Is the world getting any better?

Our case is a simple one. The only remedy to the many social problems created by capitalism is socialism! Private ownership must give place to social ownership, and the working class must ever be confronted with the fact that the power is theirs and no other power can say them nay when they will it. The Socialist Party is often accused by political activists both radical and reformist and others of that ilk of being content with "talk, talk, ever more talk." They say we are continually make all sorts of dire threats against the capitalist class, but that we stop at that. When it comes to action, according to them, we are non-starters.

Now, what action can our fellow-workers take? They can with advantage take no action other than talking—with tongue and print and the internet—and organising, and using the vote, until such time as they have obtained control of the political machinery, for without that control they are helpless. Our critics must remember that until the working class gets that political control they, like us, are helpless, and we can do nothing but agitate, educate, and organise.

We do not seek violence and if we can accomplish our aims in a peaceful manner well and good. But if the enemy—the capitalist class —resist, then we must use all the forces of the State to impose our will. We shall use force in the knowledge that we will be backed by a conscious socialist working class. The issues to be addressed then will not be merely squabbles between sections of the capitalist class but it will be a question of the complete abolition of that class itself.

 With socialism, the immense powers of production existing to-day would if socially owned, provide plenty for all.  When socialism is established those powers will have reached a much higher degree of proficiency, and the best method of distribution will be to allow each as much as he or she desires of the social products. Each would contribute to, the social production according to his or her capacity, and it would be a waste of time and energy to measure out what each has. Today, for illustration, many municipalities supply water to their citizens on a “rate” and find it more economical to let them take what they require for domestic purposes than to charge according to the quantity used. Our sympathies go out to the millions destined to suffer because of the madness of capitalism, the millions who will in fact lend their support to the same system that has impoverished them, and who will always suffer until it dawns on them there is an alternative and that it is they alone who can bring it about.

Anomalous as it may sound, charity and cruelty are very closely akin, and although we may perhaps give our short-sighted humanitarians credit for a real desire to alleviate the sufferings of the vulnerable. We cannot but recognise that charity in its present form tends only to prolong the sufferings of the wage-workers all the world over. The root cause of the problem of this hungry world is the ownership of the means of wealth production by one small section of society. There is no shortage of food actually. Nature has not failed us. But the promoters of the Save the Children and Oxfam movements do not understand this. Their notions are capitalist notions. To them, all is well with the world except that millions are in danger of a terrible death of starvation. Under capitalism, the children of the workers are but potential wage-slaves. Their happiness does not count. It is nothing new to us to learn those same children somewhere are being starved to death. In New York, London, Paris, Rome, in fact, everywhere where capitalism exists children are starved and will continue to starve.

Capitalism has failed to solve the problem of hunger and malnutrition. There is, therefore, only one method left. That is the socialist method—the abolition of capitalism. Send all the aid you may and you but abrogate the misery of but an infinitesimal number of those who suffer. And what is more, the position must worsen. The sooner you realise that the sooner will you desire to end it. Does it need those heart-rending photographs we have been seeing of children, emaciated and twisted beyond recognition to bring home to you the rottenness and vile inhumanity of the system you tolerate? Do you plead ignorance of the misery and squalor that must confront you every day of your lives? We cannot believe that. Thus we tell you that we are the only socialists can save the starving children, and we cannot do that without your support. If, therefore, it hurts you to see babies die a terrible death; if it even hurts you to see them live terrible lives, your duty is plain. That is to wipe out the system which is responsible and to establish in its place a system that will mean security of life for the individual from the cradle to the grave.

It is true that we in the Socialist Party do not appeal to morality, that we deny that Socialism has any ethical basis. Socialism is a system of society and systems of society are not based on ideals, “good" or “bad.” A superficial look at history might suggest, for instance, that feudalism was based on Honour and capitalism on Selfishness. In fact, systems of society are based on the relations men enter into in producing wealth. In properly societies, that is societies in which access to the means of production is not free, these relations are class relations. The section of the community having control over access to the means of production are enabled to live off the surplus labour of the producing class.

Such systems of exploitation would be unable to survive if the various means of social control did not back up the dominance of the privileged class. The state, as the centre of social control, is the most important of these means. The other means of influencing men’s behaviour and attitudes such as religion, morality, literature, art and so on, similarly operate to preserve the system. When the mode of production changes enough to shift the centre of industrial control, a process is set is motion which sooner or later brings about a change in the entire social superstructure. A new class brought to prominence by the economic change, organises itself politically to win control of the state. At the same time, new ideas appear in religion, morality and the like, reflecting the interests of the rising class. Eventually, the institutions and ideas of the previous dominant class are swept away. This is how social change comes about and there is no reason to suppose that the change from capitalism to socialism will be any different. 

 In all our experience almost all the opposition which socialists meet with arises not really from any particular objection which people have to the socialists' goal; but from their extraordinary ignorance of the existing state of things in which they themselves live, which they often firmly believe does realise the aim of the Socialist Party as far as it is humanly possible for it to be realised.

A few decades back workers in their millions sprang forth at the first call of the capitalist class to go and fight the workers of another nation. Yet in his heart of hearts scarcely a man of them, if he dared to ask himself, would have said he had a home worth fighting for or a possession to defend. But because of something which he knows by the name of “Patriotism," but which he cannot truthfully define, he donned khaki or field-grey and learned to slaughter his fellows without thinking or troubling to understand the why and the wherefore.

 The Socialist Party does not appeal to individual self-interest but to the class interest of the working class. We say that socialism is in the interests of the working class and that it is up to them to establish it. Leaders come and go, but capitalism outlives them all, bringing the usual trail of misery and destruction in its wake. Only a socialist working class can do anything about that.  Socialism will create the conditions for all-around individual development, both practically and intellectually. The task of the Socialist Party is to help such understanding come about by appealing, not to morality or conscience, but to the interests of the working class as a class. Socialism is thus a class issue, not a moral issue. The emancipation of the working class involves also the emancipation of all mankind. The working class can free itself only by ushering in socialism, a world community in which production will be carried on purely and simply to satisfy the needs of the community. Socialism cannot be instituted by a series of measures based on the dictates of conscience. It demands a change in the real basis of society, a social revolution. 

Scots in Poverty

Poverty rates in Scotland are continuing to rise, official figures have suggested.

Between 2014 and 2017, 19% of people in Scotland were living in poverty which was up slightly on previous years.

The latest statistics also show that 8% of people in Scotland are in "persistent poverty".

How to Save the Planet

It is often suggested that a change of leader and/or party might make a real difference in our everyday life. Members of the Socialist Party know that it would not. We live under capitalism which operates according to its own economic laws, irrespective of changes of government, whether it be Conservative, Labour or Nationalist. The economic law of capitalism is that all enterprises, whether private or nationalized, are operated for profit. If their products cannot be sold at a profit, production is curtailed or brought to a stop. All governments administering capitalism, no matter what principles the individuals profess, have as a clause of their economic policy one which enables profits to flow. For instance, people often talk of there being a housing problem, but there is no such problem. There is no reason why enough good houses for all should not be built. The materials exist, so do the building workers and architects. What then stands in the way? The simple fact is that there is not a market for good houses since most people cannot afford to pay for them, and never will be because of the restrictions of the wages system. The economic system under which we live is man-made and can be altered by man’s action. You can go on frittering away the years in the sterile dispute whether the Conservatives, the Labour Party or whoever makes a better job of running capitalism or you can consider the alternative of ending capitalism and putting socialism in its place. The economic system under which we live is man-made and can be altered by mankinds’s action  but it demands self-reliance and bold thinking on the part of everyone.   Rely on your own experience and recognise that capitalism has never been and cannot be made to work in the interest of the working class. Either you take action to get socialism or you have to put up with the consequences of capitalism. There is no third choice! Socialism demands understanding, organisation and democratic action by a conscious working class. It calls for international co-operation of the world’s workers.

Your masters are not concerned with increasing the total quantity of wealth; their desire is for more surplus value i.e., the difference between the wealth you produce and the wages you receive. What they ask from you is more work from the individual worker, in order that the total wages bill can be reduced, the very conditions that have always made for increased unemployment.

It is in the nature of governments to promise to eradicate evils and make things better for the voters who elected them. It is also in the nature of capitalism to go on being an exploiting system and to be subject to periodical crises and depressions.  If you rely on the government’s schemes of reforms and in your simplicity believe their promises, they will strengthen the position of their own class, and correspondingly weaken the position of our class. If you support the Labour Party, they will sell your support for fat jobs. If you dream that nationalisation will save you, you will, when you awaken, find yourselves under the rule of the bureaucrat and technocrat—still wage slaves, exploited in the interest of all capitalists instead of that of a firm or corporation. The politicians who masterminded failed policies and the economists who advised them all look round for an excuse—the workers who didn’t work hard enough, the strikers who didn’t work at all, (even occasionally the workers who worked too hard and produced unsaleable surpluses), the speculators, the greedy bankers who pushed up interest rates, or the capitalists who didn’t invest enough. The non-Marxist economists have learned nothing and forgotten everything. 

As the Socialist Party keeps pointing out governments, of whatever political persuasion, exist to protect the interests of the capitalist class (i.e. the owners of the means of life). This they do in a number of ways—tariff barriers and subsidies to producers for example — always bearing in mind that by such measures they expect a healthier national capitalism to be the outcome.

The concern of many people about the effects of globalisation is justified. Globalisation enables international companies to manipulate their worldwide use of the cheapest and most defenceless labour to plunder natural resources, to buy off local power groups and by-pass or corrupt governments. The clear object is to maximise exploitation and profits. But this is globalisation in its corporate form, operating within a world capitalist system. It does not mean that, in itself, globalisation is a bad thing. It does bring its good things. For example, instant world communications means we can be aware of events in every country and this heightens the way we think globally.

In any case, global society is here to stay. There is no going back on a production system that is linked across the world. But the exploitative nature of this system in the hands of multinational corporations means that workers share a common interest which also goes beyond national boundaries. The problems of the great majority can only be solved by united world action.

The Socialist Party believes in the common humanity of all people. To the average person a Socialist Party member appears full of discontent who keeps complaining, is always grumbling yet she or he is working for the only thing worthwhile; i.e., the overthrow of the capitalist system and the establishment of socialism. The Socialist Party member claims that socialism is the only hope of the workers and that all else is an illusion. The Socialist Party sets out in its Declaration of Principles that the emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself. Special stress is laid on this because one of the greatest obstacles with which the workers are confronted is the idea, fostered by parties claiming to champion the cause of the working class, that leaders are necessary. So deep-rooted is this notion that we are called upon at our public meetings when stating our claim to be the only socialist party, to name our leaders. Our reply that we have no leaders is met with the incredulous retort: “But you must have leaders!" The word “leaders" implies not only those who lead but those, who are led. Now only those require, or suffer themselves to be, led who cannot see the way for themselves, and naturally, those who cannot see the way for themselves will not be able to see whether they are being led in the right direction or the wrong. Labour leaders, therefore, are able to render to the capitalists the very valuable service of misleading the workers. This is why the ruling class bestow praises and titles upon union leaders, and entreat the workers to follow their 'wise' leadership. The first work of the Socialist Party, therefore, is to spread abroad among the workers that political knowledge which alone can put them beyond the lure and treachery of leaders by showing them clearly the object they have to attain and the road they have to travel to attain it.

We have reached a critical moment in human history. Many of the most prominent scientists throughout the world are warning us that if we continue to think the way we think and live the way we live, there is a high probability we will be facing extinction.  Today dysfunction societally within and between nations makes it obvious to the observer. On the horizon is an even more ominous sign as the result of the ecological dysfunctionality of our world-wide economic system. This capitalist system is destroying our planet and is a threat to many forms of life on it, including our own.

The Price of Patriotism

Scotland's national football team's new yellow away kit has £103 price tag.

The adult shirt will set punters back £60, with another £28 for shorts and £15 for socks.

Youngsters wanting decked out like their heroes will see parents balking at the £80 cost. The junior shirt is £45, with £23 for shorts and £12 for socks.

The new home kit, unveiled in November, also costs £103. 

Drink and the poor

People in Scotland said to buy 20% more alcohol on average than those in England and Wales.

Scotland's poorest people suffer most from having easy access to alcohol in their area, researchers at Glasgow and Edinburgh universities found. Those on the lowest incomes were more likely to drink too much if availability was high. They have suggested the Scottish government should look at cutting the number of shops selling alcohol - particularly in areas of low income.

The study found the amount of alcohol consumed by people on the highest incomes was far less affected by the number of outlets near their homes.

The findings comes ahead of the introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol on 1 May. The move will raise the cost of the strongest, cheapest alcohol by setting a minimum price per unit - which the Scottish governments want to be 50p.

The team has shown  that there are more premises selling alcohol in the poorest parts of Scotland than in the wealthiest areas. They also highlighted that the poorest areas have the highest levels of consumption and alcohol-related harm.

Dr Niamh Shortt, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: "Low-income groups suffer most from alcohol-related harm, and our research shows that they are also at the greatest risk from its ubiquitous availability in our neighbourhoods. Alongside price, we need to address the easy availability of alcohol."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-43471097

Can Humanity Survive?

There is nothing to do with capitalism except to abolish it. The stupid callousness of capitalism and the futility of trying to reform it are brought home over an over again at every turn. That is capitalism, and while it endures all reform measures will be wrecked against the hard rocks of the capitalist basis of society. The chief defence of capitalism is the State, with its armed forces, controlled by the capitalist class, their hold on it being backed up by the concentrated activities of capitalist politicians, parties, Press, and propaganda instruments. So long as they retain the confidence of the mass of workers, capitalism is impregnable. What is the remedy? It will come through changing the face of the struggle. When the Socialist Party can force forward the issue socialism versus capitalism so that it becomes the issue at elections and between elections, the workers will be on the high road to greater unity than has ever been known before.  The Socialist Party perceives that the task before them is a huge one, but time and circumstances are on our side. Socialism cannot be brought into being by piecemeal methods any more than capitalism can be reformed out of its existence. Until Socialism is accomplished, all the half-loaves are capitalist bread, given by capitalists for capitalist purposes, to permit their dominance to persist. To the workers, the supreme task of their liberation from capitalist control will exist despite all the half-loaves of the social reformers.

It is an old story, told and re-told by Socialists, that rent, interest, and profit are but different names given to express the various modes of capital’s operations. To the working class, it is mainly a matter of academic interest only as to what becomes of the spoils of their exploitation; the important thing is the fact of exploitation.

For the benefit of those who have neither the time nor the inclination to refer to his larger and more technical analysis in “Capital," we shall draw their attention to his smaller work entitled “Value, Price and Profit.” Here we find the following statements set out to indicate to the workers that the holy trinity of capital may divide and sub-divide the swag stolen from the workers as they will, but the position is their business, not ours.

Says Marx: 

“Rent, Interest and Industrial profit are only different names for different parts of the surplus value of the commodity. . . For the labourer himself it is a matter of subordinate importance whether that surplus value, the result of his surplus labour, or unpaid labour, is altogether pocketed by the employing capitalist or whether the latter is obliged to pay portions of it under the name of rent and interest to third parties. Suppose the employing capitalist to use only his own capital and to be his own landlord, then the whole surplus value would go into his pocket."

So much, therefore, about our finance capitalists. Socialists want to remove these as part of the entire capitalist system, and nothing is to be gained by our merely concentrating our attention on one aspect of capitalism alone. Capitalism will continue whichever of the political parties comes to power. What we see today is a wholesale embrace of the reformist proposals, along with attempts to create whole new reformist institutions to replace the discredited ones yet this system is once again proving itself to be unreformable. Reformism is a proven failure and the Left’s rehashed reformism has even less viability. Its programmes are worse than illusory: it is dangerously misleading. They are cheerleading the few left-leaning reformist politicians who still remain, Corbyn and Sanders, who openly advocate class collaboration. Working class power is the essential condition for far-reaching social change. The Socialist Party is laying the base for a future mass socialist organisation capable of challenging and defeating capitalism.

The class struggle disappears with socialism. There being no class struggles, there is now no need for a State, and the State withers away. The army and navy are not necessary. Police disappear. The basis for crime is gone since labour is so productive that all the wants of life can easily be obtained. Such criminals as may remain are treated as sick individuals to be pitied, hospitalised and rehabilitated until they again can return to society. socialism there is laid the basis for a new type of family life, the ending of the misery and despotism that mark familial relations. A complete emancipation of women and children occurs with an entirely new upbringing for the younger generation. As in politics, in the home, government over persons is transformed into administration of things. In socialism, the policy will be “from each according to ability and to each according to needs.” Thus the weak and the vulnerable will be given more. The gap between theory and practice, between the unskilled labourer and the professional scientist, becomes entirely closed. Education will have enabled all to be scientists, at the same time encouraging scientists to use their hands in manual worker.  Elimination of all toil in work will enable the worker to become an artist, to fuse into one both work and recreation, and to combine the relationship with nature.

Capitalism has failed miserably to provide the basic necessities of life for hundreds of millions of workers around the world. We want a society whose workers run everything in the interests of the world's workers. We want a system that encourages every worker to become involved in running society; that trains everyone to act for the common good and does not indoctrinate people to "look out for number one."

Despite capitalist denials, socialism thrives today in the Socialist Party. 

There is a vision

 Is it possible for capitalism, a society organised in the interests of profits for a handful of people who live off the exploitation of the overwhelming majority of the people of the world to use new technology for constructive purposes in the interests of mankind? The answer is, of course, no. A class society which lives by exploitation can only subordinate scientific invention to the interest of private profit. The destruction of the world is a grim reality unless the social order of capitalism is abolished and replaced by socialism, the society of all the people. Socialism is not some Utopian scheme. Capitalism has created the economic conditions for socialism. Today there is social production but no social ownership. Socialism will bring social ownership of social production. It is the next step in the further development social evolution. Socialism will be won through the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the capture of political power by the working class. In socialism, the working people will take over the economic forces developed by capitalism and operate them in the interests of society.

Socialism will not mean government control.  It means the end of exploitation of one person by another.  The main means of production – the factories, mines, mills, big workshops, offices, agricultural farms, transportation system, media, communications, medical facilities, big retailers, etc., will be transformed into socialist commonly owned property. Private ownership of the main means of production will end. Socialism will open the way for great changes in society. The economy will be geared not to the interest of profit, but to serving human needs. This will release the productive capacity of the economy from the limitations of profit maximisation. A great expansion of useful production and the wealth of society will become possible. Rational economic planning will replace the present anarchistic system. Coordination and planning of the broad outlines of production by civic agencies will aim at building an economy that will be stable, benefit the people, and steadily advance.

To administer socialism, the people will establish a social democracy, a genuine democracy for the masses of people.  The people will elect officials and representatives at all levels of government and the economy. There will be the right of recall and referendum. Workers will be able to manage democratically their own workplaces through workers’ councils and elected delegates. In this way, workers will be able to make their workplaces efficient places that can serve their own interests as well as society’s. Social democracy would be far broader than what is presently possible since the people’s actual voices will be heard, not simply those of the rich. The working class, through its own political party, the Socialist Party, will play an important role in society through education, persuasion and by the example of its own organisational structure in the construction of socialism. There will be no overnight miracles under socialism, but the way will be cleared to achieve a decent, meaningful and productive life for all working people. There will still be problems inside socialism since human progress always advances through overcoming obstacles and contradictions. Social democracy will be the form of the political rule of the working class.  Socialism will be a truly classless society. The people will have unprecedented possibilities for the improvement of their lives. Socialism is indeed a society where labour power is no longer a commodity.  under capitalism, this medium of exchange has taken off with a life of its own. For the capitalist, the aim of production is not to produce goods to use, but instead, it is a drive to accumulate capital through exploitation–simply put, to make more money. Once money becomes the aim of production, labour power has to become a commodity. In other words, a worker’s labour power can be bought and sold. Labour power as a commodity is the necessary complement of the private ownership of the means of production by the capitalists. Only by buying the worker’s labour power can the capitalist make profits. Workers produce more than what the capitalist pays them in wages and benefits. This is the basis of exploitation of the workers. What the workers produce over and beyond the socially necessary labour for keeping themselves and their families alive and working is surplus value. Surplus value is the only source of profits and is ripped off by the capitalists.

With socialism, labour power is no longer a commodity. And in a socialist society not only do you no longer sell your labour power to the capitalists. You are no longer the exploited class, but the ones who run society. It will be the first time the vast majority become the rulers rather than the ruled. That’s why the socialist revolution has to be so thoroughgoing, so far-reaching and is so difficult.

United Voices

The world about us is falling to pieces. The need for change is widely realised.  Technically there is no major problem. The difficulty is a social one. Capitalism is maintained by class power and will only be displaced by the one class that no society can do without? Those who work. If the working people want power they will have to take it. It will not be given to them. The basic strategy for the working class is to obtain political power and capture the State machine. In the UK the most effective way is to contest and win elections. What is socialism? What are we actually striving for? How will this new society to be achieved? These questions is receiving even more attention today because of the pending catastrophes the planet faces. Without a socialist revolution, an apocalypse threatens the whole of mankind. Humanity can be saved from barbarism that menaces it only by a revolutionary working class.

Socialism is rule by the working people and they will decide how socialism is to work.  The task of the Socialist Party, therefore, is to help and guide the transfer of power from capitalists to working people by revolution. Marx and Engels made no attempt to proclaim in advance how a socialist society is to be developed. To use the word “socialism” for anything but working people’s power is to misuse the term. Nationalisation is not socialism. Nationalisation is simply state capitalism, with no connection to socialism. Nor is the “Welfare State” socialist. A socialist state (the working people in power) will certainly give high priority to health, education, art, science, and the social well-being of all its members. That is why it exists, that is the purpose of its economy. But “welfare” in a capitalist state, to improve the efficiency of that state as a profit-maker, is not socialism but a form of state capitalism.  It can be an improvement on capitalism with no welfare, just as a 40-hour week is an improvement on a 60-hour week. But it is not socialism. 

Socialism will eventually replace capitalism worldwide because it is economically superior and would provide a better quality of life for its people. socialism should be far more democratic than the most democratic capitalist state. Socialism provides freedoms for working people that capitalism cannot offer. Socialism provides the well-being capitalism promised but did not deliver. 

The “practical” political parties sneer at the Socialist Party as idealistic utopians campaigning for the unattainable without any immediate social value, judging ourselves from the limited horizon. It is our conviction that the socialist revolution will triumph based on an examination of evidence, upon our Marxist analysis of the social forces at work. Socialism is that form of society in which there is no such thing as a propertyless class, but in which the whole community collectively own the means of production—the land, factories, offices, mines, transport and all the means whereby wealth is created and distributed to the community. The basic principles of socialist society are diametrically opposite to those of capitalist society in which we live. Socialism stands for social or community property. Capitalism stands for private property. Socialism is a society without classes. Capitalism is divided into classes—the class owning property and the propertyless working class.

The capitalist class understands the need for political action. It is prepared in order to crush the attempts of Labour seeking to organise its forces. The workers are confronted by the whole economic force of capital in alliance with its political force—the State. Can the Socialist Party, therefore, neglect the political field, which is at present one of capital’s strongest bastion? The Socialist Party says no. We dare not leave the class enemy entrenched in any position from which it can threaten the working class. Revolutionary political action has not failed for the simple reason that it has never been tried or used. There has been plenty of Labour Party electioneering and parliamentary reformism, but that is not revolutionary political action. The time has now arrived for the workers' movement in this country to define clearly its attitude towards political action. Many are opposed to political action for no other reason than that they have not realised all that it means. The Socialist Party believes in the political weapon as the instrument by means of which the workers can capture the State in order to uproot it. We are convinced that socialism is the only hope of the workers. Neither reforms nor palliatives can in any way remove the great economic contradictions inherent in capitalism. The time has now arrived when all revolutionary socialists must either join hands with the Socialist Party or strengthen the hands of the reformists.  The Socialist Party appeals for members. In these days of pending global disaster, it is the obligation of every socialist to best assist the movement. No false sense of duty to some party which is not revolutionary should prevent anyone from throwing in his or her lot with the principles Socialist Party. Everything must be subordinated to the class war against capitalism. We, therefore, appeal to those comrades who complain of the shortcomings of their present organisations to come help us to convince our fellow-workers. With an increased membership our work can be extended and intensified. The growth of that work can only go on if new members come in. By taking your place inside our organisation you will become identified with the most fearless and virulent party of socialism in the country. Outside the Socialist Party your efforts are probably being exercised in a wrong direction; inside the Socialist Party, your efforts will be directed to the emancipation of the working class and the liberation of humanity.

'Socialism's Lost Century' (Glasgow public meeting, 21/3)

Glasgow Branch Meeting

Wednesday, 21 March
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Maryhill Community Central Halls,
304 Maryhill Road,
Glasgow G20 7YE



  Brian Gardner will give an introductory talk on the “Centenary of the Russian Revolution.”

The centenary of the Russian Revolution has just passed - with more of a whimper than a bang. From 1917 the SPGB has had a unique perspective on the Bolshevik misadventure. So, 100 years on, is there anything of value to be learned from the whole sorry event? Would it all have been different without the challenges of World War then Civil War? Was belated industrial development the problem? Did Lenin advance Marx's materialist view of history? What was the nature of the Soviet system? Did the Soviet Union not inspire workers around the world? The speaker will open on these and other questions for general discussion


The Left sees the Russian Revolution as a model to follow and have appointed themselves as the heirs of the Bolsheviks to lead "the masses". The Russian Revolution as a model? No thank you. It only led to state-capitalism, and most people understandably don't want to go down that path again. When the Socialist Party was told that socialism had been obtained in Russia without the long, hard and tedious work of educating the mass of workers in the ideas and principles of socialism, we not only deny it but referred our critics to Lenin's own confessions.  His statements prove that even though a vigorous and small minority may be able to seize power for a time, they can only hold it by modifying their plans to suit the ignorant majority. The minority in power in an economically backward country are forced to adapt their programme to the undeveloped conditions and make continual concessions to the capitalist world around them.  We have often stated that because of a vast population lacking socialist consciousness, Russia was a long way from accomplishing socialism. We were not proven wrong.

Racism in Scotland

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf and Labour MSP Anas Sarwar have told BBC Scotland that racism and Islamophobia are getting worse in Scotland. They both said they frequently received violent death threats via social media and in emails.

The MSPs said members of the Muslim community and other faiths had reported increasing levels of abuse. This included on the street and while engaged in work.

Yousaf said the "vile abuse" targeted at him was on a weekly and, at times more frequent, basis. The minister, who encountered racial abuse growing up, said what shocked him now was the level of violence in the messages sent to him. He said: "People will constantly refer to taking a bullet to me. I think 99% of them are probably mouth and no trousers, but that being said if the 1% take up that threat it is very, very serious indeed." Yousaf added: "What is worrying is that young people are seeing this face to face now. We are are hearing more Islamophobic and racist remarks right to our faces, and people are feeling emboldened post-Brexit and because of other factors too."

Sarwar said he had received threats on social media, in emails and in message left on his office phone. They included threats to burn down his offices. Other abuse included questions about his loyalties to Scotland and the UK and that he was part of an "undercover mission to impose Sharia law". He said that while he and Mr Yousaf were "blessed in a way" of having a platform to highlight and challenge the abuse, the majority of people who were targeted in the same way were too frightened to their experiences in public. Sarwar said: "In wider society, it is the 'dinosaurs' who will say stupid things and crass, offensive things, but we shouldn't pretend it will be phased out with age and time." He said not just Muslims, but people of other faiths, including Sikhs, were encountering the same types of abuse.

 Yousaf added that unlike previous generations who felt they had suffer their abuse in silence, people today were prepared to bring it out in the open in an effort to tackle it.

Our Policy Is Simple: Socialism

Socialism is a theory of a system of human society, based on the common ownership of the means of production and the carrying on of the work of production by all for the benefit of all. In other words, socialism means that the land, the factories and offices, the transport and communication networks and all such things as are necessary for the production of the comforts of life should be public property, just as our public roads, our public parks, and our public libraries are shared today, so that all these things should be used by the whole people to produce the goods that the whole of the people require. The idea of socialism is the co-operative commonwealth. The socialist revolution consists of the entire process, on a world scale, through which the socialist mode of production is established and supplants the capitalist mode of production. The Socialist Party does not put forward its goal as a utopia, as a mere ideal of what would satisfy people’s needs and make them all happy, but as a practical attainment which is made necessary by the actual conditions of modern society.

Only through socialism can the contradictions of modern capitalist society be solved and the modern technological forces of production be fully utilised. The socialist revolution is the abolition of capitalist private property, the abolition of all exploitation of man by man, the social ownership of the means of production and their planned use for the benefit of the whole of society, leading to abundance and brotherhood. Socialism is a society without class antagonisms, in which the people themselves control their means of life and use them for their own happiness.  Socialism is not inevitable. What has been termed its ‘inevitability’ consists in this, that only through socialism can human progress continue? But there is not and cannot be any absolute deterministic inevitability in human affairs since man makes his own history and chooses what to do. What is determined is not his choice, but the conditions under which it is made, and the consequences when it is made. The meaning of scientific socialism is not that it tells us that socialism will come regardless, but that it explains to us where we stand, what course lies open to us, what is the road to life.

Socialism means production for use and not for profit. It means that one working class is not pitted against the others in wars, It means that one worker is not pitted against the other in the fight for a job. It means that one worker is not cutting the throat of the other by producing at lower wages than the other. The criteria for production under socialism would be – how much is needed? Some people will argue that it can’t work, it’s a utopia. We can only answer that capitalism has demonstrated that IT can work and society organized on the basis of production for use would have even more of a chance of working than our present economic system. This system cannot give peace and plenty to its people, socialism can and will. Bronterre O'Brien, the Chartist leader, coined the phrase ‘social democracy’ but by which he meant democratic participation as distinct from mere voting rights.

Most people wonder what the future holds for them, their family and their friends. They want to know if it is possible to see a future free from the nagging worries of today, free from the poverty for millions and the homelessness. Will wages be able to keep up with prices, be enough to cover the payments on the house, the furniture or the car? Will there even be work to be had? Will there be peace in the world or nuclear annihilation? People ask, can there be such a thing as a secure and happy future for all, or must it always be a rat race? Is it inevitable that a small number of rich should forever cream off the benefits of modern technology, while the rest of us spend our days doing tedious boring work, whether in the factory, building site, supermarket or in the home? Are things arranged like this for always? But people know that life can be improved to make it better for all if the way our society is run was re-ordered. The conviction that members of the Socialist Party hold that life can be made happier and more harmonious for all comes from our study of life as it really is, from the lessons learnt from the experience of the past and of fighting for a better future.

It is not “human nature” that is the cause of the problems people face today. It is the way society is organised, with a minority of people owning and controlling the wealth. The vast majority of the people are excluded from any real say in the running of society. This is what lies at the root of the problems that working people face. It is this system, which we call capitalism, that cannot provide the good things of life for all. It is this that must be changed. The working people who have produced all the wealth around us must come into ownership and control of what is their own by right so that they can then build the society and produce the things they want. The Socialist Party believe that conditions can be changed for the better if the people are prepared to end capitalism. Our experience confirms the truth of our way of looking at human society. It does not matter how solid and permanent the old social order may look, through the struggle of the working people it can be replaced to correspond more to the demands of the times and the aspirations of the people. Socialism means, above all else, that political power has been taken out of the hands of the capitalists and their representatives and placed in the hands of the people. It means that the political power of the State is used immediately to place private property into common ownership.

From the present day organisation of production for private profit, the aim will be changed to production for use, production of what is wanted and needed by the people. Work will become more interesting and more meaningful to millions as its results will go entirely into benefits for the people. As more goods are produced, so working hours will be shortened. Industry will have a completely different purpose with socialism - to serve the people, not the interests of the privileged few.  Democracy will be extended in a way not possible under capitalism. Socialism will enable us to overcome the brakes on the progress of capitalism. It will release the creative energies of the mass of the people, making it possible to meet their needs in food, clothing, and shelter, and will open vast horizons of cultural and educational possibilities for millions. Mankind will be freed from worry about basic material needs as we know them today and will be able to meet new ones of which we as yet have no conception.  Class differences will, in fact, cease to exist. Man will be able to develop his own personality and talents to the full. With the harnessing of science and technology to industry, boring and repetitive work will be eliminated. Work for all will become as it is today for only a very small minority—interesting and satisfying. The essential difference between town and country will be ended, as housing, travel and cultural facilities become available to all people. The boundaries between mental and physical labour will be removed as all people receive the freedom and means by which to exercise their potential, their talents, and abilities.

Life for all will be plentiful, secure, happy and interesting. Winning socialism will end of those worries about wages, housing, poverty, peace that dominate our lives today. The building of this new society in our country is the aim of the Socialist Party.

Human solidarity will encircle the globe

The coming year promises to be a busy one for the Socialist Party. The worsening of workers' conditions means that much must be done to explain how to end capitalism. However, discontent does not necessarily translate into support for the revolutionary socialist option. While there are many reasons for this, one of the most important is that at the present time the socialist alternative does not appear practical to many. If more fellow-workers are to be won to the cause of socialism it is clear that we must greatly advance in our ability to explain the advantages and feasibility of socialism and how we can achieve it.

For too many, the word “socialism” is closely associated with the former USSR and it satellite states in Eastern Europe. While these state-capitalist regimes were never socialist – for socialism means that the workers hold power, not a handful of privileged bureaucrats – we never stop hearing that these countries typify socialism. As a result, many workers remain sceptical about whether genuine working class rule can ever be established.

It is clear we must expose these distortions of what socialism is and reveal to working people what real socialism is. We must make a start because the study, debate, and discussion of these issues are essential if the socialist movement is to win over workers in the battle of ideas against the stereotype disinformation from pro-capitalist intellectuals and academics. Working people are looking for a change. But they remain to be convinced that socialism can provide them with the better life and improved well-being that they seek. A new generation will come to our movement and dedicate their lives to it will not be willing to squander their energy on little things and little aims.  They will be motivated by nothing less than the vision of a new world. 

Socialism will bring about the transformation of human activity.  There will exist freedom from labour to an ever-increasing extent as the new technology of robotics and automation advances productivity and reduces the amount of labour time required from the individual. In the socialist society, when there will be plenty for all and where there is abundance, people will have no further use for money. Wages will become obsolete. Prices for goods redundant. In socialism, all will share in the benefits of abundance, not merely a favoured few at the top. Our socialist society of universal abundance will be regulated by the standard, “From each according to ability—to each according to needs.”  Today people are haunted by insecurity, undermined by fear for their future and the future of their children. They are never free from the anxiety that something bad will happen, to be deprived of an education and proper food and clothing for oneself and one's family.  In the socialist society of shared abundance, this nightmare will be lifted. They will be free from fear, and this greatly affects their attitude toward life and their enjoyment of it. Humanity will get a chance to show what it is really made of. In the new society, everybody will be an artist and every artist will be a worker.  The separation between manual and intellectual labour will be broken down. The division between specialised knowledge of single subjects and ignorance on the rest will be eliminated. People will not fear to love their neighbour lest they are taken advantage of, nor be ashamed of disinterested friendship, free from all self-interest and calculation. There will be powerful impulses to give things to each other, and the only possible way of giving will be by doing, by making. There will be no chance to “buy” a present for anybody—because nothing will be for sale; and besides, everybody will be free to take anything he needs from the superabundant general store of material things rolling from the assembly lines. Presents, to mean anything, will have to be made and such gifts will be really treasured and displayed on special occasions. Everybody will be able to live comfortably and to travel freely, without passports or visas. Why shouldn’t we, with all our abundance, travel around to explore the diversity of our planet. There will be no more private property, except for some personal effects. Consequently, there will be no more crimes against private property—which are 90% or more of all the crimes committed today—and no need of all these huge apparatuses for the prevention, detection, prosecution, and punishment of crimes against property. No need for police, judges, lawyers, prisons, jailers.

With the end of classes and their conflicting interests there will be no more “politics”, because politics is essentially an expression of the class struggle; and no more parties, as we know them now. There will be differences and debates, we must assume, but they will not be based on separate class interests. The people will turn their attention then to that most important problem of all—the problem of the free development of the human personality. In the class-free society of the future there will be no state. The state will wither away for the state is the most concentrated expression of violence. Where there is violence, there is no freedom. The society of the free and equal will have no need and no room for violence and will not tolerate it in any form.  People will recover some of the virtues of our older hunter-gatherer society, which was based on solidarity and cooperation, and improve them and develop them to a higher degree.

Perhaps it will be our misfortune not to be privileged to live in the socialist society of the future, It is our destiny and our mission is to clear the way for its establishment. No matter whether we personally see the dawn of socialism or not, no matter what our personal fate may be, the cause for which we fight has social evolution on its side to bring all mankind a new epoch. It is enough for us to do our part to hasten on the day. That’s what we’re here for. That’s all the incentive we need. And the confidence that we are right and that our cause will prevail, is all the reward we need.

One World - One People

The world, as they say, is getting smaller every day. The marvels of modern communications have diminished the geographical obstacle of distance.  The world economy, the global market, is more integrated today than we ever before realised. Yet the world remains divided up into nations, with frontiers and barbed wire, passports, and immigration controls, customs duties and 180 or so varieties of currency. Nations are demarcated by states, which have carved up the whole world into often quite arbitrary patches of territory in the last couple of centuries. The world is also in crisis. The crises produce turmoil. Despite this, states remain jealous of their sovereignty, competing with each other for shares in world production and trade to manage and command national economies.

Socialist solidarity springs the practical experience of the workers who felt that they had to cooperate with each other across frontiers and boundaries in order to defend their interests, their wages, and their working conditions. The day-to-day experience of a man standing alongside a foreigner brought an understanding of common interests, an instinctive kind of internationalism. In the ranks of the working class there went on an incessant competition and scramble for jobs. While the capitalist engaged in commercial rivalry and trade wars, fighting for markets, the workers were competing with each other for a place on the factory floor, often underselling the price of their labour. Socialists are well aware of this very real and unedifying element in the existence of the working classes in a society where dog-eat-dog competition permeated every aspect of social life. This strife can only end with the abolition of private property in the means of production – that is, with the abolition of capitalism.

The aim of the modern labour movement is to curb the competitiveness of the workers, to bring under control that individualism which made them an easy prey for capitalist exploitation. The aim of the labour movement is to instill in the workers the sense of solidarity which would benefit them all as a class. That was the origin of the trade unions and the origin of modern socialism. ‘Workers of the world, unite!’ is nothing else but a call to eliminate the effect of competition between workers within each country and to eliminate it also on an international scale. From this point of view, nationalism was, in the first instance, the workers’ self-destructive competitiveness; internationalism was their solidarity transcending national boundaries.

 Marx and Engels insisted that ‘the working men have no country’. They argued that the nation-state was alien to the interests of the proletariat and that in order to advance their interests workers must ‘settle matters’ with the bourgeoisie of each state, that workers must challenge the power of their ‘own’ capitalist class directly. This opened the possibility of ‘the common interests of the whole proletariat, independently of all nationality’. It also implied practical activity by workers to organise in mutual solidarity across national borders. Socialists maintain that workers must free themselves of patriotism and national superiority in their own interests, for without discarding these aspects of bourgeois ideology they would never themselves be free.

We oppose nationalism. By nationalism, the bosses really mean that workers must respect capitalist borders. These borders are artificial; they exist to divide workers and keep different sets of bosses in power. Workers need no borders. Workers in one part of the world are not different from or better than workers in another. Nationalism creates false loyalties. Workers should be loyal only to other workers, never to a boss. We endorse the revolutionary slogan: "Workers of the world, unite!"