FORWARD TO SOCIALISM!

Under capitalism, the capitalists own the means of production. Workers are forced to sell their labor power and the capitalist exploits and oppresses them. In socialism, the main means of production are owned in common by the whole of society.

According to the Marxian theory of the law of value, the value of every commodity is determined by the amount of socially necessary labour required for its production (or reproduction). In the highest stage of commodity production, the one in which it becomes predominant, namely, capitalism, labor power itself becomes almost universally a commodity, a peculiar commodity, it is true, but one whose value is nevertheless determined like that of any other commodity. The worker sells his commodity, as he must, to the capitalist. But, exploiter though he is, the capitalist pays the worker the full value (more or less) of his labor power. He pays him in the form of another peculiar commodity, money, which is a universal equivalent and with which the worker in turn acquires those commodities he needs to live on (that is, to reproduce his labor power). He in turn pays the full value (more or less) for these commodities. For the value of his labour power, the worker receives an equivalent value in other commodities. The bourgeois principle of equality is perfectly maintained. Equal values have been exchanged. There has been no cheating, no stealing. Commodity exchange can operate on no other principle, above all under the conditions of capitalism, than that of the exchange of equivalents.

Yet the capitalist exploits the worker. In paying for labour power at its value, the capitalist has the use of labour power, namely, labour itself, for a longer time than is needed to reproduce the value of the labour power he has bought. That is, he disposes of its use during the time when it is necessary labour, and during the time when it is surplus labour, that is, while it produces a value above that of the labour power purchased. The secret of surplus value is laid bare. No cheating, equal values fairly exchanged – and that is exactly how the worker is exploited and surplus value appropriated by the capitalist. 

Thus, the Marxian theory of value is nothing but the theory of surplus value. How can this profit be made by the capitalist? Only in one way. Only by compelling the worker to produce, in the course of the production process, more values than those he receives in the form of wages. The worker is compelled to produce surplus value for the capitalist; which is only another way of saying that he is compelled to do a certain proportion of unpaid labor for the capitalist. The capitalist relation is thus an exploitative relation. Which is why we had repeatedly to point out that if you preserve private profits, you are bound to preserve exploitation. The only way to abolish capitalist exploitation is to abolish capitalist private property. Capitalist private property is but the capitalist means to private profit. No profits; no production: that is the capitalist law. For, the whole purpose of the capitalist production process is – private profit, which is but another name for the self-expansion of capital. The capitalist throws into the productive process a certain quantity of capital as a means to expanding it. That is the whole point in the process – for the capitalist. If at the end of the process the capital thus thrown in has not expanded, i.e. increased in quantity, the whole process is, from his point of view, useless. Which is why we say that capitalist production is but a means to capitalist profit. Production, which is essential to society, is only incidental to the process; profit is its motive, and profit its purpose.

That is the sum and substance of Das Kapital. 

Property will no longer belong to a small number of capitalists nor the state, which is the instrument of a class, but to the community. Socialism is a self-acting society of associated producers will also be class-free inasmuch as its members will have no differential relation to the means of production and distribution. That is the socialist society.. Nationalisation is the act of vesting in the state; socialization is the process of vesting in the community. You cannot vest in the community if classes exist; for, in that case, whatever you may term it in form, it will in fact be a vesting in the dominant class. You vest in the state precisely because classes exist; and statification is the method by which the working class takes into its hands the property of which it has expropriated the capitalists. This does not to bring in the class-free society. Without the abolition of private property, you cannot free the productive forces of society from the fetters of private profit which obstructs that further development of them which is essential to the building of socialism. 

The Socialist Party holds that socialism is the only alternative to capitalism. When Marxists declare that socialism is the only alternative to capitalism, they thereby mean, firstly, that socialism is the next higher stage in society’s evolution; and, secondly, that it provides the only progressive solution of capitalism’s contradictions. Capitalism is not an eternal system which has existed from the beginning and will prevail to the end. On the contrary, it is only one system in an historical series (primitive communism – slave owning society – feudalism – capitalism.) Like all preceding social systems, however, capitalism too must die. It is dying because it is being choked by the working out of its inherent contradictions, the basic one of which is the contradiction between the associated labor process and the individual appropriation of the product. Socialism is thus the road forward from capitalism, the next higher stage of progressive social evolution. The world was ripening under capitalism itself for socialism.

Marx did not say or imply that if you somehow destroy capitalism socialism must dawn. That is a fatalist and mechanistic conception with which Marxism has nothing in common. What Marx did teach and demonstrate was that if you destroy capitalism in a certain way, that is, by a certain form of social action, the road to socialism would be opened. In what way? In the revolutionary way. If socialism is to be the outcome of capitalism’s downfall, it is necessary that mankind take conscious action in that direction. Marx showed that the successful carrying forward of the struggle of the working class to free itself from capitalist exploitation would open the road to socialism by demonstrating that the working class could not emancipate itself without also emancipating all society. In order to emancipate itself, the working class would have to expropriate the capitalists and socialize their property. the carrying forward of the class struggle to success connotes the overthrow of the capitalist state power and the expropriation of the capitalist class. You cannot keep the capitalist state power and expropriate the capitalist class. It cannot be used for the opposite purpose. It must be replaced.

Socialism is the only progressive alternative to capitalism and that the bringing of the socialist society into being demands the carrying forward of the revolutionary class struggle to its logical conclusion, i.e. the overthrow of the capitalist class and its state. Abandon the end, and you abandon the means.

Moving Forward

IWW soap-box speakers would attract an audience by yelling “Stop thief!” and once a crowd had been drawn, would then deliver the punchline: “We’ve all been robbed. We've had our wealth stolen by the capitalists.” 

And it all began with the Enclosures and the rise of capitalism, when the countryside and its commons were privatised by some local squire and the peasant displaced and turned into slum-dwelling proletarians

The Socialist Party contends that there is no solution for the workers’ problems except socialism. It is not possible for the Labour Party or any other party to administer capitalism in such a way that the workers’ problems can be solved within the framework of the existing system. The failure of past Labour government is not an accident. It is not due to mistakes in tactics, or to the failure of the personal qualities of its leaders.

Before the productive power of modern technology can become a beneficial advantage to the whole of society the instruments of production must become common property. They are socially operated; they have yet to become socially owned and controlled. This of course involves the abolition, through political action, of the “rights” of the capitalists to own and control the land, factories, transport, etc. It implies the conscious assumption by the working-class, organised for the purpose, of complete control of the machinery of government so that they may obtain control of the entire industrial resources of society. This abolition of classes is the equality at which socialists aim (not a mathematical equality of income which is fantastic and unwanted); but an equality of access to the means of living and of obligation to contribute to their production. Such an equality would render the term “wages” a meaningless one, for no one would be in a position to buy the services of others in order to make a profit, just as no one would be in the position of having to sell their energies in order to obtain a bare subsistence. Our object is to get socialism.

Under such a system it would be to the interests of all to expand the material resources of society as rapidly as possible in order to increase the common stock of necessities and amenities. For so long as these resources are fettered by capitalist ownership, whether in the form of private capitalism or nationalisation, the workers will be restricted to the consumption of such a quantity of goods as is sufficient to enable them to go on producing a profit. Hence we find everywhere that the capitalists, faced with a quantity of goods which cannot be sold, are compelled to take steps to restrict production. Socialism will abolish the need for such restriction and while, even with the present resources of production, it would immediately increase the wealth available for the workers' enjoyment, it would also render possible a considerable expansion of those resources in order that the free development of every individual should be translated from a dream into a reality.

Wages are paid only in order that employing concerns may squeeze out of the workers that profit which it is the object of their existence to obtain. The enthusiasm of even the staunchest Labour voters has been undermined by instance after instance of successful attacks on their wages and working conditions. Knowing that socialism is the only solution and that it can be brought about only when the electors become socialists, we have consistently opposed the Labour Party and its left-wing hangers-on. We urge our fellow-workers to abandon their illusions and oppose capitalism, including its Labour Party supporters. 

The Socialist Party is the only party in this country that has never betrayed the workers’ interests by supporting reform programmes or capitalist parties. We are at present necessarily a propaganda organisation, working to make Socialist principles better known. Political leaders thrive not on the knowledge of the workers but on their ignorance. Whether they are honest or dishonest these leaders cannot bring about socialism for the working-class—that the workers have to do for themselves. Which means that they, and not merely their leaders, have to acquire knowledge. It is the purpose of working-class education to give the workers the knowledge. Until the workers rid themselves of their trust in leaders they will continue to be misled, defeated, and betrayed, whenever suitable occasion offers. 

The assumption that the Socialist Party attaches no importance to action is grotesque. What we want is sound action, the action of socialists who want socialism. Of course we reject the unsound action of the “something now” parties. Would our critics have us participate in their actions, such as protecting the capitalist system, and—most important of all—preaching the false doctrine that the workers’ problems can be solved by the “something now” policy of reforming capitalism? Our slow progress is merely a reflection of the success of the propaganda efforts of the capitalist parties, including the parties of capitalist reform. But not even their most skilful propaganda will serve permanently to cover up the woefully inadequate results of their “something now” actions. 

No member of the Socialist Party, proposes to give up our action directed towards the attainment of socialism, in order to perpetuate the endless, useless and dangerous mistakes of the ‘‘something now” parties. In due course the workers, disappointed with that policy, will join us and make socialism a reality. We are optimistic enough to believe that. The evidence of capitalism's decay, its redundancy, is persistent and overwhelming. The working class, who now run capitalism in every way, need only to see this evidence for what it is and then to opt for the social system which they can run in the interests of the entire human race.

System Change Ahead

The fight for a social democracy, to replace capitalism is the real road to peace and security. Instead we have some who advocate the idea of a world government, a global federal state. We in the Socialist Party are for the goal of a world administration, which would eliminate the obsolete national boundaries into which the Earth is divided. We enthusiastically agree that only under a world body can decisions be made and carried out on such things as climate change, disease and world hunger be achieved. The Socialist Party is entirely for the end of the nation-state and its defence of the profit system and the sacred rights of private property.

One unified world has been socialist thinking for well over a century. One world is not merely a necessity to prevent war – it is an economic necessity for the fullest flowering of economy in a world where economy is worldwide, a world economy. But it is promoted within the context of a revolutionary change to what we produce and distribute. Surely no-one can propose a cure for conflicts and nationalism without holding an understanding about their cause. The slaughters today does not result from regrettable and avoidable misunderstandings and blunders. Two dogs do not want to fight one another over a bone; they merely want the bone.

There is no point in wasting energy trying to persuade the capitalist class each country that a united planet is in its interests. We believe in building a socialist movement to take the government out of the hands of this capitalist class in order that the great aims of both peace and security shall be achieved. Why should people anywhere entrust their fate, their very lives, to fools and liars who promised us everything and anything in the full knowledge that they could not and would not keep their promise?

Security means freedom from economic uncertainty for the working people. It means the guarantee of the many good things of life that our highly advanced technology can produce that so easily can be enjoyed by all. The guarantee that the future of the family, especially of the children, can be assured with confidence for the years ahead. Why should this security be so difficult to achieve in the world with the highest productivity of labour and the greatest production capacity? Yet families enjoy no such security. How many of us feel confident that our standard of living will continue at its their present level? How many are sure they will still be in a job a year or even six months from now? Millions of workers are already unemployed or under-employed with part-time or uber-jobs in the gig economy where contracts are not worth the paper they are written on. How can we feel free from fear under such circumstances? How it is possible to plan the life of the family, to build a home, to think of higher education for the young, when economic conditions are so uncertain and precarious?

We have no real security. The promises politicians keep making to us are fraudulent. They talk endlessly on the fine promises about what it will do, some day, to tackle the scandals of the shortage of teachers and nurses, the inadequacy of schools and hospitals. Their promises always remain promises. Yet the politicians do not hesitate to vote more and more billions of investment for armaments, for the most terrifying weapons of mass destruction. Could the bitterest critic of capitalism make a more annihilating indictment of it than that? What good is any prosperity that piles burden of misery and suffering upon the people, especially upon the shoulders of those least capable of bearing it? What good is the prosperity bought at the price of the happiness? The lives of millions of people perish like cattle in a slaughter-house, whose homes and industries and entire cities devastated and destroyed and now very civilisation itself is imperilled by climate destruction. How can any person claiming to be thoughtful rest content that this is only the prelude to the most horrible holocaust the world has ever seen, which will surely engulf whole nations and leave not one of them untouched or intact? What comfort can the plain people get from the assurance of governments that they can solve the global warming crisis? We promised policies and action that will slow down and reverse greenhouse gas emissions. The promises have remained promises. What comfort can we get from the scientific experts who assure us that it will not really destroy our species but will leave a few million of us to adjust and adapt?

Capitalism is robbing us of whatever security we have and of the possibility of achieving real and lasting security. If people are to live and prosper, capitalism must be end. All over the world, the capitalist class concentrate more and more economic power into its hands. Correspondingly, it concentrates more and more political power and control over the lives of the people. More and more, decisions are made without the knowledge of the people and against their expressed wishes. The economic power and the political influence are exercised for the profits and power of the privileged elite who possess a stranglehold over the people through their possession of the State machine.

The whole future of world depends upon working people. The working class must awaken to a realisation of its power and its ability to steer its own destiny. It could organise the economic and political life not in the interests of the employers and bureaucrats, but in its own simple interests of all the people, who want to oppress nobody, to exploit nobody, to wage war on nobody. It could organise production not for the profit of a handful of capitalists but for the use and enjoyment of all. It could build homes, instead of bombs to destroy homes; it could provide for the health and life of all, instead of supplying armies for the destruction of life. It could be a living example of well-being and democracy that no tyrant could withstand. For this, the working class needs nothing but the consciousness of its task in society and awareness of its power to perform this task. Up to now, however, the working class, has been content to leave its own fate in the hands of the pro-capitalist politicians, in return for a few miserable scraps tossed to us occasionally. We could win anything we want by our own strength and effort, but we submit to the whims and wishes of capitalist politicians. Workers needs their own political power. It cannot express it without having its own political party – a socialist party.

We in the Socialist Party have no other interests save those of the working class itself. Our aims are uncompromising socialist. We seek nothing more than to be part and parcel of the workers' movement, to give it a coherent voice to the socialist goal of international brotherhood and international emancipation.

The Socialist Party is convinced that great and stirring days are ahead. We are convinced that the working class will soon start its mighty march along the road towards socialism. We are and we remain socialists – independent socialists. We are independent of capitalism, of all capitalist governments, of all capitalist politics. We are democrats, consistent and thoroughgoing democrats, because we are consistent socialists. The working class, and we as part of it, need democracy, widening and deepening democracy, and we shall fight for it without compromise. The victory of the working class can come only by winning the battle for democracy. The enemy of the working class is at the same time the enemy of democracy. That holds for capitalism and the capitalist class. The fight for democracy cannot be fought effectively and cannot be won except as it is the fight for world socialism.

To all those who are dedicated to the fight for socialism, the Socialist Party holds open its doors. To all those who refuse to resign themselves to helplessness and hopelessness, to the barbarism of capitalism the Socialist Party is your organisation. To all those who have a confidence in a socialist future the Socialist Party extends its welcoming hand of comradeship. To those who seek the security of the future of mankind, join us in the elimination of the threat to the continued existence of our civilisation.

Unshackling the Chains

Socialism will result in an enormous increase in industrial and agricultural efficiency. The socialist system of planned production, based upon common ownership of industry and the land, is incomparably more efficient than the anarchic capitalist system founded upon private property, competition and the exploitation of the workers. With the limitations of the capitalist profit motive removed, the road will be opened to virtually unlimited expansion of industry and mass consumption. Socialism will remove great waste, inherent in the unplanned, competitive capitalist system. It will eliminate the innumerable useless and parasitic occupations. It will turn to useful social purposes the immense resources used by these socially useless elements. Socialism will also conserve the natural resources of the country which are now being ruthlessly wasted in the mad capitalist race for profits. Finally, socialism will end war, with all its agonies and losses. The abolition of the robbery of the workers by the capitalists in all its myriad forms; the disappearance of the capitalist economic crises, with its mass unemployment and general crippling of the productive forces; the development of an industrial efficiency and a volume of production now hardly dreamed of; the careful conservation of natural resources; the abolition of war;—these measures will provide the material bases for a well-being now quite unknown in the world.

It is characteristic of capitalism's apologists to justify all the robbery and misery and terrors of its system by seeking to create the impression that they cab be blamed upon the basic traits in human nature. Preventable disasters are made to appear almost as natural phenomena, “acts of God”, over which mankind has no control. The same general attitude is taken with regard to war. War is put forth as arising out of the very nature of humanity. Mankind is depicted as an aggressive animal, and therefore capitalism escapes responsibility. War becomes more or less inevitable. This is all nonsense, of course. Humanity is by nature a gregarious and friendly animal and does not make war because of a dislike of others, differing in appearance, language, or religion. Wars have always arisen out of struggles over the very material things of wealth and power. This is true, whether living in a tribal, slave, feudal or capitalist economy, and whether the true cause of his wars have been obscured with an intense religious garb or with slogans about building democracy. The cause of modern war is the commercial trading policies of the capitalist nations for dominance in the world struggle for markets, raw materials and territory. In a society in which there is no private property in industry and land, in which no exploitation of the workers takes place and where plenty is produced for all, there can be no grounds for war. The interests of a socialist society are fundamentally opposed to the murderous and unnatural struggle of international war. 

A socialist world will be a unified, organised world and the raw material supplies of the world will be at the disposition of the peoples of the world. Another classical capitalist argument against socialism is that it would destroy innovation and incentive; that is, if private property in industry and the right to exploit the workers were abolished the urge for social progress, and even for day-to-day production, would be killed. If there is no exploiting class to rob people of the fruits of their toil and when they welcome better production methods because it brings benefits to them and having broken the chain of wage-slavery and engaged in building a new world of liberty, prosperity and happiness for themselves and families, can anyone seriously suggest there will not be enthusiasm for work. In capitalism many workers show no interest in their work for they are robbed of what they produce and any improvements in technology mean job-cuts and unemployment. Incentive under capitalism is confined practically to the exploiting classes and their hangers-on. It is only with the advent of socialism that the great masses develop real involvement. 

When capitalist intellectuals speak of individualism they have in mind the right of freely exploiting the workers. They mean that the anti-social individualism of capitalism. The boast of capitalist apologists about the equal opportunity which their society affords, that it is a case of the survival of the fittest, is a tissue of lies. With socialism no one will have the right to exploit another; no longer will a profit-hungry employer be able to shut his factory gates and sentence thousands to starvation; no more will it be possible for a little clique of capitalists and their political henchmen to plunge the world into a blood-bath of war. Such individualism is doomed. But the socialist revolution will create in its stead a new and better development of the individual, freeing each person from economic and political slavery will, for the first time in history, give them an opportunity to fully develop and express their personalities. Theirs will be an individuality growing out of solidarity and harmonising with the interests of all. It will not have the objective of one’s getting rich by robbing the toilers, but will develop itself in the direction of achievement in science, industrial technique, art, sports, etc. Only socialism can provide equality of opportunity, which means a genuine occasion to enjoy life and to develop their latent talents. 

Capitalism, with its exploitation, terrorism, superstition, and cultural ignorance, not socialism creates a regimentation and standardisation of the same. Changed social conditions develop different “human natures.” Thus competition, a ruinous, anti-social thing under capitalism, may become, in socialism, highly beneficent. Life in a socialist society will be varied and inspiring. People will vie with another, as never before, to create the useful and the beautiful. Locality will compete with locality in the beauty of their gardens and parks and architecture. The influence of individuality and originality will be upon everything. The world will become a place worth living in, and its joys will not be the privileged monopoly of a ruling class but the heritage of all.

The socialist revolution initiates changes more rapid and far-reaching than any in the whole history of mankind when workers unshackle their age-old chains of slavery to construct a society of liberty and prosperity. Socialism will be a new era for humanity, the building of a new world. The overthrow of capitalism will bring about the immediate or eventual solution of many great social problems, among them religious superstition, famine, pestilence, crime, poverty, alcohol and drug dependency, racism and national chauvinism, the suppression of women and every form exploitation of one class by another. Capitalism, with its poverty, wage-slavery, shanty towns, lack of hospitals and doctors undermines the health and well-being of everyone and destroys our constitution. Socialism with its nutritious food, its decent housing and surroundings and working conditions, will make good health the property of all.

Only a system of world socialism can fully uproot and destroy all these evils. Capitalism, based upon human exploitation, stands as the great barrier to social progress. Socialism frees humanity from the stultifying effects of the bestial struggle for survival and opens up new horizons. Socialists will carry through many profound measures for the re-organisation of the economics of the world upon a rational and planned basis, the sustainable use of the world’s natural resources, the beautification of the world , the development of the vast potential of science, the end of congested cities and the combination of country and urban life.

For many generations a long list of Utopians have dreamed about an ideal society. Today, socialism can be a living reality. Our children grand children will look back with horror upon what was capitalism and wonder why we tolerated it for so long. 

What A Crime It Is To Be Homeless.

Our reformist friends at the Toronto Star will, superficially, investigate any social evil, but will never go any deeper; in short they are OK as far as they go, but it isn't far enough. 

On July 8, they ran an article by their staff reporter, Emily Mathieu, on what a crime it is to be homeless. It focused on the plight of one such person, Thomas Gardner, 42, who panhandles in the McCowan Road and Highway 401 area in Toronto's east end. In his backpack is a wad of tickets from police officers, because of his violations of Ontario's Safe Streets Act, which came into force 20 years ago and designed to prevent people asking for change.

 In the last 5 years Toronto police have issued nearly 31,000 Safe Street tickets, which would amount to $1,550,100. Gardner himself owes $6,500 which he never fought in court and never expect to pays. To quote, ''We are panhandling for $20, $30, to get something to eat and they hand you $200 worth of tickets.'' 

This is a throwback, or should I say throwup, to 16th century England when the emerging capitalist class forced the peasants off the commonly owned land and then passed vagrancy laws. 

This shows that no matter how technology advances things don't change much under capitalism. I'll let Mr. Gardner have the last word: ''The only crime we committed was being homeless.''

Yours for Socialism, 
SPC contributing members  

"Cement". The Greatest Source Of Pollution.

Figures recently released by Bloomberg claim that one of the biggest sources of air pollution is a very fundamental building product - cement. 

According to their studies 7 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions are attributable to the manufacture of cement, more than what comes from all the trucks in the world. 1,400 degrees celsius is the temperature at which limestone is burned to help create cement, releasing carbon trapped in the limestone. Half a ton of carbon dioxide is released per ton of cement. A single mixer truck can carry as much as 13 tons. $161 US, is the cost per yard of environmentally friendly cement as opposed to traditional cement which is $51 US. 

Now we can hardly expect capitalists to take the more expensive route could we? If they did their rotten system might collapse, which wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Yours for Socialism, 
SPC contributing members 
. 

Build a future worthy of our dreams

Socialism will result in an enormous increase in industrial and agricultural efficiency. The socialist system of planned production, based upon common ownership of industry and the land, is incomparably more efficient than the anarchic capitalist system founded upon private property, competition and the exploitation of the workers. With the limitations of the capitalist profit motive removed, the road will be opened to virtually unlimited expansion of industry and mass consumption.

 Socialism will remove great waste, inherent in the unplanned, competitive capitalist system. It will eliminate the innumerable useless and parasitic occupations. It will turn to useful social purposes the immense resources used by these socially useless elements. 

Socialism will also conserve the natural resources of the country which are now being ruthlessly wasted in the mad capitalist race for profits. Finally, socialism will end war, with all its agonies and losses. The abolition of the robbery of the workers by the capitalists in all its myriad forms; the disappearance of the capitalist economic crises, with its mass unemployment and general crippling of the productive forces; the development of an industrial efficiency and a volume of production now hardly dreamed of; the careful conservation of natural resources; the abolition of war;—these measures will provide the material bases for a well-being now quite unknown in the world.

It is characteristic of capitalism's apologists to justify all the robbery and misery and terrors of its system by seeking to create the impression that they cab be blamed upon the basic traits in human nature. Preventable disasters are made to appear almost as natural phenomena, “acts of God”, over which mankind has no control. The same general attitude is taken with regard to war. War is put forth as arising out of the very nature of humanity. Mankind is depicted as an aggressive animal, and therefore capitalism escapes responsibility. War becomes more or less inevitable. This is all nonsense, of course. Humanity is by nature a gregarious and friendly animal and does not make war because of a dislike of others, differing in appearance, language, or religion. Wars have always arisen out of struggles over the very material things of wealth and power. This is true, whether living in a tribal, slave, feudal or capitalist economy, and whethe the true cause of his wars have been obscured with an intense religious garb or with slogans about building democracy. The cause of modern war is the commercial trading policies of the capitalist nations for dominance in the world struggle for markets, raw materials and territory. In a society in which there is no private property in industry and land, in which no exploitation of the workers takes place and where plenty is produced for all, there can be no grounds for war. The interests of a socialist society are fundamentally opposed to the murderous and unnatural struggle of international war.

A socialist world will be a unified, organized world and the raw material supplies of the world will be at the disposition of the peoples of the world. Another classical capitalist argument against socialism is that it would destroy innovation and incentive; that is, if private property in industry and the right to exploit the workers were abolished the urge for social progress, and even for day-to-day production, would be killed. If there is no exploiting class to rob people of the fruits of their toil and when they welcome better production methods because it brings benefits to them and having broken the chain of wage-slavery and engaged in building a new world of liberty, prosperity and happiness for themselves and families, can anyone seriously suggest there will not be enthusiasm for work. 

In capitalism many workers show no interest in their work for they are robbed of what they produce and any improvements in technology mean job-cuts and unemployment. Incentive under capitalism is confined practically to the exploiting classes and their hangers-on. It is only with the advent of socialism that the great masses develop real involvement. 

When capitalist intellectuals speak of individualism they have in mind the right of freely exploiting the workers. They mean that the anti-social individualism of capitalism. The boast of capitalist apologists about the equal opportunity which their society affords, that it is a case of the survival of the fittest, is a tissue of lies. With socialism no one will have the right to exploit another; no longer will a profit-hungry employer be able to shut his factory gates and sentence thousands to starvation; no more will it be possible for a little clique of capitalists and their political henchmen to plunge the world into a blood-bath of war. Such individualism is doomed. But the socialist revolution will create in its stead a new and better development of the individual, freeing each person from economic and political slavery will, for the first time in history, give them an opportunity to fully develop and express their personalities. Theirs will be an individuality growing out of solidarity and harmonizing with the interests of all. It will not have the objective of one’s getting rich by robbing the toilers, but will develop itself in the direction of achievement in science, industrial technique, art, sports, etc. Only socialism can provide equality of opportunity, which means a genuine occasion to enjoy life and to develop their latent talents. 

Capitalism, with its exploitation, terrorism, superstition, and cultural ignorance, not socialism creates a regimentation and standardisation of the same. Changed social conditions develop different “human natures.” Thus competition, a ruinous, anti-social thing under capitalism, may become, in socialism, highly beneficent. Life in a socialist society will be varied and inspiring. People will vie with another, as never before, to create the useful and the beautiful. Locality will compete with locality in the beauty of their gardens and parks and architecture. The influence of individuality and originality will be upon everything. The world will become a place worth living in, and its joys will not be the privileged monopoly of a ruling class but the heritage of all. The socialist revolution initiates changes more rapid and far-reaching than any in the whole history of mankind when workers unshackle their age-old chains of slavery to construct a society of liberty and prosperity. 

Socialism will be a new era for humanity, the building of a new world. The overthrow of capitalism will bring about the immediate or eventual solution of many great social problems, among them religious superstition, famine, pestilence, crime, poverty, alcohol and drug dependency, racism and national chauvinism, the suppression of women and every form exploitation of one class by another. Capitalism, with its poverty, wage-slavery, shanty towns, lack of hospitals and doctors undermines the health and well-being of everyone and destroys our constitution. Socialism with its nutritious food, its decent housing and surroundings and working conditions, will make good health the property of all. 

Only a system of world socialism can fully uproot and destroy all these evils. Capitalism, based upon human exploitation, stands as the great barrier to social progress. Socialism frees humanity from the stultifying effects of the bestial struggle for survival and opens up new horizons. Socialists will carry through many profound measures for the re-organization of the economics of the world upon a rational and planned basis, the sustainable use of the world’s natural resources, the beautification of the world , the development of the vast potential of science, the end of congested cities and the combination of country and urban life.

For many generations a long list of Utopians have dreamed about an ideal society. Today, socialism can be a living reality. Our children and

grand children will look back with horror upon what was capitalism and wonder why we tolerated it for so long. 

Unity and Victory

To-day, the world is in the hands of billionaires, the biggest banks, the biggest media companies; in short, the owners or controllers of the biggest corporations. They pull the strings and they use their power to make themselves richer and richer—at our expense. They hire workers to make profit out of their labour; their capitalist production is for profit, not for use: and to get more profit they slash wages, carry through speed-up and worsen conditions. This mad race for profit ends in a crisis; and then they try to get out of the crisis—at our expense. Poverty, insecurity and malnutrition making their inroads in the homes of millions of workers: low wages, intensified productivity, to the point of physical exhaustion, is the lot of the workers in the factories and giant warehouses: increases in the number of accidents and sickness amongst working-class mothers and babies. This is how it is to-day for working men, women and their families. 

This is the choice before us:

Security and prosperity for billions of workers who produce the nation’s wealth by their labour or security and prosperity for the tiny handful of profit-bloated corporations and the bankers, the parasites of the world. To acquire security, production must be taken out of the hands of the capitalists whose only interest is the fabulous profits they get out of it. The Socialist Party does not allow the profit-interests of the ruling class to stand in the way of the life-interests of the people. The Socialist Party champions socialism as the basic solution of the problems and conflicts of society today. All that socialism sets itself to do is to achieve plenty for all, peace, brotherhood, security, freedom. The Socialist Party calls upon the working-class militants to join and work with it toward this end, pledged to support of the whole working class. That is the road to socialism, to a world system, of peace, security and freedom.

No matter how easily accessible the best medical techniques might be made, the fundamental problems of workers’ health cannot be solved under capitalism. The best imaginable health program cannot be more than a feeble palliative so long as mass unemployment, crowded slums, low standards of living, chronic malnutrition, mutilation and death from war are the expected lot of most of mankind. Only through the final victory of world socialism can the vast stores of available scientific knowledge really be put to work for the full benefit of humanity. “Socialised medicine” is a meaningless phrase except in a socialised society.

There is no need for a single worker to be overworked or in dread of losing a job; no reason why an unemployed worker should lack the necessaries of life, or why he or she should not be brought back into employment. All over the world millions of workers are year by year coming to realise these facts and to see that nothing except the existence of capitalism prevents them building up for themselves a decent and secure world. Everywhere the workers are becoming less and less willing to put up with an entirely unnecessary state of impoverishment. They are showing themselves more and more determined to insist upon their right to food, clothing and shelter for themselves and their families. But to get this, capitalism must be overthrown. To get this is only possible by the building up of socialism, giving peace and prosperity, happiness and new life to the whole working population. Without breaking the power of the capitalists it is impossible to get rid of capitalism or to build socialism. It will mean that the capitalists will be deprived of their ownership and control of the factories and workshops, mills and mines, shipyards and transport. All these means of production which they have used and misused only to pile up profits for themselves and poverty for the workers will be taken from them. We have to-day ample resources for producing all the things we need. Today we are both unemployed and unable to get the things we need. The two things go together. For we are unemployed because the capitalists want to have their profits and will not let us produce what we need. Destitution and unemployment can only be cured simultaneously by taking over and running the industries. Workers will naturally produce far better and more willingly under their own management than they do now.