Recalling the Socialist Party of North America

Manifesto of the Socialist Party
of North America (1911)

In 1910, several branches of the Socialist Party of Canada, located in Toronto and Southern Ontario, split away to form the Socialist Party of North America. The SPNA was strongly influenced by the Socialist Party of Great Britain, and a former SPGB member, Moses Baritz, played a key role in its founding. As the title of its Manifesto indicates, the party took a strong position against any support for reforms.

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"Emancipation not Palliation"

Socialism vs. Capitalism

To understand socialism, one must necessarily understand the present social system; i.e., capitalism.

Under capitalism, society is divided into hostile classes: an owning capitalist class, whose members have ownership of the various parts of the instruments of wealth production.

This includes: The land, the factories, the railroads, the mines, and steamships, etc., upon which the whole of the people are dependent for their existence.

A working class, whose members possess nothing but their labor power, which is useless to the worker unless he can have access to the raw material and the machinery of production, which is owned by the capitalist class.

This being so, the worker, in order to live, must sell his labor power to the capitalist or capitalist concern.

This labor power that the worker sells to his employer is used for the production of wealth, for which the worker receives what is termed wages.

Wages are the price of labor power; that is to say, the capitalist will have to return to the worker the amount of necessities he must consume while exerting his labor power. This amount will vary with the value of these necessities and the standard of living, but it will invariably be less than the amount of goods his labor power produces. This is a necessity, not alone of this system, but of any social system of wealth production in which only a part of the members of society are actually engaged in useful labor; so that when a man sells his labor power a number of hours for a certain wage, the amount of necessaries to produce his wages is always smaller than the amount of labor which the employer receives from him, the difference between what the worker receives as wages and what his labor power produces during his working time, constitutes the sole source of unearned income, i.e., capitalist profits. Here we see laid bare the secret and mysterious source of the wealth of those, who, without producing themselves, obtain possession of the wealth of society.

Capitalism had its beginnings in the development of industry and commerce. With the application of machinery to productive industry, a tremendous change has followed in the whole superstructure of society. With the development of the hand tool into the machine, the independent mechanic has been forced into the factory, divorced from the means of production, a dependent on the machine owner.

As the machinery increases in size and cost, so does it squeeze out the weaker capitalist, whilst the stronger ones unite into combines and trusts; so that we see competition increasing among the workers, whilst among the capitalists combination is the rule.

Thus does capitalism go steadily onward; first an individual competitive state, then on to collectivism, less and less competitive. Surely this cannot last for ever! A point is reached where it becomes unbearable for the workers. Collective labor and increasing competition among them clash with the collective capitalism and increasing combination of the capitalist. The contradiction must be abolished. The expropriators must be expropriated, the workers who collectively use the tools of production must also collectively own them. Classes in society abolished and a new order of society inaugurated in which poverty may give place to comfort, privilege to equality and slavery to freedom.

How will this transformation from capitalism to socialism be accomplished, and who will bring it about?

Socialists maintain that social progress since written history has always been through the struggle of classes with opposing interests. These interests to-day are represented by the capitalists, who are the rulers and the workers who are the ruled.

Hence, the next step in social progress must lie in the victory of the workers.

The capitalists, however, are powerfully entrenched behind the state, which is the powers of government; this includes the legal, civil, and armed forces; this is the political power controlled by the capitalists in their interests, viz., to preserve their ownership in the means of wealth production. But in the hands of the class conscious workers these would be used as an instrument for their emancipation.

Therefore, to accomplish their universal freedom, the workers must be organized into a political party of their class with a full knowledge of their conditions, and the meaning of the momentous act it is called upon to accomplish, viz., the emancipation of the workers from slavery and establishment of a new order of society based upon the ownership of the means of wealth production, by and in the interest of the whole community. With this object in view, we solicit the support of all members of the working class. Our slogan must be: "Workers of the world, unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains, a world to gain."

The Price Tag On Health

Walkerton is in the news again. Its been 18 years since a deadly E.coli outbreak devastated this rural town, 150 kilometers northwest of Toronto. Seven people died; 2,500, which is half the town, became ill. Walkerton's water supply became contaminated. A heavy rainstorm washed cow manure carrying a strain of E.coli into a town well and because of improper chlorination, the bacteria was not destroyed. 

Many were sick with gastrointestinal issues like bloody diarrhea and were given a 30 per cent chance of high blood pressure and kidney damage. Twenty-two children had permanent kidney damage, but treatment stopped the illness from getting worse. This was one of the worst public health disasters in Canadian history.

 On May12 the Toronto Star focused on its front page the plight of ex-Ontario Police Officer Robbie Schnurr, who visited Walkerton on a hot day 18 years ago and had the misfortune to drink some water and has been deteriorating ever since. He said the infection destroyed his immune system and led to a neurological disorder that causes the body's immune system to break down and destroy the sheath that covers the nerves. 

To quote Schnurr, ''There's nothing to look forward to, there's no goals in life, there's nothing''. 

Therefore Schnurr fulfilled his wish for a doctor-assisted death. The whole Walkerton tragedy was caused by two men on the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission who did not have sufficient training for the job – something that saved money, one supposes, but to emphasize that under capitalism there is a price tag on everything.

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

Workers have no stake in capitalism

All the hopes of a better future and the promises of prosperity just around the corner keep crashing down, time after time. Fewer and fewer people are satisfied with the status quo. But the powerful ideology of “There Is No Alternative” (TINA) has constrained many people’s political imagination and consigned them to political apathy; our task as socialists is to convince them that there is, indeed, an alternative to capitalism. Discussions about socialism inevitably depend on what is meant by “socialism” in the first place. Socialism means a class-free society, and a class-free society means that a privileged minority is not in a position to enjoy the wealth, while the majority live only on their labour to produce it. It means especially that privileged individuals who do have excess income cannot invest it in the instruments of production with which others work, thus reducing them to a position of fixed subservience. It means an end of rent, profit, and interest on stocks and bonds, an end of “surplus value,” an end of the exploitation of labour. The Socialist Party does not hide the fact that we are consistent enemies of capitalism. Our aim is to replace capitalism by socialism because it is absolutely necessary to the survival of civilisation. We hold that capitalism has outlived its usefulness. We are convinced that if capitalism is allowed to continue, we will be plunged into barbarism. In a word, we hold that capitalism is bankrupt and that if humanity is to advance it must move on to socialism. A socialist society means peace, security, prosperity, freedom, and equality - all the things that the working people, the little people of society, have always wanted and longed for.

Capitalist society, like all class societies, is divided into unequals. So long as one class continues to own the means of production, and another class owns nothing but its ability to work, which it is compelled to sell to the other class in order to live – the best government in the world, composed of the best men and adopting the best laws, cannot possibly establish equality between the two classes. If one class owns, it will always exploit and rule the class that does not own.  The capitalist government is an instrument for maintaining the power over society of the capitalist class and for suppressing the class that is ruled over, the workers. A machine whose basic function is to maintain the rule of one class over another is necessarily also a machine of oppression. That is essentially the purpose for the police and the prisons.  The capitalist class owns and controls the means of creating and influencing opinion through its control of the  media. In countless ways it instills its class ideas into the minds of the workers. It poisons their thinking. It not only gets them to believe that capitalism is eternal and benevolent, but that socialism is unnecessary and impossible. It even gets many workers to oppose such elementary necessities as trade unions. Capitalist society is organised against the working class. The capitalist class is an irreconcilable enemy of the workers. Political equality is a myth. The capitalist class do ninety-nine per cent of the talking and writing, because of its economic power, and the working class only one per cent. Political power gives the capitalist class an overwhelming advantage over its workers in influencing votes and thereby determining elections.

Socialism alone can give its true meaning to the whole idea of human justice.  The Socialist Party maintains that the means of production and wealth acquired and accumulated by humanity should be at the disposal of humanity. Socialism is the common ownership of the means of production and distribution and their democratic organisation and management by all the people in a society free of classes, class divisions and class rule. Socialism is the democratic organisation of production for use, of production for abundance, of plenty for all, without the exploitation of man by man. Socialism is the union of the whole world into a global federation of free and equal people, disposing in common of the natural resources and wealth of our planet. Can this great ideal ever be realised? It can and must be realised. It can be realised because it is capitalism itself that has prepared the two main and indispensable conditions for socialism. The first condition is such a highly developed industry, such a highly developed technique of production, such a highly developed social (instead of individual) way of producing the means of life, that it is now possible to organise our economic life to produce in abundance for all in a minimum of working time. The second condition is the development of a modern working class whose interests are so diametrically opposed to the interests of the capitalist class that it is compelled, in sheer self-defence, to replace capitalism by a rational socialist society, and which is so numerous and mighty that it is able to replace capitalism by socialism. Socialist production is organised for use, not for profit. Production is carried on in a planned, coordinated, democratically-administered way, not on the basis of whether or not the private capitalist can make a profit on the market.

Where there is abundance for all, the nightmare of insecurity vanishes. There are jobs for all, and they are no longer dependent on whether or not the employer can make a fat profit in a fat market. There is not only a high standard of living, but every industrial advance is followed by a rising standard of living and a declining working-day. Where there is abundance for all, and where no one has the economic power to exploit and oppress others, the basis of classes, class division, and class conflict vanishes. The basis of a ruling state, of a government of violence and repression, with its prisons and police and army, also disappears. Police and thieves, prisons and violence are inevitable where there is economic inequality or abundance for the few and scarcity for the many. They disappear when there is plenty for all, therefore economic equality, therefore social equality. Where there is abundance for all, and where all have equal access to the fruits of the soil and the wealth of industry, the mad conflicts and wars between nations and peoples vanish. With them vanishes the irrepressible urge that exists under capitalism for one nation to subject others, to rob it of its rights, to exploit and oppress it, to provoke and maintain the hideous national and racial antagonisms that cling to capitalism like an ineradicable bloodstain. Where mankind is free of economic exploitation, of economic inequality, of economic insecurity, he is free for the first time to develop as a human being among his fellow human beings, free to contribute to the unfolding of a new culture and a new humanity.

We are revolutionary socialists who believe that capitalism — as a system centred on private accumulation and profit — is inherently a system of inequality, injustice, and war. We want a social system where social wealth is not in the hands of a few billionaires, but is controlled by the people. We seek both economic and political democracy. Our enemy is capitalism. Capitalism dominates our economic system. Under capitalism, a handful who own the factories, the mines, food industries, and the banks control the wealth that the majority of the people produce. It is this system that we are fighting. Capitalism organises globally. Blocs of capital compete intensely for growth and profits. Under capitalism you either destroy the competition, or are destroyed yourself. This drive sends the corporations around the world, seeking cheaper raw materials and corrupt local governments that will ensure a "friendly investment climate." Capitalism continuously seeks cheaper labour costs. Capitalism is a system of violence. Poverty is built into its operation. The capitalist class needs to maintain its grip on the levers of power.

The struggle for a liveable and sustainable planet is a life-and-death issue. Capitalist greed has polluted our air, destroyed the forests, poisoned our waters, and drenched our food with toxic chemicals. Our survival necessitates control of technology and production and the elimination of the blind competition and consumerism that causes us to squander so many of the world's resources needlessly. We work to develop a new vision to deepen our understanding of the relationship between humanity and the rest of nature. People will have to change how they live and how society is organised. Only conscious socialist planning by all of society can make this a reality. 

Glasgow Branch Meeting (20/6)

Wednesday, 20 June
 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Venue: Maryhill Community Central Halls, 
304 Maryhill Road, 
Glasgow G20 7YE

The Socialist Party position is honest in that we don't know what the characteristics of revolution will look like in detail but we do think we know what it won't look like. Some expect the Socialist Party to be soothsayers. The problem is that it is rather useless for us today to declare what tomorrow exactly is going to happen when socialism is imminent. Will the working class (even a socialist one that is highly politically educated) wait for the declaration of its elected representatives or delegates in Parliament and legislatures? What happens when say 55 per cent of the working class says "Let's do it now!" What happens if the majority of workers in the UK and Europe start to elect Socialist majorities, but not in the U.S., Japan, etc.? And what if the State (the state capitalist State and private capitalist State) do begin to exert their powers to stifle the movement? Do we then sit and wait again for our chance? What constitutes a working-class majority wanting Socialism. Is it 51 per cent? 60 %? 75%? It is a futile exercise to make. We simply cannot foresee the events that take place even when say 30 % of the working class becomes socialist.

 If, for example, that we reached the stage where 20% of the adult working population was indeed socialist. That would be an incredible achievement and there would be a sudden rise in working-class militancy in immediate issues, there would be a new "socialist culture" being built, changes within the entire labour movement, in daily life and how people thought politically. At 40% we would still not be the "overwhelming majority" but this would be such a sizeable significant and politically powerful base. And here quantitative changes would mean qualitative changes. The "movement" we have now would not be the same movement under those circumstances. It might move in directions we have never even considered. And it has profound implications. It is too difficult for us to simply say that when the overwhelming majority of people around the world want socialism they will create it because there will indeed rise these very revolutionary situations or critical revolutionary crisis or juncture that have not followed the formal logic of the propositions we put forward. The "movement" will take on a life of its own.

The Socialist Party cannot control whether or not workers become socialists. What we can provide, and what we have continuously provided, is a theory of revolution which, if it had been taken up by workers, would have prevented incalculable misery to millions.

For example, in 1917, the Bolsheviks were convinced that they were setting society in Russia on a course of change towards socialism. The Party argued that socialism was not being established in Russia. What followed was the horrendous misery of the Stalinist years. The Party put forward the same view of events in China in 1949.

What is happening in Russia and China now? The rulers of these state capitalist regimes introduced free-market capitalism.

We warned against situations where groups or sections of workers try to stage the revolution or implement socialism when the rest of the working class is not prepared. They will only be prepared when they accept the need to capture political power and THEN the implementation of Socialism based on majority support can begin. Otherwise, you may have a situation where a minority may push the majority into a situation it is not prepared for and the results could be disastrous.

What comes to mind is the situation in Germany in 1919 when large groups of workers supported the Spartacus group while the majority of the working class still supported the Social Democratic Party. The uprising was put down brutally and the working class was divided.

In regards to gradualism and reformism when in 1945 the Labour Party was elected with the objective of establishing a "socialist" Britain, the Socialist Party, again arguing from its theory, insisted that there would be no new social order. In fact, that Labour Government steered capitalism in Britain through the post-war crisis, enabling it to be massively expanded in the boom years of the 1950s. What is happening in the Labour Party now? Confused and directionless, it stands utterly bankrupt of ideas. The Labour Party even abandoned its adherence to Keynesian theories which the Socialist Party always insisted could never provide policies which would remove the anarchy of capitalism. Its ideas on the progressive introduction of socialism are now only a distant memory.

The arguments from the Socialist Party has not been abstract, for it relates to the real experiences of workers today, and we constantly make clear in our speaking and writing that socialism is the immediately practical solution to workers' so-called "short-term interests".

The Socialist Party is well aware that revolution will not "simply" be the result of our educational efforts. Our appeal to workers is upon the basis of class interest and our appeal will be successful because the class struggle generates class consciousness in workers. The growth of socialist consciousness and organisation will allow workers to prosecute the class struggle more effectively. Socialist consciousness won't entirely emerge "spontaneously" out of the day-to-day struggle, which is given as an excuse for not advocating socialism by those such as Trotskyists who think it will. It has been claimed by some of them that all socialists need to do is to get involved in the day to day struggle. The justification for advocating socialism as such is that socialist ideas do have to be brought to workers, though not from outside, from the "bourgeois intelligentsia" or the "proletarian vanguard", but from inside, from members of the working class who have come to see that socialism is the way-out. We, in the Socialist Party, are members of the working class spreading socialist ideas amongst our fellow workers. We are a part of the "spontaneous" process of the emergence of socialist consciousness.

Talented Great But NO MONEY - No Potential

Toronto teen William Leathers was thrilled earlier this year when he received his acceptance letter to the prestigious Julliard School in New York. Leathers is one of only three students accepted in Julliard's trumpet program. There was just one slight problem, though. Given the stature of Julliard in the music world fees don't come cheap; only a little matter of US$91,000 dollars.

 Not to be stymied Leathers took to crowdfunding and by May 2 had raised $80,000. Some may say he is well on the road to making his dream reality, but nevertheless, it does hammer home how everything has to be bought and paid for under capitalism. 

Think how many people talented in so many ways never realize their full potential.

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

Socialism - Our Only Future!

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 to social production. It is the next step in the further evolution of  human society. With socialism, the working people will take over the economic forces developed by capitalism and operate them in the interests of all.  People will control the great wealth they produce, they will be fundamentally able to determine their own futures. The end of exploitation of one person by another will be an unprecedented liberating and transforming force. Socialism will not mean government control. Government involvement in the economy is a form of state capitalism. Socialism will open the way for great changes in society. Transforming the main productive resources of society into common property will enable the working people to assume administration of the economy. Workers will be able to manage democratically their own work places through workers’ councils and elected administrators. In this way workers will be able to make their work places safe and efficient places that can well serve their own interests as well as society’s.

The Socialist Party has always used the electoral form of struggle in order to put forward the ideas of socialism and rally fellow-workers against the capitalist state. Socialism is a matter of growth but never by obtaining for it a fictitious vote. We should seek only to register the actual vote of socialism, no more and no less. In our campaigns we state our principles clearly, seeking neither to flatter nor to offend, but only to convince those who should be with us and win them to our cause through understanding its mission. No possible good can come from any kind of a political alliance, express or implied, with those who are opposed to socialism. The Socialist Party wants the votes only of those who want socialism. It holds in contempt vote-seeking for the sake of holding office. This is a party which serves the class and does not seek to substitute party power for class power. To fight for socialism is consciously to struggle for the overthrow of capitalism and its state, designed and created to maintain the economic and political dominance of the few who own capital over the many who have only their own labour power to trade for an income.

Capitalism is a system in which the means for producing the wealth (the land, the mines, factories, the machines etc.) are in private hands. It is true that in Britain a number of industries — mining, the railways, electricity — have been taken out of private hands and have been nationalised. But the first charge on the nationalised industries is compensation for the old, private shareholders. The nationalised boards are manned overwhelmingly by ex-directors of the industries concerned. In any case only 20 per cent of industry has been nationalised. The remaining 80 per cent is in private hands. Thus a tiny handful of people own these “means of production” as they are called. But they do not work them. The immense majority of the people own nothing (in the sense that they can live on what they own) but their power to work. By exploitation we mean living off the labour of other people. There have been previous forms of exploitation. In slave society, the slave-owners lived off the labour of the slaves who were their property. In feudal society, the feudal lords lived off the forced labour of the serfs. In capitalist society the worker is neither a slave nor yet a serf, i.e. forced to do free, unpaid labour for a master. But he is exploited just the same, even though the form of this exploitation is not so open and clear as was the case with the slaves and the serfs. The essence of exploitation under capitalism consists in this — that the workers, when set to work with raw materials and machinery, produce far more in values than what is paid out by the capitalists in wages, for raw materials etc. In short, they produce a surplus which belongs to the capitalists and for which they are not paid. Thus they are robbed of the values they produce. This is the source of capitalist profit. It is on this surplus, produced by the workers, that the capitalist lives in riches and luxury. Capitalism is a system in which the means for producing wealth are owned by a few who live by exploiting the workers, i.e. by robbing them of the values they produce over and above the value of their wages. It is a system of booms and slumps. From the earliest days of its existence (at the end of the eighteenth century) until today, capitalism has been marked by periodic slumps, or “economic crises” as they are called, which cause mass unemployment and untold misery for the great mass of the working people.  Capitalism is the system based on competition. There are many capitalists each producing the same kind of commodity. Each hopes to sell all that he has produced and thereby to realise a profit. He has to compete with his rivals in the attempt to sell his goods. The quantity of goods produced therefore bears no relation to the real demand. Capitalism is thus by its nature an unplanned, anarchic system. Each capitalist tries to produce as much and as cheaply as possible in order to grab as much of the market — and as much profit — as possible. To do so more effectively, to defeat their rivals, the capitalists constantly seek to cheapen production by introducing new machinery, speeding up the workers etc. Thus more and more goods are being produced. At the same time they seek to drive down the wages of the workers in order to increase their share of the wealth produced.

Socialism means but one thing, and that is the abolition of capitalism. Anything else is not Socialism, and has no right to use that name. Socialism is not the establishment of a minimum wage, not the enforcement of health and safety laws, or the imposition of price controls, not the putting down of the racists and neo-fascists. None of these, nor all of them together, are socialism. They might all be done by the government tomorrow, and still we would not have socialism. They are merely reforms of the present system, mere patches on the worn-out garment of industrial servitude. Socialism is the common ownership of the means of production. Therefore, while not opposing any reforms or improvements which may be secured under capitalism, the Socialist Party is steadfastly against taking resources and energy away from its main battle, for revolution, in order to carry on the struggle for reform. It refuses to abandon its main demand “the tools of production for the producers” in order to fritter away its time chasing immediate demands. It declines the tempting baits to lead workers into sidetracks, blind alleys and dead ends. The one demand of the Socialist Party is socialism, unadulterated and undiluted - the unconditional surrender by the capitalist class of the machinery of industry. The Socialist Party insists that it is the most humanitarian movement on earth. More so than philanthropic ventures, reform societies, and charities. It, and it alone, carries within its principle the highest humanitarian hopes and possibilities of humanity. All the other movements are based on aspiration alone. The Socialist Party stands out unique as the only one based on making the realisation of those aspirations an accomplished fact. Socialism alone will supply the basis for any permanent improvement in the condition of mankind. Capitalism may be modified with factory laws, housing regulations, family legislation, but it remains the same old capitalism.

Socialism is a society in which all the members of the community collectively determine their conditions of life and their way of living. In order to do so, they must control, collectively, the use to which machines, factories, raw materials – all the means of production – are put. Unless the means of production are effectively in the hands of the whole society there can be no question of the collective control of the conditions of life. 

Remembering Glasgow's roots

A memorial to those who suffered in the Irish and Highland famines in the 19th century has been unveiled in Glasgow beside the People's Palace, features plants and stones native to Ireland and the north of Scotland. Famine ravaged large parts of Europe in the mid-1840s and millions died or were displaced over a number of years.

 Ireland suffered particularly badly and it is thought that more than a million people were forced to emigrate, with 100,000 of them arriving in Glasgow.

The memorial also recalls the thousands of people who also arrived in the city from the Highlands and Islands due to the famine, which saw blight devastate potato crops. Some of those who came from the Highlands settled in Glasgow or continued their journey to North America.

"The treatment of those who arrived on ships from Derry and Donegal and by foot or by cart from the Highlands was not always hospitable." Glasgow City Council depute leader David McDonald, said.

Historian Prof Sir Tom Devine commented, "That is a potent reminder for today of how immigration, even of the displaced and distressed, can ultimately have a positive impact on the host society."

Whoever Said Capitalism And Sanity Go Hand In Hand?

The Beaches area of Toronto, ''known as,''The Beach'', once indirectly played a prominent part in the history of the SPC. It was there in the sixties that a thriving and enthusiastic local was founded. 

The Beach is again in the news but not in such a positive way. It is now being called a retail ghost town. Along its main street, Queen Street West, there are 30 vacant stores. Nor is the Beach a low-income neighbourhood, but it is a high rent one, so much in fact, that retailers are moving out. 

These are regular working people who just wanted to get ahead and, in some cases, worked longer hours than many members of the working class. One, a Parlour Salon, who also owns one in Toronto's west end said, ''The Beach is beautiful, I love it here, but the rent is three times higher than I pay for my other store.''

 The rents are high and thanks to a City of Toronto tax rebate policy there is an incentive to landlords to keep them high, and if it comes to that, keep the businesses vacant. If one is vacant for more than 90 days the owner is entitled to a rebate. This causes problems for the local residents who now have to travel out of the Beach to get what they want.

 Whoever said capitalism and sanity go hand in hand?

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

Socialism is the ONLY answer!

Few can deny that the world today is in a constant state of chaos and upheaval, full of turmoil and conflict throughout the world. The fact that such conditions prevail generally throughout the world, and have prevailed for a long time, logically suggests the presence of a dominant common social factor. That common social factor, the Socialist Party has repeatedly demonstrated, is the capitalist system that does not and cannot work in the interests of the majority.   It is a social system in which society is divided into two classes—a capitalist class and a working class. The capitalist class consists of a tiny minority—the wealthy few who own and control the instruments of production and distribution. The working class consists of the vast majority who own no productive property and must, therefore, seek to work for the class that owns and controls the means of life in order to survive. The relationship between the two classes forms the basis for an economic tyranny under which the workers as a class are exploited of the major portion of the social wealth that they produce.

The defenders of this economic dictatorship never tire of declaring it the "best of all possible systems." Yet, today, after decades of new deals, fair deals, third ways, wars on poverty and drugs, civil rights legislation, environmental regulations and a host of other reform efforts, capitalist society presents an obscene social picture. Millions who need and want jobs are out of work despite the official claims that unemployment is at historically "low" rates. Millions more are underemployed, working only part-time or temporary jobs though they need and want full-time work. Millions aren't earning enough to maintain a decent standard of living for themselves and their families despite the fact that they are working.

The malignant evils of racism an nationalism are on the upsurge with its contemptible discrimination against minorities. The educational system is a mess and getting worse. The health care system fails to meet the needs of the people across the globe. Widespread pollution of our environment continues. Crime and corruption are pervasive at every level of capitalist society. Slums abound and millions of homeless men, women and even children live on our streets. Thanks to falling real wages, poverty continues to grow. Even the foregoing fails to give a full picture of the wide-ranging plague of social and economic problems modern-day capitalism is imposing on society.

When the Socialist Party was founded, there was no space travel, no jet planes, no computers, no internet. But there was widespread poverty, racial prejudice and discrimination, spreading urban blight, brazen violations of democratic rights, the material and economic conflicts that contain the seeds of war, and a host of other economic and social problems. All of those problems still plague the working class—but have grown to even more monumental proportions. These long-standing problems and the failure of seemingly unending reform efforts to solve or even alleviate them to any meaningful degree have imposed decades of misery and suffering on millions of workers and their families. The working class stands perilously poised on the brink of yet another nightmare of INCREASED joblessness and poverty.

Against this insane capitalist system, the Socialist Party raises its voice in emphatic protest and unqualified condemnation. It declares that if our society is to be rid of the host of economic, political and social ills that for so long have plagued it, the outmoded capitalist system of private ownership of the socially operated means of life and production for the profit of a few must be replaced by a new social order. That new social order must be organised on the sane basis of common ownership and democratic administration of all the instruments of production, all means of distribution and all of the social services. It must be one in which production is carried on to satisfy human needs and wants. In short, it must be genuine socialism.

That is precisely the mission embodied in the Socialist Party's Declaration of Principles—a call for both political organisation and action. Thes principles are based upon the recognition and unqualified acceptance of the fact that the revolutionary change to socialism must be the class-conscious act of the workers themselves.

Accordingly, the Socialist Party calls upon the workers to muster under its banner for the purpose of advocating revolutionary change and building class consciousness among workers. Despite the many threats to workers' lives, liberty and happiness today, despite the growing poverty and misery that workers are subjected to, a world of peace, liberty, security, health and abundance for all stands within our grasp. The potential to create such a society exists, but that potential can be realized only if workers act to gain control of their own lives by organising, politically and industrially, for socialism. The Socialist Party calls upon all who realise the critical nature of our times, and who may be increasingly aware that a basic change in our society is needed, to place themselves squarely on working-class principles. Join us in this effort to put an end to the existing class conflict and all its malevolent results by placing the land and the instruments of production in the hands of the people as a collective body in a cooperative socialist society. Help us build a world commonwealth in which everyone will enjoy the free exercise and full benefit of their individual faculties.

Record Levels Of Debt

The world's debt has reached a record $164 trillion dollars(US), that will make it harder for some countries to deal with the next recession. 

The International Monetary Fund, in its semi-annual report, said global public and private debt swelled to 225 per cent of global domestic product in 2016, the last year for which they had figures. 

High levels of national debt will make it difficult for governments to refinance when their debts reach maturity, especially if financing conditions tighten, the IMF said. 

This is just another insane situation created by an insane system and hardly causes any feelings of optimism for the future.

For socialism,

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

There Is Only One Solution – Socialism!

Is the socialist society a Utopian dream? The Socialist Party completely rejects this. We believe that people can and do draw conclusions which are fundamentally socialist in content. There can be no real future for humanity in an exploiting society. The path to freedom lies through the socialist revolution. The resentment of people today against the stifling and degrading relations imposed upon them by class society provides a strong driving force towards the socialist future.  The methods of struggle decided by the working class will to a large extent mould the workers' movement - providing the organisation sees itself as the instrument of these struggles and not as some sort of self-appointed "leadership". Future events may show us the need to modify or even radically alter many of our present conceptions. This does not worry us in the least. Capitalism seeks to coerce people into obeying its will. It denies them the right to manage their own lives, to decide their own destinies. The real challenge of socialism is that it will give men and women the ability to master their fates.

It seems quite obvious to us that the socialist party must be run by its members, in a spirit of free association. Without democracy the revolutionary organization will be unable to develop the required originality of thought and the vitality, the initiative and determination to challenge capitalism. Self-appointed and self-perpetuating leaders, selected because of their ability to "interpret" Marx's writings and relate them to today's events becomes superfluous. All our fellow-workers need is a good memory,  a knowledge of history and well-stocked library to bring an understanding of today's reality. The Socialist Party rejects the idea that matters of great importance to our class requires tactical decisions by a central committee meeting in a secret conclave. We consider it important to bring to workers information and reports of the struggles of other workers - both past and present - reports which emphasize the fact that workers are capable of struggling collectively and of rising to the greatest heights of revolutionary consciousness. The revolutionary press must help break down the conspiracy of silence about such struggles. It must bring to the working class the story of its own past and the details of its present struggles. But it must disseminate information.  We do not bow to spontaneity. We argue for their own ideas and try to convince people of the wider implications of their struggles. Socialist Party  members actively participate in many movements, but with ambitions of gaining control.  We are dependent on workers agreeing with us. The immediate struggle of the Socialist Party is to establish socialism. he vast creative potential of the millions of working people will be unleashed with their direct participation in organising and operating socialism. Our aim is to replace the world capitalist system with world socialism. Exploitation, oppression, and degradation will not exist in socialism. Commodity production, that is, production for sale or exchange on the market, will not exist. The system of wage-slavery will be abolished and the guiding principle will be “from each according to ability, to each according to need.” The means of production will be held communally and private property will be eliminated. With the abolition of classes and class distinctions, all social and political inequality arising from them will disappear. The conflicts of interest between workers and farmers, town and country, manual and intellectual workers will disappear. As classes will not exist, the state will not be necessary as an instrument of class rule and will wither away. There will no longer be the struggle between opposing classes and socialism will propel the development of human society forward. 

Refugees are fellow-workers

Refugee Festival Scotland Opening Day is on Saturday 16 June at the Hidden Gardens in 25a Albert Drive, Glasgow with free entry. Wednesday, 20 June is World Refugee Day.

People living in other countries which are not the land of their birth are grimly accustomed to invectives like "fucking foreigner"; "parasite"; "free-loading scrounger", etc. and it appears matters have been getting out of hand in recent years. Xenophobia is on the rise. "Patriotic" citizens are quick to assert, nationalistically, that the "aliens" have come to take over their country, their resources, their jobs, their culture, and what have you. The Socialist Party does not speak of ‘we’ and ‘us’ in relation to so-called nationality in where we happened to have been born. 

In order to ward off unrest, various tactics are employed by governments. One of them is creating divisions among the suffering masses by, for instance, blaming foreigners and whipping up nationalistic feelings. This diverts attention from misrule and mismanagement. Secondly, and in response to the official lies, the masses who are hungry, sick and illiterate are taken in by the government's ploy. Now, since a hungry man is an angry man and since anger is emotional and overpowers reason, the least provocation can result in misdirected violence vented against vulnerable fellow citizens or be turned loose on the "aliens". This is the real cause of xenophobia - the rich pitting the poor against the poor. Our ruling class has opened a Pandora's Box of nationalist rhetoric around migrants and allowed a space to open up in groups and individuals influenced by fascist and racist ideology. 

 The Socialist Party condemns nationalist ideas. They are stumbling-blocks to working-class understanding of socialism. This above all is why we find such attitudes pernicious and repugnant.  The nationalist seeks only the crudest and superficial explanation of social problems. They need a scapegoat to explain the loss of what they called “national identity”. For the working class, national identity has always meant congested decaying slums, insecurity poverty and, very often, the dole-queue. National identity is a cunning political device by means of which the working class, who own no country, are duped to identify with their exploiters, the capitalists, who own virtually everything. 

 Capitalism divides because the means of production are owned by a few. Socialism will embrace all mankind because the earth will be owned in common.  We stand together as friends, work colleagues and members of our communities. We stand side-by-side and will not allow a wave of xenophobic nationalism and racism to threaten our lives and well-being.

 

Scotland needs newcomers

Scotland's birth rate has sunk to a 15-year low, while the number of deaths are at a 32-year high, official figures have revealed. Deaths outstripped births by 7,600 in the year to the end of March - this is up by more than 5,000 on the same time last year, according to the figures released by the National Records of Scotland.

The ageing population is behind the trend and again underlines the country's reliance on immigration to keep the population growing.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland-s-birth-rate-sinks-to-15-year-low-1-4753801

This is what we want to happen

It is nationalism that divides the workers so that the workers of one nationality are struggling against the workers of another nationality for a few illusory crumbs the rulers throw out exactly for that purpose! It is nationalism that pits groups of workers against each other.  What is socialism? If we are socialists, what are we actually for? Socialism is not the rule of bureaucrats over the people.  Marxism has clarified many perplexing problems in philosophy, sociology, history, economics, and politics. Its supreme achievement is the explanation it offers of the key role of the working class in history. It is ironical that young rebels who reject conformism to big business mimic its low opinion of the working class. One reason for this attitude is a limited historical vision. They acquire so one-sided a view of the wage-workers by conceiving of them, not as the chief agents of production, but primarily as consumers motivated by suburbanite culture.  The reactions of the workers are primarily and ultimately determined by what happens to them in the labour market and at the point of production. That is where they encounter speed-ups, short time, lay-offs, discrimination, insecurity, wage reductions, and other evils of exploitation. This class can be roused from its slumber by events beyond anyone’s control. That is why any drastic fluctuation in their economic welfare can quickly alter their tolerance of the existing state of affairs.

Marxism is the theory of the socialist revolution. In a revolution, the power and wealth of society change hands. They are transferred from one class to another. In our time, there are two fundamental classes in society, the working class, and the capitalist class. The minority class owns the wealth, profits from it, keeps down the standard of living of the majority class which has no wealth.  Marxism formulates the goal of the socialist revolution – the abolition of private property, the abolition of 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. The Socialist Party does not put forward this goal as a utopia, as a mere vision of what would ideally satisfy people’s needs and make them all happy, but as a goal the practical attainment of which is made necessary by the actual conditions of modern society. Socialism will only be gained by waging the working-class struggle. And to wage this struggle and achieve the conquest of power, the working class must have its own independent political party. If the working class cannot be counted on to dislodge the capitalists, who else can do that job? It would be exceedingly difficult to point out another social force that could effectively act. The struggle against capitalist domination then looms as a lost cause and socialism become a Utopia. 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 is a society dedicated to the interests of the working people, who make up the vast majority of the population. The basic means by which society produces its wealth – factories, mines, and farms – are transferred from private/state property to common ownership, and exploitation is for the most part eliminated. Socialism unleashes the creativity of the common people, who are capable of tremendous advances when not labouring under a system of exploitation. The working class has colossal tasks ahead of it. It confronts the most formidable and ferocious of adversaries. There is a need for socialist campaigns and angry denunciations of capitalism.  But there is also a need for inspiration, for a vision of the goal which makes the struggle worthy. The theory of the Socialist Party is that if the enormous wealth of society, controlled by the few, were controlled by the majority of the people poverty could be eliminated, an end could be made to the mass murder of war, and mankind could live in peace and plenty. To achieve its final goal, this revolution would be necessary on a world scale. The Socialist Party stands for the abolition of the profit system, peace and plenty for all. The real solution to the many looming disasters is the socialist revolution.  

Smart Meters. Who Benefits?

My attention was drawn to an advert in the Metro (Wednesday, June 13) posing the idea that “If we all get a smart meter we could save enough energy to power every home in Aberdeen, Cardiff, and Manchester for 365 days.”

Capitalists are always trying to get workers to identify themselves with their interests. The additional comments prove this.

“With a smart meter, you could save an average of 354kWh of energy a year. Because when you’re using, you can make a few small changes and use less of it. Save your energy for powering cities.”

On examining these words from a class point of view, I would point out that the need not to pay wages to people reading meters would benefit the capitalist selling electricity. The small changes I make would if made, probably save me some money (not my energy to save) it would not be used by me to power cities. We don’t sell electricity, We buy it.

The advert has a night time picture showing a massive lit-up city. Shareholders in electricity companies evidently are making money even while they sleep. Workers don’t get paid while they sleep.

Many workers are in need of heating but use very little of it, the result of poor wages, unemployment etc. so this idea that (we could save enough energy to power every home in Aberdeen, Cardiff, and Manchester) is nonsense.

When we own the means of production in common, we will mean everyone not the shareholders of a capitalist enterprise.

YFS
PH