The red herring of left nationalism

Nationalism is completely arbitrary and illogical and is the cause of much evil. Although socialists’ sympathies are with the oppressed, they relate not to emerging nationalism but to the particular plight of twice-oppressed people who face both a native and foreign ruling class. Nationalist aspirations are dressed up, in part, as “socialist” aspirations, as they include the illusory hope of impoverished populations that they can improve their conditions through national independence. Yet national independence has not emancipated the working class. It will not do so. It is a red herring that takes time and resources away from the more worthy and pressing matter of establishing socialism.

Surely, it must be evidently clear to all decent people that the greatest evil afflicting this planet is Capitalism. Surely, people must recognise this senseless economic system is the root cause of almost all injustice, suffering and premature death. But to blinker people to the blatantly obvious the capitalist class makes use of many tools. One of its most efficient is nationalism. Many, even supposedly socialists, don’t realise just how dangerous nationalist thought can be. Nationalism is a crucial crutch for keeping capitalism standing upright. Nationalism in its countless forms permeates all societies and individuals.  So powerful is the lure of nationalism that even socialists such as James Connolly have been preoccupied by it to the detriment of the class struggle. The very act of undermining nationalism will in itself severely weaken the capitalist class and will result in a heightened consciousness of the world’s workers.  We have to remove the blinkers of nationalism to look upon a new vista and see the prospect of a new world, not a new nation.

Why are socialists and radicals exactly asking for and expecting from their call for independence for Scotland? Is it really a sovereign Scottish workers’ state? If England and Wales became the same at the same time why would the Scots want to be different? If on the other hand, Scotland became “socialist” in isolation how long could it withstand the inevitable assaults from the capitalist states surrounding it?

But, of course, the realistic and pragmatic Leftist does not envisage a genuine socialist Scotland being achieved. Capitalism will prevail and predominate. So the question is now, are Scottish capitalists somehow more attractive and amenable than British ones.  Would they exploit Scottish workers less than UK employers? Now as economic competitors for jobs and livelihoods, would Scottish workers be content to see the English working class exploited perhaps worse than before, as bosses play divide and rule between the nations? Will class brothers and sisters turn their backs upon one another? Nationalist division further weakens the chances of solidarity between all workers.

There may well be a human impulse to join in groups and to favour one’s own group above all others if many anthropologists and sociologists are correct. Socialists can accept such findings. Bias towards our own group or tribe can be manifest itself in the rivalry between football fans.  In its most extreme form such affinity becomes passionate hatred against other racial groups, religions and nationalities. But such prejudice is not a necessary aspect of human society.  Rather, they can be deliberately inflamed by capitalist politicians, businessmen, religious leaders and anyone for whom such divisions are beneficial.  Our instinct can be exploited and magnified. However, similarly, our intelligence can resist and thwart our instincts and this is what makes us human. We can, in general, overcome our instincts.(for example, our greatest instinct is to have children, yet people today have learned to overcome that instinct and use family planning to delay having children, for economic reasons.) We can put off pleasure and gratification when our rational thoughts advise it. 

Imagine town councils waging violent wars for land and resources; sending young people to fight to the death to control landfill sites and greenbelt land.  If this thought is absurd then why is it so accepted that two countries will fight over living space and material resources? Around the world many thousands are dying violent deaths at the hands of armies, militias, police, mercenaries, terrorists and simply gangster war-lords. The arms manufacturers, in the meantime, make ever more increasing fortunes. Every war in modern history has been fought with the benefit of the ruling class solely in mind.

Although today's global ruling class have been internationalised and already live in world without borders for the rest of us, we are to be very much restricted by borders.  Nationhood and patriotism are to be fanned in our hearts as strongly as ever. The only threat to the status quo is an equally internationalised working class. When the working class of all countries recognise that their fortunes are all inextricably linked, and when they act on that recognition, then we enter the end-times of capitalism.

Patriotism with its flags and anthems, parades along streets and posturing on playing-field, keeps workers apart and weakened by exaggerating differences and not embracing diversity. Each nation believes it is the most deserving and dare a foreign worker set foot upon native soil they are immediately suspect and almost instantly hated, for they are seen as a threat to “us”. All rational thought evaporates, and like children fearing the bogeyman in the shadows, we run around crying out, ”Stop… Stop. Send them away…”  No matter if experts say immigrants are good for the economy and create prosperity.  Each immigrant who arrives is viewed as a danger. The indigenous native-born worker cannot be reassured over immigration with facts, figures or rational argument.  The only cure is from experience.

Overcoming nationalism is intrinsically linked to the development of socialism.  What is needed is to create a worldwide outlook amongst all the world's working class.  This is why it is wrong for socialists to back independence movements for the sake of it.  Imagine a nation oppressed by another power, perhaps Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation. Their struggle for independence may move us emotionally but we must resist the notion that independence is the most compelling goal for the people of that country.  A good socialist will not tell an oppressed people "you should fight for independence".  A good socialist will say "you are not independent, comrade, and you should not be.  You are dependent on the working class of the world and they are dependent on you.  We all depend on each other." There is no difference between a group of workers oppressed by a foreign power or corporation and those oppressed by domestic rulers.  The tactics and the message must remain the same, otherwise, our arguments become blurred. There is only one way we can defeat exploitation and there is one way we can make the defeat of capitalism a possibility. Labour organisations can become global and transform into the One Big Union.  They must make the workers of their own country fully aware of the struggles of workers in neighbouring countries and beyond.  Only international industrial action orchestrated by a global union network can possibly defeat the exploitation of the globalised corporations and banks. When unions bargain for wages and conditions on a national level the bosses now have the option of relocating production to another country where workers are being exploited harder. Unions already fully know that when dealing with a nationwide industry, national bargaining is the best chance for success.  The bosses attempt to fragment union power with regional or local bargaining.  Fatally, this basic knowledge is not applied on an international scale. British unions campaign to stop jobs moving abroad, which seems to send the message that Indians or Filipinos, for example, don't deserve jobs as much as we do.  Whether or not British workers actually think this matters less than the fact that workers of different nations are frequently at odds with one another, fighting over the scraps of global employment. The only solution is for the union movement to forge physical links with foreign unions and educate its members as to why this is a necessity.

People must know that all local issues have global causes and global solutions. It is why the Socialist Party calls for world socialism.

adapted from here

Hard times for us mean good times for the rich

“The history of all hitherto existing society (that is, all written history) is the history of class struggles. “Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.” – Communist Manifesto.

The class struggle is the product of class-divided society. It exists no less today than in the class societies of history. By means of political action the oppressed classes of the past strove to gain their emancipation. The form that this action took was dictated by the conditions then existing. By means of political action – and by no other means – can the workers gain their emancipation.

Society rests on an economic basis. The manner in which wealth is produced and distributed determines the form of existing society. The development of the productive forces calls periodically upon mankind to adapt society to the changed economic conditions. Modern industry ushered capitalism into existence. It now demands that capitalism pass out of the picture, to be replaced by a new form of society, one that will conform to the needs of the developing means of production, and, therefore, to the essential needs of mankind. It is the duty – the imperative mission – of the working class to undertake this task.

Capitalism has outlived its usefulness. Within its confines can be found no solution for the wretchedness and insecurity endured by the workers. Not more than momentary relief has ever resulted from the generations of effort to improve their conditions of life. Even their trade unions – their most potent weapon in these activities – have been forced to remain for the most part on the defensive, struggling not so much to improve their conditions as to prevent these conditions from becoming worse. Socialism offers the only way out. The failure of the workers to recognize this fact – no matter what else they may do – can result only in the preservation of things as they are, with the prospect of darker days ahead.

In the main the world’s workers have in the past given their support to parties openly representing capitalist society. The principal agencies for spreading education and information have, throughout the period of capitalism’s existence, been under the control of the capitalist class and have been used for the purpose of fostering and preserving the illusion that there is no practicable alternative to capitalism. Incessant, insidious propaganda is levelled at the workers from the cradle to the grave, designed to cloud their minds in their own interests and protect the dominant position of the capitalist class. They are taught that their interests are tied up with the interests of their masters and that only in the solution of the latter’s problems can the solution of their own problems be found. It is no wonder, therefore, that for generations they have been only too willing to give their support to one or another of the various capitalist parties. Capitalist parties represent, first of all, capitalism. They may differ as to the manner in which the affairs of capitalism ought to be conducted. They may differ as to the sections of the capitalist class whose interests ought to be the most favored. But they are united in their opposition to those who would end capitalism. They are united even in opposing any effort to provide the workers with a greater share of the wealth which they produce.

Humanity needs a socialist world!

Many and varied have been the interpretations that have been placed upon socialism. Stalinism and Hitlerism have both been described as socialism. At different times and in different places socialism has been announced yet we all know these were phantoms, will o’ the wisps, figments of the imagination.

The political parties which form the World Socialist Movement are merely the nucleus of the great working class movement which must finally rise to bring about socialism. The workers cannot depend upon others to do the job for them. It is a job that requires conscious and deliberate effort on their part. It is a job which they must do themselves. Labour and Leftist parties have frequently come forward with lengthy lists of reforms or elaborate plans for nationalisation’ proclaiming these as socialism. Workers must guard against such nonsense if they are not to be fooled by political highbinders, social quacks, or people who have themselves been fooled. For this reason among others the socialists stress the necessity for socialist education. The workers must understand socialism before they can serve usefully in the struggle for its attainment. Social reform is not socialism. Neither is government ownership. Socialism has not yet been established in any country. It exists today only as an independent working class movement striving against the opposition of capitalist and labor parties alike, its energies directed without deviation towards a single goal. There are no short cuts to socialism. It can be reached only through the conscious political organisation of the working class. But with that organization accomplished, no obstacle can stand in the road. Socialism may be had for the taking. Take it.

The workers must ultimately turn to socialism as the only means of finding release from the problems of capitalism. Even though it were possible (which it is not) for the present system to provide considerably improved conditions for the workers, that would still be no justification in the eyes of an informed persons for its continued existence. It has solved the problem of wealth production, but it has failed to solve the problem of distribution. It divides the toil of the workers between production and a myriad of unnecessary activities related to distribution. It is wasteful and destructive of men and materials. Its conflicts over markets, trade routes and sources of raw materials breed wars that grow ever more terrible in their dimensions. It is a haven of luxury and idleness for a useless parasite class. It is a fetter on further social progress.

Socialism solves the problem of distribution. Its introduction will mean the conversion of all the means of production and distribution from private or class property into the common property of all the members of society. Goods will no longer be produced for sale; they will be produced for use. The guiding principle behind the operations of industry will be the requirements of mankind, not the prospects of profit. Production under socialism will be pre-determined, and distribution effected with neither advertising nor sales staff, thus reducing wasted materials to the minimum and making possible the transfer of great numbers of workers to desired occupations.  The ending of exchange relationships will bring at the same time the ending of an exchange medium. There being neither sale nor profit associated with the production and distribution of goods, neither will there be money in any of its forms. Currency, credit and banking, whether private or “socialised”, will pass out of existence.

The advent of common property means the abolition of private or class property, which in turn means the abolition of class society together with the class struggle. The antagonistic classes of today will become merged in a people with common interests, and the former capitalists will have the opportunity of becoming useful members of society. This will not only remove the greatest of the burdens resting today on the backs of the workers, it will also further augment the available labor supply, by the inclusion of the capitalists and their former personal attendants, thus contributing to the general reduction in working time needed to produce society’s requirements.  Since unemployment means not only idleness but also severance from the means of subsistence, such a condition could not exist under socialism. That there will be plenty of leisure time, however, is beyond question. It will be the conscious aim of society to constantly reduce the obligations of its members to production, thereby providing ever-increasing leisure time in which to enjoy the proceeds of their labour.

Wars constitute another wretched feature of capitalist society that will come to an end under socialism. Since they arise from the struggle of the capitalists over markets, etc., and since these struggles will no longer play a part in the affairs of society, they will remain only as a ghastly memory from a horrible past.  Socialism will not solve all the problems of human society. But it will solve all the basic economic difficulties that are a constant source of torture to so many of its members. The solution of a single one of these difficulties would warrant its introduction. The solution of them all renders it imperative.

Capitalism can be reformed. It can be reformed in many ways. But it cannot be reformed in such a manner as to effect an essential improvement in the working class conditions of life. It cannot be reformed in such a manner as to raise the workers from the poverty level. Reforms, insofar as they have had any effect, have been effective simply by preventing the workers from sinking too far below the poverty level, their function being to do no more than preserve the workers as able-bodied means of production.  It is not in the nature of capitalist society to provide better conditions for its slave class. The efficient operation of capitalist industry requires not only a capable working class, it requires a working class always at the beck and call of the master class. Only by keeping the workers bordering on necessity at all times can this condition be assured. The whiplash of poverty is far more effective than any coercive force could be in keeping them tied to the machine and subservient to their masters. Those who would administer the affairs of capitalism are limited in their endeavors by the requirements of capitalism, and even though they would bend every energy to lighten the burdens of the workers, the system itself inevitably reduces the results to disheartening proportions.

Practically all of the reform legislation on the statute books of the capitalist world has been placed there by capitalist parties. The capitalists have never been noted for their generosity towards the workers, but they are practical gentlemen and they have long known that the smooth and economical operation of their system requires periodic additions to the mountains of reforms. Reforms to them are like a vile tasting tonic that must be taken from time to time for the protection of their health and well-being. Workers who live under poor sanitary conditions are ready victims of ailments which often develop into communicable diseases; and diseases do not respect the superior and necessary persons of capitalists. Moreover, workers afflicted by ailments spend time at home that could better be spent in the factory turning out surplus values for the factory owner. They must be protected against these conditions. They must also be protected against malnutrition, accidents, etc., in order that their efficiency as cogs in the wealth producing machine may not be impaired. They must even be provided for when they are unemployed, for the repressive measures of bygone days are no longer sufficient to deal with the vastly increased number of workers thrown periodically into the scrapheap by modern industry. It is now more economical to provide them with necessities than to maintain a coercive force great enough to prevent them from helping themselves. Besides, as in times of war or other periods of trade expansion, their services may be required again.

Hence the measures dealing with sanitation and housing, sickness and accidents, health and unemployment! Hence the reforms piled upon reforms, reaching to the heavens! Hence the gradual conversion of the workers into destitute wards of the state!

There is a further reason for the acceptance of reform measures by the parties of the capitalist class. The workers form the immense majority of the members of society. They are the ones who suffer most from the evils of capitalism. They are only too conscious of the existence, if not the cause, of these evils, and they are ever ready to lend their support to whoever will promise redress. No party can govern without the consent of the workers. The capitalists, in consequence, must be ever ready with the required promises, if they are to protect their exclusive right to govern. Reforms that are not desirable to them can frequently be sidetracked afterwards, together with flattering appeals to the workers for loyalty, understanding and co-operation. Where they cannot be sidetracked, these reforms can always be watered down and presented with fanfares and glowing self-praise. It is an easy game to play, and while it does not give the workers very much, neither does it cost the capitalists very much, and it frequently assures for them a period of contentedness on the part of their slaves.

Politicians are not miracle-makers

The parties and politicians you vote for all stand for capitalism. Those elected are in office now because of your mandate; you elected them to preside over your own poverty and exploitation. Political leaders are incapable of waving an economic wand to conjure away our problems. No one seriously believes anymore that politicians are capable of improving matters. Our interests as workers have not been served in the past and, unless we are prepared to reconsider our whole approach to politics, have no prospect of being served in the future. We would suggest that you consider taking control of your own lives. Instead of electing politicians and parties to run your own exploitation, you can organise your own future. We, the working class, can mandate our own representatives to go into the seats of government, local, national and international, and abolish the entire system of private and/or State ownership of the means of living which gives the accumulation of profits priority over our needs. We call on all workers to join us to establish a society based on serving our needs instead of the profit needs of the minority class which dominates our lives today. We can create a world in which poverty, famine, slums, unemployment and international conflict could not exist. Such a system we call socialism: a moneyless, classless world in which we all share in the ownership of wealth; a world in which we co-operate voluntarily to produce all the things we need and where we will have free and equal access to satisfy our requirements.  Sounds utopian? Not as utopian as expecting our working-class lives to have changed for the better by the time the next election comes around.

Your birthright, like that of workers anywhere in capitalist society, from New York to Moscow, from London to Peking, is that of a wage slave, the right to try and sell your mental or physical ability to produce wealth to any employer who thinks he can get a return on investment. Your "right" to submit to the poverty of employment or the dire poverty of unemployment. Your "right" is the freedom to do what you are told, whatever the colour of the rag that floats at the top of the flagpole.

Our current economic system, capitalism, is based on private ownership of the means of producing and distributing wealth produced by the workers i.e. the land, resources, the factories and machinery, the transportation systems etc. Goods are produced with a view to making a profit that comes from the extra value that the worker puts into the products over and above his wage. That is, after working for part of the day to create enough value to pay his wage, the worker then continues to work to create the value that becomes profit. Capitalist production is commodity based, meaning that goods are produced only with a view to making profits. If that profit doesn’t materialise or is less than expected, production ceases, no matter what the need is. Food, in many parts of Africa, is a prime example of this system in action. No profit, no production, can’t pay, can’t have, is the logo of commodity production. Capital accumulation must take place for the system to work. Investors expect to take away more than they put into an enterprise. Capital then is value in perpetual search of additional value, and it this continual search for augmentation that drives, or derails, the capitalist mode of production. It must be, of course, predicated on continual expansion, ever greater destruction of the earth to extract resources, ever greater factories, machines, and production systems, ever greater markets to absorb the extra products. Capital’s search for greater value means that the managers of the investment funds and the corporations involved in every aspect of production are charged with finding opportunities for producing the greatest value. In this, they are in a life and death struggle with their competitors. Lose the struggle and your capital investment dries up and you are taken over or, worse, you go bankrupt.

Given this analysis of our economic system, it is not surprising that qualities such as ethics, loyalty, or morality are tossed aside when it comes to the economic survival of a business.

In the short term, there is very little that can be done to reverse the situation. As noted above, when the prospect of profitability returns, capital will be invested again and the recovery will begin. Union activity through pressure on employers, collective bargaining, demonstrations etc. are always available to mitigate the worst aspects of the system, but are even less effective during a recession, as current negotiated concessions of wages and benefits attest. In the longer term, we must examine the system that creates so much wealth but delivers so little to the general population and yet so much to the few owners. It is a change in this ownership that The Socialist Party proposes. Presently, capital dominates our life. It tells us that we must get a job to survive, then tells us when and how we do it, what the conditions of work will be, and even whether we will work at all. We propose that a new system of producing and distributing wealth is needed, one where the ownership of the world’s resources, and the means to turn them into useful goods, is owned by all, in common, and operated democratically, in the interests of all. That would mean all mankind would get a proper diet, housing, clean water, education, healthcare, and the need for continual wars over who owns the resources (the major cause of all wars) is ended.

Be Wary Of The Crap

The Toronto Star of March 19 had the headline, "Be Wary of Unmuzzled Scientists, Liberals Told." The new Liberal government appears set to take off the shackles imposed on the scientific community but the previous government in the interests of hiding the truth about climate change, for one thing. Now senior civil servants are giving this warning to the new government. 

 The thing is, in science, anything that is not true, or controversial, or everything, for that matter, is held under wide scrutiny to prove what has been claimed. No scientist gets away with bafflegab for long before losing credibility. Much wiser to be wary of the crap that capitalism puts out in its own defence. 

John Ayers.

Wars and Nations

Capitalism is synonymous with suffering and misery. However, the working class which does all the useful work in society has the power to organise for their own emancipation and put an end to sweat-shops and the other misery of the wages system once and for all. There is an alternative to permanent want and insecurity. As capitalism is a world system, however, we cannot end it solely by our own efforts. Rather than butcher one another, we must band together with our fellow members of the working class in other countries to organise for a system in which the resources of the earth would be owned and democratically controlled by society as a whole and used to produce the things that all human beings need. This is the only action we urge you to consider.

When we talk about free access to what you need in socialism, without the compulsion of the wages system or the restrictions of money, we mean a society capable of keeping up with the material demands of the population. Today we have such a society. The only thing that stands in the way of socialism is a lack of demand for it by a majority of workers across the globe. Socialism is often thought of as a distant prospect — “something we hope the human race will be like in the future" – but as class consciousness spreads so nothing can stand in its way. The achievement of that goal depends in no small way on you as workers to recognise your interests — and to work for them. Our task is not just to understand the world, but to change it. For as long as the world is divided into two classes and production geared to profit rather than human needs, then our task will always remain that of the achievement of socialism.

The so-called "British nation" of which many politicians seek to be the champion is a product of history. The "indigenous" population are all the descendants of one-time immigrants. If you go back only 2000 or so years most of the inhabitants of this island off the north-west coast of Europe were Celts, speaking a language akin to Welsh. They were eventually conquered by the Romans who came from Italy (but whose troops and settlers came from all round the Mediterranean and beyond). When the Romans left there was an "endless flood" of Angles and other Germanic-speakers into "Britain" (a word of Celtic origin) who eventually drove the Celtic-speakers to the Celtic fringe of Cornwall (Kernow), Wales (Cymru) and Cumbria. Then came the Danes from Norway and Denmark. Then England (or Angle-land, as it was now called) was conquered by the French-speaking Normans. And the English-language evolved, a basically Germanic language with a large French vocabulary. It didn't stop there, with later migrations of Flemings and Huguenots. The Socialist Party attitude is that all workers, irrespective of their language or where they were born, share a common interest in uniting, as long as capitalism lasts, to get the best terms they can for the sale of their working skills and, more importantly, in getting rid of capitalism and replacing it with a world community without frontiers based on the common ownership and democratic control of the Earth's resources so that these can be used for the benefit of the whole world population.

Very many people are economic migrants.  Millions around the world follow the dictates of the labour market and moved down to London. Socialists are clear that we hold no brief for national boundaries, and see no difference in principle between people like ourselves or migrants from France or Nigeria. We are all workers. We look forward to the day when there are no boundaries and we travel the world because it is ours and we want to share in it, not because of the dictates of an inhuman labour market.

The Socialist Party analyses social affairs in class terms. We approach problems in the field of economics and politics from a consideration of what we see as being the real interests of the world working class. For the Socialist Party capitalism and war are inseparable. There can be no capitalism without conflicts of economic interest. Within the Socialist Party, it is not questioned that its duty is to oppose the wars of the ruling class of one nation with the ruling class of another, and refuse to participate in them. This has been its consistent view. We in the Socialist Party are against all of capitalism’s wars. Nor do we single out one or two aspects of war – atomic weapons, or land mines, or poison gas, or the use of child soldiers – we oppose the system that gives rise to these things.

Anti-war campaigns, as such, is, from the working class standpoint, absurd. Just as the class struggle cannot be abolished save by abolishing classes, so it is impossible for capitalist nations to get rid of the grim spectre of war, for capitalism presupposes economic conflicts which must finally be fought out with the aid of the armed forces of the State. The way to prevent war is not by engaging in anti-war campaigns. These are quite useless because they leave the causes of war untouched. The only preventative is to take away the urge to war; take away the profit motive. While private ownership of the means of existence remains, the making of profit is the object of the private owners. Abolish private ownership and substitute for it common ownership in the means of production and the profit motive disappears, taking with it the seeds of war, both internal and external. Socialism is the only means to defeat the warmongers. What is needed is a clear analysis of why humans go to war. It is not because of our genes, our natures or our beliefs. It is because capitalists make themselves richer and more powerful by obtaining more and more markets and trade routes and exploitable populations and raw materials. And until capitalism is abolished, its ruthless, competitive drive for profits will condemn workers to die needlessly in wars. So long as the working class continue to support capitalism so long will its wars, and preparations for war, continue

Conflict over access to and control of vital resources by competing nations have for the past one hundred years been rendered respectable by the cloak of capitalist ideology. They are no longer capable of being so masked. The only solution to war and the myriad other problems that face the workers of the world is to abolish capitalism and replace it with socialism. We do not call for people to love one another (though we are not opposed to that of course) rather we appeal to the workers of this and other countries to recognise their common class interest and to organise consciously and politically to gain the political power necessary to dispossess the owning class – to strip them of their right to own the means of life – and to put in its place a system of common ownership and democratic control of the means of wealth production – socialism.

The role of the Socialist Party in helping bring socialism about is one of agitation and education. We are an instrument to be used by a conscious working class once the need for a revolutionary social change is recognised. The World Socialist Movement has but one answer: Workers of the world unite far world socialism. You have the World to gain.

In Socialism

Socialism aims not to establish "workers power" but the abolition of all classes including the working class. It is thus misleading to speak of socialism as workers ownership and control of production. In a socialist society, there would simply be people, free and equal men and women forming a classless community. So it would be more accurate to define socialism/communism in terms of the common ownership and democratic control of the means of production by and in the interest of the whole people. Wealth in present society is produced only when there is the prospect of a profit; in a socialist society, production would be carried out simply in order to satisfy human needs, whenever and wherever they occurred. Modern technology will act as a liberating force if the basis of society is altered from market competition to human cooperation.

The object of socialism is to unite humanity and to solve social problems by building a society which can satisfy the universal need for co-operation and material security. Socialism involves a creative outlook concerned with the quality of life. In association with others, the individual will develop himself as a social being. With enlightenment and knowledge, man will replace the ignorance, false illusions and prejudice from which he suffers in our own day. Socialism is the form of society most compatible with the needs of man. Its necessity springs from the enduring problems, the economic contradictions and social conflicts of present-day society. Socialist society must be based upon the common ownership and democratic control by the whole community of the means of life. Life will be based on human relationships of equality and cooperation.  Through these relationships, man will produce useful things, construct amenities and establish desirable institutions. Socialism will resolve the conflicts which at present divide man from man. Regardless of ethnic or cultural differences, the whole world community will share a common interest.

The building of socialism requires a social reorganization where the earth's resources and the apparatus of production are held in common by the whole community. Instead of serving sectional interests, they are made freely accessible to society as a whole. Production will be organised at world level with coordination of its differing parts down to local levels. In socialism, there will be no market, trade or barter. In the absence of a system of exchange, money will have no function to perform. Individuals will participate freely in production and take what they need from what is produced. The fact that Socialism will be based on common ownership does not mean that an individual will have no call on personal effects. It means essentially that no minority will have control over or possession of natural resources or means of production. Individuals will stand in relation to each other not as economic categories, not as employers and employees or buyers and sellers, but simply as human beings producing and consuming the necessary things of life. Socialist society will minimise waste and set free an immense amount of human labour. Armies and armament industries with their squandering of men and materials will be swept away. These will disappear together with all the wasteful appendages of trade and commerce.

In socialism, there will be a common interest in the planning and smooth operation of production. Work will be a part of human cooperation in dealing with practical problems. Work will be one aspect of the varied yet integrated life of the community.

With the change in the object of society, that is human welfare instead of profit, man will freely develop agriculture and housing, produce useful things and maintain services. As well as material production, man will freely develop desirable institutions such as libraries, education facilities, centres of art and crafts and centres of research in science and technology. It will be a problem of social planning, statistics, and research to ascertain the requirements of the community. Although these techniques are used for different ends, there is already a wide experience of them. With the experience of socialist production, these planning techniques will gain in accuracy. Once produced, goods will be transported to centres of distribution where all will have the same right of access to what is available according to individual need. It will be a simple matter of collecting what is required. As well as tradition and geography, it will be a matter of organisation and practicality as to which things will require a complex world division of labour for their production and which things will be produced regionally.

Socialism will establish a community of interests. The development of the individual will enhance the lives of other men. Equality will manifest attitudes of cooperation. The individual will enjoy the security of being integrated with society at large. The establishment of socialism does not call for the complete destruction and reconstruction of society. Techniques of production and some of the machinery of administration which can be transformed already exist. The task is to allow their free use and development by and for the community. With the change in the object of society from profit to human welfare will come a change in the function of social institutions. The schools and universities will no longer be concerned with the training of wage and salary workers for the needs of trade and commerce. Education will be a social amenity for life, providing teachers and a storehouse of all accumulated knowledge and skill. Education will not be rigidly separated from other aspects of life. The provision of education facilities will call for some permanent specialists, but knowledge and skill will to a much greater extent be passed on by those actively engaged in their practical application. Education will be tied more closely to the whole process of living. There will be a body concerned with safety, the coordination of services in the event of an emergency, traffic regulation and the like. Here again, whilst some specialists may be required, it will be desirable for members of the community to participate as part of the normal pattern of their lives. Institutions such as the armed forces, customs, banking, insurance, etc, will become redundant. Socialism will continue those institutions necessary to its own organization. For example, the Food and Agricultural Organization could be expanded to submit plans and execute decisions concerning world food production.

Socialism will end national barriers. The human family will have freedom of movement over the entire earth. Socialism would facilitate universal human contact but at the same time would take care to preserve diversity. Variety in language, music, handicrafts, art forms and diet etc will add to all human experience. Socialism will be democratic. World policies will be subject to the control of the world community. The most complete of information relevant to all issues under discussion will be made fully available. Elected delegates will carry local viewpoints to a world congress where the broad decisions on all aspects of social policy will be made. From that point, the social machinery would be implemented to carry out these decisions, subject to democratic control through both local and world bodies. Decisions affecting only local interests would be made democratically by the local community.

Whilst the general direction of social policy will be decided by the whole community, many decisions will be technical ones arising out of the problem of this policy. These decisions can be left, subject to regular democratic checks, to men and women with specialized knowledge and experience; but given the whole context of socialism, they could only be consistent with its general aim--human welfare. The elimination of vested interests will mean that men will have no ulterior motives influencing their decisions.

Socialism aims not to establish "workers power" but the abolition of all classes including the working class. It is thus misleading to speak of socialism as workers ownership and control of production. In a

socialist society, there would simply be people, free and equal men and women forming a classless community. So it would be more accurate to define socialism/communism in terms of the common ownership and democratic control of the means of production by and in the interest of the whole people. Wealth in present society is produced only when there is the prospect of a profit; in a socialist society, production would be carried out simply in order to satisfy human needs, whenever and wherever they occurred. Modern technology will act as a liberating force if the basis of society is altered from market competition to human co-operation.

The object of socialism is to unite humanity and to solve social problems by building a society which can satisfy the universal need for co-operation and material security. Socialism involves a creative outlook concerned with the quality of life. In association with others, the individual will develop himself as a social being. With enlightenment and knowledge, man will replace the ignorance, false illusions and prejudice from which he suffers in our own day. Socialism is the form of society most compatible with the needs of man. Its necessity springs from the enduring problems, the economic contradictions and social conflicts of present-day society. Socialist society must be based upon the common ownership and democratic control by the whole community of the means of life. Life will be based on human relationships of equality and co-operation.  Through these relationships, man will produce useful things, construct amenities and establish desirable institutions. Socialism will resolve the conflicts which at present divide man from man. Regardless of ethnic or cultural differences, the whole world community will share a common interest.

The building of socialism requires a social reorganisation where the earth's resources and the apparatus of production are held in common by the whole community. Instead of serving sectional interests, they are made freely accessible to society as a whole. Production will be organised at world level with coordination of its differing parts down to local levels. In socialism, there will be no market, trade or barter. In the absence of a system of exchange, money will have no function to perform. Individuals will participate freely in production and take what they need from what is produced. The fact that socialism will be based on common ownership does not mean that an individual will have no call on personal effects. It means essentially that no minority will have control over or possession of natural resources or means of production. Individuals will stand in relation to each other not as economic categories, not as employers and employees or buyers and sellers, but simply as human beings producing and consuming the necessary things of life. Socialist society will minimise waste and set free an immense amount of human labour. Armies and armament industries with their squandering of men and materials will be swept away. These will disappear together with all the wasteful appendages of trade and commerce.

In socialism, there will be a common interest in the planning and smooth operation of production. Work will be a part of human co-operation in dealing with practical problems. Work will be one aspect of the varied yet integrated life of the community.

With the change in the object of society, that is human welfare instead of profit, man will freely develop agriculture and housing, produce useful things and maintain services. As well as material production, man will freely develop desirable institutions such as libraries, education facilities, centres of art and crafts and centres of research in science and technology. It will be a problem of social planning, statistics, and research to ascertain the requirements of the community. Although these techniques are used for different ends, there is already a wide experience of them. With the experience of socialist production, these planning techniques will gain in accuracy. Once produced, goods will be transported to centres of distribution where all will have the same right of access to what is available according to individual need. It will be a simple matter of collecting what is required. As well as tradition and geography, it will be a matter of organisation and practicality as to which things will require a complex world division of labour for their production and which things will be produced regionally.

Socialism will establish a community of interests. The development of the individual will enhance the lives of other men. Equality will manifest attitudes of co-operation. The individual will enjoy the security of being integrated with society at large. The establishment of Socialism does not call for the complete destruction and reconstruction of society. Techniques of production and some of the machinery of administration which can be transformed already exist. The task is to allow their free use and development by and for the community. With the change in the object of society from profit to human welfare will come a change in the function of social institutions. The schools and universities will no longer be concerned with the training of wage and salary workers for the needs of trade and commerce. Education will be a social amenity for life, providing teachers and a storehouse of all accumulated knowledge and skill. Education will not be rigidly separated from other aspects of life. The provision of education facilities will call for some permanent specialists, but knowledge and skill will to a much greater extent be passed on by those actively engaged in their practical application. Education will be tied more closely to the whole process of living. There will be a body concerned with safety, the co-ordination of services in the event of an emergency, traffic regulation and the like. Here again, whilst some specialists may be required, it will be desirable for members of the community to participate as part of the normal pattern of their lives. Institutions such as the armed forces, customs, banking, insurance, etc, will become redundant. Socialism will continue those institutions necessary to its own organization. For example, the Food and Agricultural Organization could be expanded to submit plans and execute decisions concerning world food production.

Socialism will end national barriers. The human family will have freedom of movement over the entire earth. Socialism would facilitate universal human contact but at the same time would take care to preserve diversity. Variety in language, music, handicrafts, art forms and diet etc will add to all human experience. Socialism will be democratic. World policies will be subject to the control of the world community. The most information relevant to all issues under discussion will be made fully available. Elected delegates will carry local viewpoints to a world congress where the broad decisions on all aspects of social policy will be made. From that point, the social machinery would be implemented to carry out these decisions, subject to democratic control through both local and world bodies. Decisions affecting only local interests would be made democratically by the local community.

Whilst the general direction of social policy will be decided by the whole community, many decisions will be technical ones arising out of the problem of this policy. These decisions can be left, subject to regular democratic checks, to men and women with specialised knowledge and experience; but given the whole context of socialism, they could only be consistent with its general aim--human welfare. The elimination of vested interests will mean that men will have no ulterior motives influencing their decisions.

Child Soldier, Dead Celebrity.

Wasil Ahnad, a ten-year-old boy, was declared a hero in Afghanistan after he was shot dead fighting the Taliban. He has become a 'celebrity' with widely -circulated photographs on social media showing him holding a rifle and wearing a uniform and helmet. Though the use of child soldiers is illegal in Afghanistan, the charity, "Child Soldiers International" said both government and rebel forces have been doing it for years. 

What could be a sicker symptom of the system we live under than the recruitment and killing of children who should be having fun and enjoying life? As long as we have competing sections and each one's interests pursued, we will have these atrocities. 

John Ayers.

Learning Socialism

As far as we are concerned, socialism and communism are exact synonyms, alternative names to describe the future society we wish to see established. We don't object to ourselves being described as communists but in practice, we only use the word socialist.

There are three phases of socialism. They are interrelated and interdependent and part of an unfolding process.

(1) Socialism first arose out of the material conditions of the earlier portion of the 19th Century. This is the birth of socialist science. It is materialistic. It recognises that everything in existence is interrelated and in a constant process of change. (In a very real sense, it might even be said that socialism is the science that integrates all branches of science into a correlated whole.) Specifically, it indicates the general outlines and the process of social evolution and, more particularly, the nature of capitalism. It explains how the seed of the forthcoming society is fertilised within the womb of an old society.

(2) Then, socialism arises as a movement. It is not alone sufficient to understand the world. The task is to change it. Its very reason for being is to exert all its efforts to arouse the working class and all others to become socialists so that the vast majority becomes conscious of its interests, and proceeds to institute socialism. The socialist revolution cannot be rammed down the throats of "followers." The socialist revolution is a majority, conscious and political. It is and can only be democratic by its very inherent nature. It is not a new ruling class come to power with a subject class having to submit.

(3) Finally, in the course of its evolution, capitalism has laid the groundwork for socialism, a classless, money-free, wage-free society. Socialism is "a society from which exploitation has been banished and in which the unfolding of each individual would be the condition for the freedom of all."

What constitutes being a socialist? Broadly speaking, it is one who realises that capitalism can no longer be reformed or administered in the interest of either the working class or society; that capitalism is incapable of eliminating its inherent problems of poverty, wars, crises, etc.; and that socialism offers the solutions for the social problems besetting mankind since the material conditions and developments—with the single exception of an aroused socialist majority—are now ripe for a socialist society. If an organisation or an individual or a "victory" supports the continuation of capital-wage labour relationships by advocating or organising to administer an improved, bettered reformed status quo (capitalism) instead of coming out for the socialist revolution (a frightening word which only means a complete social-economic change) then—it is NOT socialist. The need for educating, agitating and organising to keep the issues clear cannot be overemphasised. All too many liberals, radicals, intellectuals, and, what is far worse, the much greater numbers of rebellious workers resisting their sad lot in life—all these, sincere, earnest and devoted—have been washed in and out of the so-called socialist organisations and their fringes and in the entire process never did get an insight or an inkling as to what it is all about.

The simplicity of the socialist case is buried by friends and foe alike in mountains of "day-to-day" ISSUES so that there never is and never can be time for them to become acquainted with the science of socialism, i.e., the socialist case. The real need today is the understanding and knowledge of socialism rather than changing the word "socialism."

"The end justifies the means" is in no way part of the socialist political doctrine. Marx never suggested the personal liquidation of capitalists. Neither did he advocated in any way, the hatred of capitalists, as a political tactic. As Marxists, we do not hate those who are opposed to us. We do not even make bad intent or insincerity the basis of our evaluation of their ideas. It is the logic and claims of their views which we rigorously and consistently oppose. The Socialist Party does not advocate violence or hatred because they are inconsistent with the end in view—a classless society of free labour and production for use. The end itself determines the means. If the end is a classless society consciously brought into being by the vast majority, then the means can only be helping to bring this consciousness to the required majority. Hate and violence are in this context inconsistent with these ends. To substitute then as means would mean to change the ends. That there can be no basic separation of ends and means is integral to Marx's doctrines. 

Socialist society cannot begin until the vast majority of the dispossessed realise that capitalist property relations and the division of labour which arises from it are the real barriers which hamper and frustrate the development of the individual in the widest sense, out of the energising of their knowledge and experience they will act accordingly. Those who hold that the basic thing is the overthrow of capitalist relations and the devil take the hindmost are mistaken. The abolition of capitalist property relations is merely the necessary condition which makes possible the releasing of men's energies, capacities and will to re-integrate themselves into the new society. In the building of socialist society much to learn, and some things to unlearn. One thing history will have taught, however, is that love, goodwill, the rights of the individual, can only have real meaning in an equalitarian and humanist society.

Capitalism: Endless wars and endless famines

Regarding the ancient theory that is repeatedly resurrected that a reform demand becomes revolutionary when the capitalist class cannot grant it, not a year passes without numerous instances showing this to be false. By definition, a reformist demand is one which reforms without abolishing capitalism, and which, therefore, can be granted by the capitalists. Every time the capitalists are faced with a more or less widespread demand for some reform they can try various methods of splitting, side-tracking or breaking the movement. Failing anything else they can always go half-way and thus, rob the movement of a large part of its support. They rarely have to concede the whole of the reform demand, but, of course, could, if need be, even appropriating the name "socialism" in certain instances for their act. Socialism can only be brought about by socialists. This involves the hard plodding work which the impatient and the ambitious cannot bear to undertake. To avoid it they seize upon any flashy apparent substitute which presents itself. The reformism and political bargaining with the capitalists advocated by the “left” are all of them quack remedies of that kind. They lead to corruption, disgust, and general apathy. Socialists must expose and condemn them without cessation. Beware of the smooth talking leaders who seek to sell you their sterile ideas. Workers are capable of building a future which might now seem like a dream. That future has nothing to do with swapping the inhabitants of 10 Downing Street. It is about establishing a society of common ownership, democratic control and production for use—a genuine socialist society.

We look forward to a society where buying and selling have no place, to a truly social world where each contributes such work as they are able and all may take freely from the store of wealth created. But capitalism still has many apologists who assert that a socialist system would not work; often they are pie-eyed over the virtues of the marketplace, where freedom, equality of opportunity and property are supposed to reign supreme. In reality, there is nothing equal about the major transaction that most of us have to endure throughout our lives. On the labour market the capitalist confronts the worker and after an average working lifetime of this “equal” transaction, the boss still owns the factory, the office, the shop and the profit made on the goods; while it is a lucky worker who manages to retain a house, a few sticks of furniture and a car through retirement and up to death. The drive for profits and the capture of markets, which sets people against people, factory against factory and nation against nation, is the force that excludes a majority of the world’s population from the potential abundance of wealth that the modern industrial system is capable of producing. Endless wars and endless famines, with millions of guns and no bread, have been normal someplace in the world throughout this century. Socialists look with horror on this direct effect of the capitalist market and do what they can to make the revolution in consciousness that is needed before a system of free access can be introduced. The myopia of capitalist decision-making impoverishes the full natural and human complexities involved over alternative production processes. By contrast, a socialist society would make its production choices on the basIs of usefulness, desirability and the needs of the population. Productive efficiency in units of direct output can be weighed and ranged alongside usefulness, desirability, needs, beauty and scientific interest. The factors that will govern production in a socialist society are commensurable factors; and it is the similarities between material, aesthetic and scientific needs which will allow socialist society to compare them directly and make sensible choices about alternative production processes, based on overall needs. Socialist society is not a dream, but something for which the development of capitalism has prepared production. Remove the vast unproductive apparatus referred to above and you can see what a flood of labour power and resources would be available for useful production in a socialist society. Socialist freedom means the ability to accommodate all the many and varied styles of living, production systems, special and overall concerns that grab people in their interactions with the social and physical environment. Without the drag of private property and the market an abundant future is secure anyway.

Solutions At Election Time?

US presidential candidates have weighed in against capitalism. Donald Trump criticized Ford Motor Company, Apple Inc, and Kraft Heinz Co. for shipping jobs overseas. Bernie Sanders called financial markets 'a moral cesspool'. Ted Cruz accused Big Business of 'poking its snout in the trough of corporate welfare'. Hilary Clinton argues that the impending Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal should be blocked due to substandard labour and environmental practices. 

Obviously, they think they are the ones to put capitalism right and turn it into something good. Well, good luck with that. 

 John Ayers.

Capitalism: Sharks eat small-fry

WORLD SOCIALISM
ONE PLANET, ONE PEOPLE 

We live in a world if private property relationships—where the minority have and the millions have not. A world ruled by buying and selling with profit as the driving force. Competition and conflict dominate our lives. Men compete for jobs and capitalists compete for commerce. The sharks eat the small fry.

You are poor because you are deprived of the things you produce—because you let the 1% to exploit you. You will remain poor until you put an end to exploitation. The movement for socialism is born out of the miseries and enslavement of the multitude; it demands of its proponents sincerity and steadfastness. It is not a movement to provide a person, with a silver tongue, a ladder to climb out of oppressive conditions at the expense of others. Our emancipation depends upon ourselves and can only be accomplished by ourselves. Each new generation of radicals believe they have been sold -out by the previous generation, yet often the "dissenter" of today is the aspiring statesman of tomorrow.

Have you ever thought that socialism might be the answer? Not nationalisation, or some vague talk of public ownership but a world based upon common ownership of the means of wealth production. Socialism is the name given to a future state of society in which all the people will take a part in doing whatever is necessary, according to their capacities, and in return will receive whatever they require that is within the power of society to provide, with due regard to the needs of each. The more important of such things are food, clothing and shelter. A world where men will co-operate to serve the interests of all. Not production for buying and selling and killing, but to serve people's needs—for use, not for profit. We only require the best food and in sufficient quantity to keep us satisfied and healthy; it is not essential that we gorge ourselves in endless banquets. We only require the best of clothing and in sufficient quantity for comfort and adornment; it is not essential that we should make ourselves into fashion models striding the catwalk. We only require sufficient housing accommodation to enable us to live comfortably and free from foul smells and unsightliness; we do not require a mansion with rooms enough to get lost in. There are those who know not the meaning of a full belly of wholesome nutritious food, who wear rags and patched up hand-me-downs clothing and patchless, who live in slums and shanty towns without comfort or sanitation; we would see all them lifted out of their misery and placed in the midst of contentment and security. Socialism will be worldwide and means the abolition of classes. The Socialist Party works to this end. It is the only solution to major social problems.

A pipe dream you may say. But only so long as you and millions like you are prepared to waste your time dealing with the effects of capitalism instead of removing the causes. The Socialist Party offers you no easy way out. Socialism will not come about by marches, sit-downs, or days of prayer. Socialism requires the understanding of men and women. It is not a blind faith, but a conviction based on knowledge. The choice is in your hands. Either the present type of world continues with its wars and poverty, or you build the only desirable alternative that will be in harmony with social development. The only alternative to the capitalist system is a planet where everything is owned in common and controlled democratically — where there is free access to all wealth — where the sole aim of production is to satisfy human needs. There can be no socialism without conscious socialists; it is time to give up hope in the sterile fantasies of the reformists — it is time to take socialism seriously. The real choice before mankind is socialism or capitalism. Where do you stand?

Airey Neave and the tactics of illusion (1979)

Airey Neave and the tactics of illusion (1979)

From the May 1979 issue of the Socialist Standard

The killing of Airey Neave by an assassin’s bomb brought much huffing and puffing from politicians on the virtue of democracy. Margaret Thatcher said that Neave’s death “diminishes us, but it will enhance our resolve that the God-given freedoms in which he believed . . . will in the end triumph over the acts of evil men.” Some politicians have of course reacted hysterically, demanding blood letting. George Gardiner, Tory MP for Reigate, for instance, said that he “would gladly see every man and woman found guilty of causing death by an act of terrorism stood up against a wall and shot.” (Sunday Express1.4.79).

Had Neave been an ordinary citizen it is doubtful whether the incident would have made News at Ten, but then politicians are special cases. Indeed, Neave was reputed to be a man of outstanding qualities, a real Bulldog Drummond, who escaped from Colditz and worked with the French Resistance during the Second World War under the code name ‘Saturday’. Notwithstanding his fighting qualities, he was also said to be a “soft spoken” and "gentle” man. (Sunday Express 1.4.79). Thatcher said he was “a very dear friend” who was “strong to root out injustice.”

However, for all his reputed qualities of gentility, bravery and integrity, there was another side to his character. Neave was the Tory spokesman on Ireland, and as such advocated and supported vicious and repressive government. Neither he, nor Gardiner for that matter, expressed sympathy for the 13 victims of the "Bloody Sunday” massacre conducted by the British Army. Neither was he outspoken against the torture (sorry, inhuman treatment) of IRA suspects. In fact, Neave defended the now illegal methods of interrogation. He also approved of the activities of Murder Incorporated—Special Air Services—and wanted the death penalty reintroduced for “terrorist” offences (Sunday Mail1.4.79). In short, Neave was anything but gentle.

His death will therefore not be mourned by socialists, although we do strongly condemn the tactics of the so- called Irish National Liberation Army and other organisations who seek change by the bomb.

TERROR TACTICS

In recent years a number of “liberation organisations” have sought to achieve their political ends through violence. The Angry Brigade was one; the Red Brigades and Baader Meinhof Group were others. These claimed to represent the interests of the working class, although they had no mandate to do so. They sought justification for their acts in the passivity of the working class, who they regarded as blind and stupid for failing to recognise their own interests. They therefore had to be galvanised into an offensive against capitalism by an insurrectionary vanguard, who through acts of violence against the capitalist State would show the workers that the system was vulnerable and could easily be damaged. On seeing this the workers would awake from their political slumber and overthrow capitalism by armed struggle. At least, that is how the story goes; reality is somewhat different.

The tactic of terror is an old anarchist one. It came to prominence in Russia in the late nineteenth century, when a political group known as the People’s Will assassinated the Czar Alexander III. Since then various organisations have employed the tactic from time to time, assassinating leading political figures in a vain attempt at social or political transformation. By changing the leaders it was, and is, assumed that some change or collapse of the system will follow. All that happens however is the new leaders are appointed to carry out similar policies to their predecessors. It is just a simple case of new wine in old bottles.

Neither have these anarchistic groups made a favourable impression on the working class. Indeed, such actions have had the opposite effect. In Italy the recent assassination of ex Premier Aldo Moro brought millions of workers out on strike in a spontaneous protest against the murderous activities of the Red Brigades. Similar protests occurred in Birmingham a few years ago after the IRA had bombed a pub, killing a number of young people. The event led to the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act. So they are not even successful. Neither are they remembered. Names such as Prescott, Baader are quickly forgotten.

It might then be reasonable to ask why they engage in the activities in the first place, when the results seem so disappointing. Some no doubt take to it for the excitement. But the main reason is undoubtedly one of isolation. Because they have failed to gain the support of the working class by legitimate means, they abandon the hard, and more difficult task of propaganda in favour of what seems a quicker course—violence.

NO SHORT CUTS

We reject the notion that a gun rather than an idea can bring about socialism. It can only come about through the united class conscious action of the majority of workers. There are no short cuts or easy ways, just sheer hard and repetitive work. Not a glamorous as gun battles, not sensational enough to get front page treatment from the press, but in the end more worthwhile and lasting. For if you cannot convince a person to vote for an idea, you’ll never convince him to fire a gun for it. In the struggle to win over the working class for socialism violence has no role to play. We leave that to the followers of the forgotten romantics. As for the political lackeys of capitalism, like Neave, we offer no sympathy, just implacable hostility.

Bill Knox

Abandon faith in the leaders

Probably the most common retort in the Socialist Party we hear is “We’re fucked.” No matter what we do, our best efforts are insufficient. We’re losing badly, on every front. Those in power are hell-bent on destroying the planet, and most people don’t care too much about that. We have the power to control our own destinies, yet how have we used this power? We permit capitalism to continue misery and destruction. We have conquered the gods and devils of our forefathers yet we created other idols and belief systems to kneel before and worship…patriotism, nationalism…racism. We fight for freedom and against totalitarianism yet we allow a terrible economic despotism to prevail.  We no longer fight for industrial democracy. Capitalism, with its private ownership of the machinery of wealth production is the basic cause of our problems. There is no solution to be found in a system where these means of production are not owned by society as a whole.

The Socialist Party finds cause enough to complain that the working-class, who, in general, are either satisfied with things as they are or despair of any improvement in their lot. We find them too often caring little for the acquirement of knowledge about anything, and hedonistic in their enjoyments and squalid in their ideals. People fail to realise that the present system is based upon enslavement. The hooligan, the drunkard, the degenerate libertine and the rogue are all hideous products of an obsolete social system is what we contend; and when it is argued that the poor are poor because they “drink,” or because of their “ignorance,” we are easily able to show that they are created what they are by their environment. We are easily able to show that the evils of poverty tend to increase with the development of capitalism. The ignorance and apathy of the working-class exists but this does not prevent working people from understanding what every day it becomes easier for him to comprehend, - that the present system is based upon exploitation and enslavement, that our interests and those of the master-class are diametrically opposed, that therefore the master-class will always consciously or unconsciously try to keep us where we are – on our knees, and consequently that we must act wisely  and get rid of a master-class at once and for ever. The function of the Socialist Party is to speedily and effectively increase the opportunities for this awakening. Socialists are not fabricated. They are people who have reached a state of understanding about the society they live in and all its attendant problems and iniquities. Out of understanding arises the desire to forge an alternative, a new society free society from poverty, oppression, war, apathy. What really makes a socialist can be attributed only to the utilisation of one of the most fundamental faculties of the human brain: the ability to reason—to ask "why?" Why do things have to be this way? And by simply asking the question, you have already partly answered it: things are the way they are not because it is unavoidable but because we, the dispossessed working class, allow them to be.

It is not part of the socialist ease against capitalism that it is objectionable because it is corrupt. Capitalism without corruption would be just as oppressive. On the other hand, there is no doubt that the present social system, with its emphasis on competition, profit and material wealth, provides a framework within which corruption and other misconduct can flourish. In fact, we can go further and say that bribery and corruption are completely in keeping with capitalist “values”. In a dog-eat-dog business world, there can be no complaint if some members of the pack try to bend the rules in their favour. In any case, it would be difficult to see any true difference between what capitalism regards as corrupt and what it regards as normal business practice. Greedy and avaricious men cause more damage to the community than 100 or more thieves with whom judges pack the prisons. Of course, greed and avarice are acceptable when the motives behind "honest" profit-making means taking from the workers the fruits of their unpaid labour. The thieves who rob by means of exploitation — the “respectable" capitalist class — are lauded and ennobled, not imprisoned.

No matter how much it has been lied about, ridiculed and twisted from its original form, socialism is now, more than ever, needed to solve the crisis humanity finds itself in. Socialism is common ownership. Socialism is production for need. Socialism is real democracy. Socialism is for the global working class, who can use the vast productive powers for the free development of all. We now have that potential. The productive powers have been increased to a vast degree, yet people are still idle, starving, poverty-stricken, and homeless, while the machinery of production is misused or neglected. This must change. This will change. It is possible to house everyone. It is possible to feed everyone. It is possible for everyone to live a decent and fulfilling life as real people, and not just as objects on the labour market. The only thing stopping this is the outdated profit system that constrains production to the will of private property and privilege. We must abandon the faith misplaced in the leaders and apologists of capitalism and move on, ourselves, to our new global society, where the free development of each will be the condition for the free development of all. The need for knowledge, lest we be duped, is constantly forced upon us. It has become a habit for workers, in their struggles for better conditions, to depend upon the expertise of individuals supposedly possessing an unusual degree of intelligence necessary for instructing and conducting the struggle in the best way.

This dependence generally consists of a blind trust in a "leader," and a faithful following of directions wheresoever they may lead. The disasters that constantly accompany this leadership worship eventually bring about the fall of one popular idol, only to leave room for another to step up. The position is further complicated by a rivalry among the idols for the favours attached to leadership. As long as the minds of the workers is occupied by this blind and unreasoning trust in another so-called savior to accomplish that which one can accomplish readily and satisfactorily oneself, the condition of the majority of the people will continue one of slavery and misery. Ideas that have been fixed in the mind by habit are difficult to remove. When such ideas serve the interests of a ruling class, their removal becomes still more difficult. The idea of "Leadership" is of the latter kind. Born of the delegation of function in early societies it has grown into the slavish habit of placing the hands of others the power to settle the affairs of large groups almost as he wishes. Times innumerable, these popular leaders have used this influence to put their followers at the mercy of the enemy.

The leadership idea has cursed the working class movement from the beginning. The great man view breeds arguments as to whether this man is a good leader, or that man a bad. The energy that should be given to a study of principles is wasted in endless arguments over idols and apathy and discouragement often follow the finding of the idol's feet of clay. They make stepping stones of their followers to reach comfort and security. In working out our emancipation, workers must study the conditions that surround and oppress us. We must look to "great principles." and not to "great men" in our struggles.

He who would enter the land of promise, must first pave a path to the door. Armed with knowledge workers can steer our movements ourselves and abandon the slavish worship of leaders.