planet. We live in a world of increasing anarchy and violence Accordingly, we work hard to get our message across now. We aim for a world in which cooperation and peace will be combined with prosperity and freedom for all. The longer it takes to wake up the working class to accomplish the change in a non-violent way, the more difficult it will be to achieve our hopes and aspirations for a new world worth having. Everyone who cherishes peace and understands our world is headed towards the environmental precipice unless we succeed in our mission, ought to support the Socialist Party in every way they can. If not, we and our children are certain to suffer the consequences.

Saints And Sinners Who Can Tell?

Round this time of year, we hear a lot of talk about our old friend jolly St.Nick. I guess I'm way behind the times; I recently heard that a few years back the Eastern Orthodox Church Canonized Czar Nicholas II and his wife and kids who were shot by the Bolsheviks. So that makes 2 of them.

It's as logical as capitalist logic gets that Nick should be made a saint; look what the guy did. He sent millions to a senseless death in WWI many of whom were forcibly conscripted; he had defenceless protesters shot down; he ordered pogroms against the Jews; he refused to initiate reforms to improve the standard of living and maintained a ruthless and brutal police state. In other words, the guy was a poster-boy for capitalism. 

What I don't get is, if we apply the same logic Nicky's church does, why they don't go all the way and make murderers like Hitler and Stalin saints.

For socialism, 

Steve, Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.