Slavery existed long before capitalism. When members of
competing tribes were captured, they often became slaves. A form of slavery still
predominates today. It is called wage-slavery. Workers are forced to sell
themselves (actually, their labour power) in order to survive. Economic
necessity prevents the overwhelming mass of humanity from being truly free. The
corporations and businesses own the economy — the factories, the transport, the
retail stores, etc. Workers own only their ability to work and the few personal
possessions they have been able to accumulate in a lifetime of toil. When some
read the word slavery, they think it couldn't possibly be that people are
literally slaves today - slavery seems like an outmoded form of life from
previous centuries. They blithely assume that "wage slavery" is
merely a metaphor. Whatever we feel, slavery is very much a fact of life for
all people in the world today. A person is a slave if he has lost control over
his life and is dominated by someone or something--whether he is aware of this
or not.
The reason why workers sell their labour to capitalists in
the first place is that they have no other choice. In a capitalist society one
needs money in order to purchase the essentials of life, such as food, shelter
and clothing. Thus in order to avoid starvation or at best extreme poverty one
must accumulate money. In order to accumulate money the vast majority of people
in a capitalist society sell their labour to capitalists in exchange for a
wage. This is because most people do not own capital or receive a large
inheritance with which to start a business. It is true that some workers manage
to create their own businesses and become self-employed but in order to do this
they must accumulate the money required to buy the necessary capital and means
of production for their business and thus at some point must partake in wage
labour. Therefore the vast majority of individuals who engage in wage labour do
so because if they do not they cannot purchase the goods and services required
to survive. Since workers engage in wage labour because they have no other
choice it follows that wage labour is not voluntary, a choice lacking a
meaningful alternative is no choice at all. Workers are dependent on the bosses
to live. They must sell their ability to do a job of some type to a capitalist,
day after day, month after month, year after year. If the bosses won’t hire
them or business falls off, then the workers are out of luck. They work at the
will of the owners. A wage slave can't quit an oppressive job to find a less
slave-like job, because in our present society, almost all jobs involve
wage-slavery. So the options are obey and stay, die of starvation, or become a
vagrant, which is illegal.
It is time to openly attack and expose capitalism and
advocate for its opposite, socialism. People suffer from the law of the maximisation
of profit, which drives capitalism. The management want to introduce new
technology and put in automation because they want to lower their labour costs
by laying off workers and then extracting more out of the workers who remain on
the job. Everyday life itself is more and more forcefully presenting workers with
the question: capitalism or socialism? The intensifying exploitation of the
working class is the inevitable product of capitalism. Socialism is the way
out. The necessity for socialism arises, in the first place, from the struggle
of the working class for emancipation from capitalist wage-slavery. Under
capitalism workers are looked upon solely as a means for enriching their
employers. The working class can only
emancipate itself by abolishing the capitalist system, stripping the tiny
minority of capitalist owners of the "right" to monopolise the
economic lifeline of society and of the "right" to exploit the labor
of the workers. By turning the means of production into the common, social
property of the whole society, socialism at once eliminates the exploitation of
the workers and creates the foundations for genuine social, economic and
political equality.
Economic inequality is at obscene levels. Mass suffering is
increasing as the stock market reaches new highs — despite its ups and downs.
Working-class debt of all types goes up as bank profits soar. People are living
in a state of financial insecurity, unable to meet an unexpected bill without
borrowing money or selling something. Millions are working at low-wage jobs,
are forced to work part time or are working two and three jobs just to make
ends meet. Student loans debt indentures the new generation to the banks. All
television networks, mainstream newspapers and major politicians leave out what the working class needs to
know above all, and it is that the problem is the capitalist system of wage
slavery — and the solution is socialism. The struggle against capitalism and
for socialism requires knowledge of the system of exploitation. Understanding
our enemy is a basic necessity for the working-class. Anyone who thinks even
for a minute about the enormous productive capacity of our society cannot but
ask: why is a world with such modern means of production unable to guarantee
the economic rights and well-being of the people? Why is the curse of
unemployment and the plague of falling wages and living standards undermining
the lives of hundreds of millions? We must work hard to understand just what
has led to our enslavement and what kinds of actions will be necessary to free
ourselves from these insidious chains of servitude. We first need to understand
the basics of our present economic situation. We must realize that our economic
situation at present--a very few obscenely rich people owning companies and
corporations and having illegally seized state and federal political power--is
one which we can and must change. Our current economic and political
circumstances are not written in stone; humans have lived under very different
political and economic conditions throughout our history. We must begin to
overthrow this present state of affairs where all workers suffer under
capitalist wage-slavery. The political system and the economic situation should
be directed toward the welfare of all, not just a few. We can bring about these
changes; it is not impossible.
The necessity for socialism is arising from every pore and
cell of our society. The most fundamental fact is that everywhere the social
character of our society is forcing itself to the surface, demanding
recognition but the capitalist system is blocking the way forward. It is the
capitalist system which is denying billions the right to secure a livelihood.
It is the system of private property in the means of production which exploits
human labour and creativity and turns society into an arena in which the rich
live off the labour of the poor. It is the system of private property in the
means of production which refuses to plan for the health of the population and
instead produces health care as a commodity available on the basis of who has
the most money. It is the capitalist system which is poisoning the air we
breathe and the water we drink. Even though modern science is able to know the
effect of human action on nature, capitalism – based on the anarchy of
production – willfully destroys the natural environment in the pursuit of
maximum profit.
"Rise like Lions
after slumber
In unvanquishable
number.
Shake your chains to
earth like dew
Which in sleep had
fallen on you—
Ye are many—they are
few."
Shelley
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