The Socialist Party campaigns for socialism

It is perfectly certain that the economic forms of society are fully ripe for the transformation to complete common ownership and control. What, then, is it that stands in the way? Nothing but the want of education and organisation on the part of the people themselves. 

The Socialist Party’s work, therefore, is still that of agitation, education and organisation. This is the reason why the Socialist Party is the only organised party which alone look with hope and even exultation to the future, because we alone base our confidence because we can see reconstruction on a sure basis inevitably arising out of the rottenness around us, because we alone declare no compromise. Revolution not reform is the object of organised democratic socialism. It is for us then, as revolutionary socialists, to appeal to our fellows in all lands to work for the interests of themselves and of others, in order to bring about social revolution which can alone give freedom and happiness to mankind.

It has been the aim of civilised mankind to gain freedom from want and from arduous toil. Malnutrition and hunger threatens people around the world until the production and distribution of food is taken out of the hands of the capitalists and politicians. The burning question of food for the people is now clearly defined: Will the people eat or will the food corporations be allowed to accumulate profits as usual? The bosses of the food industry will not produce food except for profit. The food industries must be under the control of the people themselves.

The object of the Socialist Party is to secure economic freedom for the whole community,  that all men and all women shall have equal opportunities of sharing in wealth production and consumption untrammelled by any restriction

The Socialist Party’s programme is nothing less than the socialist reconstruction of society and the abolition of the wages system. This is no programme for some distant future. When it comes to socialism, we are told “It’s a fine idea, but it’ll never work,” “It’s against human nature.” “There always have been rich and poor and there always will be,” Be a realist. Don’t waste your life on a Utopian dream that can never be realised. If you want to get ahead in this world, you’ve got to be practical and look out for Number One.”

Yet the socialist movement is capably demonstrating how socialism could end poverty, unemployment and war by eliminating private ownership of the means of producing the things of life, national and international competition, and the struggle for existence by the overwhelming majority of the population in this and all other countries. The Socialist Party campaigns for socialism with, exposing the evils of capitalist society, its murderous exploitation of the workers, its utter hypocrisy in human relations, and the most evident feature of its class character: the impoverishment of the masses and the enrichment of a small class of capitalists. The struggle is not confined to one people but covers the whole of civilisation. 

The clearly avowed object of the Socialist Party is to hasten the change already begun, of transferring from private ownership to common ownership, all the agencies of wealth production and distribution, to control these agencies on a co-operative basis in the interests of all alike, and to aim constantly at securing for all citizens the highest standard of mental culture, industrial efficiency and social well-being. Without knowledge of the right sort the workers cannot properly discern the subtleties of political charlatans who are ever alert to turn aside the movement from the straight path that leads to common ownership of the means of production.

The future of the world is to be co-operative, and not competitive. As socialists we have no quarrel with the workers of any nation on earth. There is ample room for all in the world, it is only the conduct of industry for profit-making on behalf of the plutocracy that makes it appear each nation must fight every other nation. Stop this, and begin to produce for use and there is room for all and work for all. 

The Socialist Party always declare in favour of the solidarity of the interests of the workers of every country. Socialists urge international peace and universal goodwill among all peoples. More and more are realising and learning that the irrepressible conflict of today is not between the workers of one nation and the workers of another nation, but it is a conflict between the capitalists and the workers of all nations, and so above every appeal to national pride, above every appeal to religious prejudice, above every appeal to race hatred, sounds high and clear the clarion call of the socialist movement. Workers of all countries, unite. You have the whole world to win and nothing but your chains to lose.

 The Socialist Party is the enemy of all wars, and pledges that neither the sound of the trumpet nor the roar of the cannon, neither victory nor defeat will swerve us from our common purpose, the union of the children of toil of all countries. That is the spirit of the working class movement. That is the spirit which above all others is making for human brotherhood and universal peace.

The banner under which we muster is the worldwide red banner of socialism, not the flag of bloody insurrection. Future fights must not be between the workers of one country and the workers of another, that is madness. The fight we are called upon to engage in is as a part of the world’s workers battling against the workers’ exploitation in every country alike.

Scotland's Poverty

Scotland currently has 19% of households living in poverty, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said.

That is just over one million people.

More than three in five people in poverty are in a working family and in-work poverty has risen from 10% of workers 20 years ago to 13% now.

In Scotland, 19% of the lowest income households have problem debt - the highest across the UK. Among the richest fifth in Scotland, the figure is just 1%.

Understanding capitalism to understand socialism

For a hundred years the world has known no rest. Hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and all kinds of degradations make the lives of hundreds of millions of men, women, and children scarcely tolerable. War has continued to wreak destruction. Humanity’s resources are wasted while people’s basic needs remain unsatisfied, land is spoiled, misery increases, and poverty spreads. National chauvinism, racism, and ethnic hatred are developing at an alarming rate. There is an increasingly evident imbalance between humanity’s capacity for progress and the wretched reality that hundreds of millions of people must live under daily. While factories are closed down, prisons are opened up. The economic base of this social regime is the capitalist system.  The vast majority of the people share a common condition: that of living in a society where the owners of the means of production impose their will over those who possess nothing or little. In other words, people live in a society divided into social classes where the propertied class, the capitalists and landowners, dominate those who have little or no property, the working class. The key to the economic and political power of the capitalist class is the private ownership of the means of production and exchange (land, buildings, factories, machines, stores, transportation, etc.) and the exploitation of the labour-power of the working class. The capitalists are a class whose reason for existence is the accumulation of capital, i.e. the continual growth of its economic power; a capitalist who does not grow is, as a general rule, a capitalist condemned to disappear.

The capitalist is nothing if he cannot find in society a large number of people who have no other means of subsistence but the sale of their labour-power in exchange for a wage equivalent to the strict minimum for survival. The secret of capitalist exploitation lies precisely in the fact that what the capitalist buys from the worker is not his work but rather his labour-power. If the capitalist had to pay for the work furnished, he would not be able to make the profit he does. Suppose that a worker produces 10 pairs of shoes a week which sell for $25.00, thus making a total value of $250.00 per week on the market. This worker receives a weekly wage of $100.00. Where does the value of the shoes come from? The raw materials – the leather, thread, and glue – along with the other means of production such as electricity, the machines, etc. alone account for $75.00 to which is added the value added by the worker’s labour, i.e. $250.00 less $75.00 or $175.00. This sum represents the amount that the worker added by his work to the value of the materials that he was given at the beginning. If the capitalist paid the worker according to the value of his labour, he would have to give him $175.00. However, this is not what happens because the wages paid to the worker do not correspond to the value of the work he furnishes; rather, they correspond, on the average, to what it costs the worker to reproduce this labour-power or, in other words, to recuperate his energies and ensure his subsistence given the cost of living and the living conditions at a given time.

There lies the essence of capitalist exploitation: the worker gives a certain value of work to the capitalist but his wages do not correspond to this value but to only a fraction of it. The value of the non-paid work is called the surplus-value; the capitalist appropriates this non-paid fraction which constitutes the source of his profit, the source of capital. Here lies the key to the exploitation of the workers by the employers and investors, the key to the enrichment of the capitalist class on the backs of workers.

It is important to see that the means the employers are using today to increase the exploitation of the working class are designed to re-introduce, in a new form, mechanisms that the workers’ movement had successfully and efficiently fought in the past. For example, the working class obtained the 8-hour work-day. To get around this legal obstacle, the capitalists do two things:
a) they speed up the work to obtain more products in the same time, and
b) they institute compulsory overtime.

With this second method, the capitalists considerably increase the proportion of surplus labour, i.e. the unpaid labour that they appropriate. By making the same worker work longer, they avoid the costs involved in hiring another worker. This, of course, increases unemployment at the same time that it increases profits. Through legislation limiting the increase in wages below the increase in the cost of living, the boss-class does not reduce the actual amount of money received by each 56 worker as it did in the past but the result is the same: a drop in the real wages of the working class and a rise in the profits of the capitalist class.

But to attain their ends, the capitalists have to weaken the means of resistance of the working class and of the people in general. And to achieve this goal, there are no methods they won’t resort to.

On the whole, the bourgeoisie combines two types of tactics to check the workers’ movement: on the one hand, minor concessions, crumbs, and superficial reforms, the carrot, and, on the other hand, political and economic repression to intimidate, the stick.

The working class has nothing to lose but its chains. This is why we say that it is the only class whose interests are fundamentally opposed to those of the capitalists. It is the only class which has nothing to lose and everything to gain by the overthrow of the ruling class and the destruction of capitalism, even though they want improvements to the present situation, limit their demands to partial changes which don’t put into question the present economic base – the private ownership of the means of production and the exploitation of wage labour. What characterises the working class, on the other hand, is that it does not own the means of production and that it is the object of exploitation. As a class, it has no other future but the total elimination of exploitation of man by man. This is why we can say that the movement for the emancipation of workers has to lead to the liberation of all of humanity. In attacking the foundation of the capitalist system – the private ownership of the means of production and wage labour – the proletariat undertakes at the same time the elimination of classes themselves. In effect, to eliminate the private ownership of the means of production is to destroy the material basis on which all exploiting classes are founded. Consequently, it is also to eliminate classes themselves. This is why we say that “the ultimate aim of the proletariat’s struggle is the class-free society, i.e. the socialist society, a community in which no person exploits the labour of another.

By the socialist revolution, the proletariat suppresses the private ownership of the means of production. It thus suppresses the material basis which allows the exploitation of labour by capital. By the socialist revolution, the proletariat puts in the hands of society the necessary means for the subsistence and development of its members. While under capitalism, production is done solely in order to make profits for those who own the factories, the transport and the media, the big stores, etc., in socialist society, production is planned according to the needs of all workers. With socialism, factories won’t shut down because their lordships, the investors don’t think they’re making enough money from them. Neither will we see the economy of a country collapse because their lordships, the investors don’t have enough “confidence” in the social climate. With socialism, it is the workers who dictate the rules of the game and their fundamental rule is the material and cultural well-being of the vast majority of the people. No more will working class houses be demolished to build luxury towers for a tiny minority of the population. And no more of capitalist anarchy which provokes crises of overproduction in some sectors while the essential needs of the labouring masses are not satisfied. Production will no longer depend upon the wishes of a handful of capitalists whose only goal is maximum profits, but on the collective will of all of the workers.

The Socialist Party speaks of replacing the capitalist production of goods by the socialist organisation of production. While the capitalist is interested in the product of labour only insofar that it makes him a personal profit, the workers have, above all, a collective interest in that the product be the best possible and that it be adapted to the needs of the labouring masses. Under socialism, the private accumulation of capital, the profit system itself, will not be the motor of the economy. These are only a few examples of what replacing the capitalist production of goods with the socialist organisation of production means.

 A transformation of such magnitude of the economic base of society can only be accomplished by revolution, by socialist revolution.

Buy the Socialist Standard

On Saturday 8th February at mid-day a few comrades from Glasgow Branch will be at Buchanan St. Bus Station selling our journal, the Socialist Standard. 

Later at around 2pm, they will enjoy some liquid refreshment at the nearby Atholl Arms to discuss future promotions of our magazine. 

All members and sympathisers are warmly welcome to become involved.

Vision of a socialist world

“Revolution”. The one word that expresses the  hopes and aspirations of the great majority of mankind. The one word our class enemies fear and hate the most because it means the end of their rule. It is a word we inscribe on our red banners because it points the way to the socialist future. The Socialist Party will excite the people with a vision of a world of plenty. New technology provides better products with less and less labour. Society now has the capacity to devote the energies and talents of its people to satisfying the intellectual, emotional and cultural needs of all. Radical changes in the way a society produces its wealth call for radical changes in how that society is organised. The capitalist class cannot convince working people to believe in their system while it is destroying their hopes and dreams. Capitalists disarm the victims of capitalism by turning people against one another. The Socialist Party will inspire people with a society organised for the benefit of all, a society built on cooperation which puts the well-being of its people above the profits and property of a handful of billionaires. When working people who  have no place in the capitalist system take control of all productive property and transforms it into common property, they can reorganise society so that the abundance is distributed according to need.

 The Socialist Party  empowers people with the understanding of their role in striving for this new society and with the confidence that it’s possible to win. We take this message out to politicise and organise the revolution. We call on you to join us in this cause. We seek the political awakening of the people so that they can take their destiny into their own hands.

The whole world is in a crisis from which many fear it cannot recover. The clock is ticking. Everywhere society is in chaos and ferment. War and global warming threaten global starvation; and are shaking up the thinking of millions of workers, impelling them to take the road of struggle against the capitalist system which oppresses them. Socialism is our only hope and which supplies the key to the direction to travel if we are to survive. It is the theory and practice of working class revolution.

Profit is derived from unpaid labour time. Workers’ labour power is purchased on the market by the owners of capital. Put to work on average in half the working week, it produces values sufficient to cover wages to maintain a worker and family. The value produced in the remainder of the working week constitutes surplus value, the source of profit. The commodities produced by workers’ socialised labour are privately appropriated by capitalists. They will continue to be produced so long as they can be sold for profit on the market. It is inevitable that sooner or later these social conditions will impel people to organise to end the conflict between the socialised labour process and private ownership of the decisive means of production, the big factories, mines and corporate farms by the establishment of socialism. With socialism, production takes place for people’s use.

Ideas matter. A problem with socialism is the differences in the meaning of socialism where a majority of its people label themselves “socialist” in one sense or another; but the label is not very informative. Hypocrisy abounds. Much of the content of the various “socialisms” is a negative: anti-capitalism. Understanding the nature of capitalism is essential. We must name and define the system. Capitalist society remains a system for pursuing profits and limitless accumulation, amidst wage-labour. Capitalism is a system in which class exploitation is mediated by the market. Capitalists have an interest in promoting the highest rate of exploitation possible. It is through exploitation that they maximize their profits and maximization of profits is the basis of capitalist production. Thus, businessmen have an interest in paying the lowest wages consistent with capitalist reproduction (they cannot kill off their working class). They have an interest in a longer working day, poorer working conditions. In other words, they have an objective interest in promoting a situation that makes the life of the worker increasingly intolerable.

Workers, on the other hand, have the opposite point of view. They prefer higher wages to lower; safer working conditions to unsafe; a shorter working day to a longer one. Hence the two classes have conflicting interests and, as they are conflicting, they must be resolved through a fight, sometimes open, sometimes concealed, but a fight nonetheless. In this fight, the capitalists have the state to assist them. 

Capitalists cannot exist without workers, but workers can exist without capitalists. As it is workers who actually do the producing, they are quite capable of undertaking this activity in their own interests. Hence, the logical conclusion to the struggle under capitalism is the elimination of capitalism and the transformation to socialism. This cannot be accomplished unless workers are aware of their objective interests and are organised to achieve this goal.

Socialism is Ours for the Taking

Under capitalism goods are produced for the market, that is, they are commodities. Included in commodities is a special commodity, labour power, which is also bought and sold in the open market. The price of labour power takes the form of wages. These wages are supposed to be enough to allow the labourer to purchase the necessities of life which can reproduce the labour power lost at work. 

Under capitalism there are private owners of the factories, mills, mines and other means of production, and workers must sell their labour power to the capitalists for wages. However, when the workers in the factories and other places of production work for the capitalists, they produce much more value than they receive in the form of wages. This surplus value included in the whole product of the factory is the property of the capitalist and becomes his profit.

The capitalist is in business for the profit and does his best to increase the mass of profit and the rate of profit. He can do this either by winning more markets or by reducing the cost of production or by speeding up the circulation of his capital, or all these. In short, in order to increase his profit the capitalist must expand his business and produce more stuff at lower cost. To do this he must accumulate capital and reinvest part of his profits back into the business. This accumulation of capital is the basic law of capitalism. Because of it, the factories grow larger, the industries become greater, little business turns into big business in this in turn develops into huge multinationals and corporate conglomerates. The chief method by which the capitalist can lower the cost of his production is through cheapening the value of labour power. This is done by introducing new machinery which can enable the worker to produce an ever-increasing quantity of goods in less and less time and with the same effort. Thus the introduction of machinery which increased not only the actual production but also the productive capacity of industry had two effects: if the market did not expand as rapidly as production increased, then workers were thrown out of work.

It is plain that poverty and inequality will never end so long as there is capitalism, and that to fight the misery means to fight to overthrow the capitalist system. Let the workers unite their mighty strength together to get rid of the parasitic system that condemns them in the midst of plenty to hunger like beggars for a crust of bread. Let us not hesitate to organise our strength together and take what belongs to us. Only the end of capitalism will give any degree of security or comfort. The workers can accomplish that mighty job, the biggest job any class of people ever tackled, only if they prepare themselves.

All economic obstacles to development will be abolished under the new system. Thus, the application of machinery, which under capitalism is determined by considerations of profit, under the new system will depend entirely upon productivity, sustainability and environmentally friendly. Technology which may be very useful for saving labour is very frequently useless from the standpoint of capitalist profits. In socialist society such a point of view will not prevail and there will therefore be no obstacles to the application of labour-saving machinery.

We stand for socialism: a new system in which the people own in common and collectively control the economy, through various social institutions of the widest democracy. We stand completely  opposed to the reactionary systems of exploitation of man by man. Capitalism is an outlived system whose life-blood is private profit and oppression, whether or not represented as free-enterprise or the “welfare state” administered by liberals or self-styled “socialists.” It perpetuates poverty, unemployment, racism, and national conflict. Socialism is our opportunity for a new world of freedom, peace and security. Socialism is liberty.