Which Future?

 

Let us frankly admit we are living in the aftermath of great defeats suffered by the labour and socialist movements internationally. The working class requires revitalisation.  We believe that humanity can develop a healthy society of prosperity and peace. Capitalism is at a loss to reconstruct such a world. Hunger and poverty in the midst of plenty; war and climate change uprooting of millions of people; renewed totalitarianism; diplomatic duplicity – this catalogue of the aspects of capitalist society can be continued indefinitely. Capitalism is beyond redemption, beyond reform. It is sick, moribund and overripe for change. No realistic desirable alternative exists other than a thorough socialist reconstruction if It is not to sink completely into a new era of barbarism.

Class war is the inevitable result of an economic system in which 'anything goes if you're rich enough and winners take most'. The modern class war has been waged between wage-earners (who sell their labour) and their employers (owners of capital and the means of production). These classes have been assigned various names (proletariat, bourgeoisie, capitalists, etc.)

We need a vision of hope, not one of a dystopian future. We need to get beyond "wake-up call". We need to galvanize people to act with the urgency required to pull us back from the brink of oblivion. This process is not about terrifying people with apocalyptic images but explaining the choices before them. Far from gloom and doom, a powerful sense of resistance and a determination for change is what the Socialist Party advocates.  Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—that is what is at the heart of understanding how we can survive. We provide a plan for a regenerative sustainable socialism. We want a society not for profit but one of common good.

Capitalism, as we have pointed out on numerous occasions, has been unable to solve any of the contradictions which are tearing apart mankind. It has channelled revolutionary struggles of the masses into the blind alley of nationalism and class collaboration. World capitalism is ripe for socialist transformation.  Capitalism cannot be reformed; it must be abolished and replaced. Do you want a society of abundance, production for use? Then you must fight for socialism. Do you want a future without wars, without terrorist bombing? Then you must fight for socialism. Either chaos and destruction – or socialist reconstruction.  The socialist perspective is more valid, more essential than ever because it alone meets the problems of our times. We unfurl the red banner of socialist revolution; we stand with our comrades throughout the world; we march towards the future.

The Socialist Party is the only international political party in the world. The fundamental principles of modern socialism are essentially the same in all lands. The Socialist Party recognises no national boundary lines. A socialist is a socialist irrespective of nationality, colour, creed, or sex in working-class solidarity for economic freedom. Every worker everywhere is a brother or a sister. Across the borders of all lands socialists clasp hands as comrades. As a socialist party, we pledge our fidelity to the principles of international socialism as embodied in the united thought and action of the socialists of all nations. The socialist movement, therefore, is a world movement. It knows of no conflicts of interests between the workers of one nation and the workers of another. It stands for the freedom of the workers of all nations; and, in so standing, it makes for the full freedom of all humanity

The Socialist Party is the only party that honestly stands for economic justice, which is impossible in a system based upon exploitation. Socialism is the next phase in the social evolution of civilisation. Socialism means that all those things upon which the people in common depend shall by the people in common be owned and administered; that the tools of employment shall belong to their creators and users; that all production shall be for the direct use of the producers; that the making of goods for profit shall come to an end; that we shall all be workers together; and that all opportunities shall be open and equal to all men and women. 

The campaign of the Socialist Party is and will be wholly educational. To arouse the consciousness of the workers to their economic interests as a class, to develop their capacity for clear thinking, to achieve their solidarity industrially and politically is to invest the working class with the inherent power it possesses to abolish the wage system and free itself from every form of servitude, and this is the mighty mission of the world socialist movement. The people, like helpless children, are forever looking for some “great man” and “enlightened leader” to watch over and protect them. Socialists are not looking for some mythical Moses to lead them into a fabled promised land. They have made up their minds to be their own leaders and to save themselves. They know that persons have deceived them and will again, so they put their trust in principles, knowing that these will not betray them.

The Socialist Party is the only party that does not want a vote that is not intelligently cast. The popularity of a candidate is against him rather than for him in the Socialist Party. No vote is wanted on account of the personality of a candidate.  Better united on the solid basis of principle, than ten times that number thrown together on the shifting sands of personality. It is the value of the socialist principle that is taught and emphasised, and if this is not understood and approved the vote is not wanted. In the socialist movement principles are paramount; the candidates are the last and least consideration. The supreme question is, “What are the principles?” Mere disgust with other parties is not accepted by socialists as sufficient reason to encourage the voting of the Socialist ticket. Such votes are unreliable, deceptive and misleading. The men who cast them are apt to desert at the very time they are most needed Any vote that is subject to the influence of personal considerations is so vacillating that it is of no use in the constructive work of a revolutionary political movement.

The Socialist Party addresses itself to the working class and it appeals to the ballot for the realisation of its cooperative commonwealth. One class now owns the machinery while another class uses them. One class is small and rich and the other large and poor. One wants more profit and the other more wages. One consists of capitalists and the other of workers. These two classes are at war. Every day of truce is at the expense of labour. There can be no peace and good will between these two essentially antagonistic economic classes. This class conflict be covered up or smoothed over.

The workers are not all blind to the causes underlying this great struggle. They are beginning to see and to think, and many of them will begin to act. Why should our fellow-workers support the Socialist Party? Because it is the only party that is unequivocally committed to their economic interests, to the abolition of the wage-system and the freedom of the worker from exploitation and every other species of servitude. The Socialist Party does not expect the support of the capitalist class, for it is opposed to their economic interests, and it would be foolish to expect them to abolish themselves. The Socialist Party is the party of the workers, who are on the right side of this worldwide struggle, and, although a minority today, it contains all the elements of self-development and will expand to majority proportions to inaugurate the impending change as certain as the forces of industrial evolution are undermining the present system and making that change inevitable.

The Socialist Party is the party of the present and of the immediate future. It believes that the competitive system has outlived its usefulness, that it has become an obstruction in the path of progress, that, like feudalism, from which it sprang, it must pass away. The Socialist Party stands for the abolition of the wage system, for the economic freedom as well as the political equality of the working class, knowing that without the former the latter is impossible. The Socialist Party stands for the common ownership of the means of wealth production and distribution and the operation of industry in the interest of all. The Socialist Party stands for wealth may be produced for the use of all instead of for the profit of a few , in which every citizen shall have the inalienable right to enjoy all the fruits of society’s collective labour.

Patience and persistence always will prevail

Shall we ever see socialism in our time? Do you think we shall ever live to see it? Our organisation says, socialism is feasible and within reach right now. These are our reasons.

This system of society is called capitalism. Its essential feature is that a great numbers of people around the world co-operate to produce that which humanity needs but the  machinery they use is the property of a comparatively small number of individuals, who, by virtue of such ownership, take the whole of the product, returning to the labourers, on the average, just sufficient of the proceeds to enable them to support life and continue to work. The wealth produced to-day is produced for the market. The continuity of a capitalist concern depends upon its ability to obtain and hold markets. Without markets it dwindles and dies. There is no standing still. It is either going for ward of back. If it goes forward, it carries its own Nemesis with it; for among the products it must export are the very machines that will in turn make the market first self-supporting, and later into a competitor. If it go back, it automatically condemns to idleness, hunger, and possible insurrection the source of its own riches, the workers, without whom the whole of its machinery is so much scrap-iron.

It becomes a question about those who own the social machinery

Consider these facts. During the last ten years probably a hundred millions of people have died as a result of war, famine, and pestilence (coronavirus). Add to these the millions of unemployed in every capitalistic country. Think of the loss in productive capacity of those millions. Think of the loss as consumers. We are told this is a period of bad trade, of recession, of decreased productivity, of poverty-stricken markets. What will it mean when Capitalism gets going again; when trade revives; when  What other than that the present slump will be succeeded by a brief period of feverish bustle of prodigious production, of tremendous effort, and then— and then, what? Markets choked, production stopped, unemployment colossal, and slump abysmal.

These things will gradually awake the worker to a knowledge of his position. As the water wears the stone away, so the disappointments and sufferings will eventually wear away the workers' support of capitalism. In our opinion, human society is ripe for socialisation now, immediately. It wants but a working class ready, willing, and, above all, organised, to take the means of human life out of the hands of those who now use them for individual gain and convert them into instruments for the common well-being. The opportunity arises at each General Election, for, as the capitalists conserve their power by their hold on the machinery of government, so, with the accession to power of a majority of workers' delegates, backed by an organised working class, can the people achieve that social ownership of its own means of life, which we call socialism. This can be achieved in our time. This is within the compass of the present year. There is no need to await the brutal bludgeoning of the next slump, or the one after that. The first requisite is understanding; the next organisation; and then a realisation that they are best combined by joining the Socialist Party—now.

Every member of the Socialist Party commenced with a relatively limited amount of knowledge, usually dearly bought in the hard school of working-class experience; but he or she knows that such a step inevitably leads to the desire to study and enlarge that knowledge. Unfortunately, the new convert to socialism is often inclined to enthuse over anything that is supposed to call for working-class activity and support; he or she is fired with zeal and interest in matters which, a later and clearer perception will teach, are about as much to do with the socialist objective as the programme of the Labour Party. It by no means follows that he or she should not endeavour to understand each and every phase of political activity, but a clear understanding of their socialist position IS FIRST NECESSARY to enable him to analyse and explain the uselessness of such and such a movement to our class. No member of the Labour Party could show that even the realisation of the whole of their programme would confer the slightest permanent benefit upon the workers; they can only impress and delude the politically ignorant. Mere eagerness to do something without an objective, which is the result of scientific deduction, may even be in a direct line to perpetuate decadent capitalism. All reforms are a standing example of such waste of effort as far as socialism is concerned.

It is often easier to instruct and help members of the working class in obtaining real socialist knowledge who have NOT imbibed some half-baked unscientific notions of the so-called "Communist" and other left-wing organisations, seeking the support of the workers, than it is with those who, though professing socialists, are confused, and, in reality, unconsciously enemies of the working class. Before one can lay any claim to the name of socialist, it is essential that an understanding be based upon a scientifically drawn-up foundation; only then can the worker discard false conceptions and avoid the errors so common to the pseudo and the sentimental reformer.

That foundation is to be found in the principles of the Socialist Party. There, in simple, working-class language, is the guide to action. Once understood, no matter how brilliant the oratory or rhetoric, or how touching the appeal may be that is. made by people who claim that their heart bleeds for the worker—he will know that there is one way, and ONE WAY ONLY, to working-class emancipation, and that is. the way of class-conscious concerted action by the workers themselves. That is the knowledge that will enable the workers to obtain the power to wrest, by their political supremacy, the means to the glorious heritage that awaits them. Without that knowledge, however much skill and dexterity they may possess as workers, they remain slaves, by reason of the ignorance of their position in society. Once a majority obtain that knowledge, the advent of the socialist commonwealth is at hand. Fellow-workers, join with us; the smallest effort helps to speed the day.

Scotland's life expectancy still stalled

Life expectancy growth continues to stall in Scotland

If you live in a deprived area you are likely to have a considerably shorter lifespan than those in more affluent areas – and the report shows East Dunbartonshire, with the relatively wealthy suburbs of Milngavie and Bearsden having the longest, yet Glasgow, its immediate neighbour and significantly poorer, has the shortest. Dundee has the second lowest life expectancy.

In Glasgow City, where males are expected to live to 73.6 years and females to 78.5. 

Life expectancy for females is highest in East Renfrewshire at 84.0 years and male life expectancy was highest in East Dunbartonshire at 80.5 years.”

The national life expectancy sits at 77.1 years for men and 81.1 years for women, however, this is still the lowest in western Europe. Scotland continues to have the lowest life expectancy at birth of all UK countries. Life expectancy at birth in the UK was 79.4 years for males and 83.1 years for females in 2017-2019.

The gap between the most and least deprived people’s life expectancy in Scotland is 13.3 years for men and 10 years for women

Social Solidarity

"Neither the crushing powers of the centralised state, nor the teachings of mutual hatred and  pitiless struggle which came adorned with the attributes of science, from obliging  philosophers and sociologists could weed out the feeling of human solidarity, deeply lodged  in men's understanding and heart, because it has been nurtured by all our preceding  evolution." - Kropotkin, "Mutual Aid,"

Among the many objections that have been levelled against socialism, the one concerning human nature strikes the writer as providing not only a lop-sided view of human nature, but at the same time an indictment of capitalist society unconsciously made by our opponents.

We are informed that "human nature being what it is, socialism is quite impossible," or, as it is sometimes put, "you will have to change human nature." We assert that present-day society is based upon the private ownership of the means of living by the capitalist class, with the consequent enslavement of the working class, by means of whose labour wealth is produced. It follows, then, that, as the capitalist class do not work, they must obtain their wealth from the workers; in other words, they steal it from the working class. Of course, the means, employed are not the same as those of the common thief or burglar, which are quite illegal, but by virtue of their "legal" ownership of the means of life, which is secured to them by their being in control of the political machinery, including the armed forces of the nation. 

 The objection of our opponents merely begs the following question: What is human nature? The answer, that, in the opinion of the present writer, covers the ground fairly well, is the one met somewhere in his reading as "the manifold activities of man in general." This definition should meet with the approval of our opponents, for when they use the phrase "human nature," they generally refer to the actions of certain persons as a proof of their position.

A glance at history will show that the activities of man have changed with every alteration in the form of society, for, just as there has been change within the domain of the biological world, so there has been changes in the forms of society. At a very early period of man's history cannibalism was very often resorted to as a means of food supply., and was thought no more objectionable than eating the flesh of an ox or a sheep. The sex relationship of primitive man, although being quite in conformity with the current morality of the age, would shock the civilised person, and if anybody proposed their revival in modern society, either a prison cell or a lunatic asylum would greet their efforts. But, while there is a vast difference between the primitive savage and civilised man, the distinction lies in the fact that, while the former had but crude implements at his disposal to obtain the means of sustenance, the latter has inherited the results of the accumulated experiences of man's long and painful journey from savagery through barbarism to civilisation.

But, while the outlook and surroundings of modern man are different from those of his primitive ancestor, nevertheless, as far as the qualities that make up human nature are concerned, there is a similarity between both.

For instance, we eat when we are hungry, and roar when we are angry. We seek the greatest amount of pleasure, and avoid pain and discomfort as much as possible, and the same qualities characterise the savage. The difference lies in the means employed to procure the food and the kind of pleasure sought; consequently, viewing human nature from this angle, we say that there is a sense in which human nature changes and a sense in which it is always the same. The change of conditions, whether it be a change in the form of society or a change in the conditions of existing society, does not change the man, they only direct his natural qualities of adaptation into a different path. To illustrate this, we may take war. Here we find the "peaceful citizen," who, while he shudders at the mention of a social revolution, because to him it means bloodshed, was converted from a man of peace into a man of war, and the greater the amount of blood of his opponents he shed, the more his conduct was commended.

The worker may notice how, when one of his mates has fallen upon more evil times, the helping hand of the shop-mates has been extended towards the victim. In the most poverty-stricken slum the same factor of mutual aid can be observed. As we have already indicated, human nature is a complexity of qualities that can either be expressed harmfully or beneficially; it depends upon the conditions of its existence; and, as we have shown, that, with the change of conditions, there takes place a corresponding change in man's activities, we assert that with the change from capitalism to socialism, those various qualities which go to make up human nature, will be directed into different paths, and the workers, free from capitalist bondage, will thus enjoy the fruits of their labour and live a life of security and happiness.

Our Objective - Agitate, Educate, Organise!

I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. --- Crazy Horse

Men and women stand side by side and demand full economic and social freedom, and the establishment in the near future of a co-operative commonwealth. What are we out for? Nothing less than a social revolution, a complete transformation of human society from its base. That is no little thing. It is about the biggest task that any body of men and women have ever set their hands to. And what are the means at our disposal, the material with which we have to work? We have no other material than people like ourselves and no other means. The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working-class themselves. There is no other way. We need all the help we can get. They cannot be emancipated against their will, and so far we have not succeeded in inspiring them with that consciousness of their present enslaved condition, that passionate desire for their own emancipation. For that we have been frequently and constantly derided by candid friends and critics, nevertheless, we do not see that they have succeeded any better than we have. The Socialist Party admits its obvious failure to rally the workers to muster under its banner, but the failure of all other workers’ bodies which have attempted the task have not succeeded. 

The Socialist Party challenged the prevailing view in the social democracy that the class struggle was to be won in the capitalist legislatures. Step by step concessions were to be wrested from the state; the working class and the socialist parties were to engage our masters by means of “constructive” reform and social legislation; each concession would act as a rung in the ladder of social revolution, upon which the workers could climb step by step, until finally, the new day dawned where working  people awoke to find the cooperative commonwealth functioning without disorder, confusion, on the ruins of the capitalist state. But that did not happened and the Socialist Party said it wouldn’t. The reformist organisations competed for votes, on the basis of social reforms, with the capitalist political parties. And they catered to the ignorance and prejudices of the workers, trading promises of immediate reforms for votes. We do not make a bible of Marx, but the left-reformists through intellectual gymnastics, evasions, misquotations, and citing sentences and phrases from their context, make Marx and Engels sponsors for their corrupted version of socialism. They have only achieved to make socialism more hazy and less definite. The reformists have failed to organise a working-class socialist party, independent of, and hostile to, all capitalist parties, as an instrument for the political, economic and social emancipation of the working-class.

It is in the direction of building up a class-conscious working-class Socialist Party that we bend our efforts with renewed energy. Agitate, Educate, Organise! Our goal is to win recruits to the Red Flag and to bring together all comrades and friends into a united socialist party for the emancipation of humanity! Socialism does not come to destroy but to fulfil the ideals of liberty, fraternity, and equality. Socialism comes not as a remedy for the evils of existing society, but for a new society, a coherent and free society. Socialism starts with the brotherhood and unity as a fact. It does not proclaim it as a sentiment, but recognises it as a scientific fact. Each for all and all for each is the only rational system to live in.

We are bound up together in this world and can only achieve our well-being together. We all in common depend upon the same common resources of nature. Since all people in common depend upon the sources and tools of production, there can be no individual liberty save these sources and tools belong to the people in common. No-one is free so long as the person is dependent upon another for the chance to earn a livelihood. If someone owns my bread, or owns that which I must have in order to get my bread, I am owned. Private ownership of the earth, of its productive machinery, means private ownership of the people who live on the earth. A person who sells his or her labour-power for wages sells oneself, for under capitalism labour-power is life. The wages system is merely another form of the slave-system, no fit system for free men and women. The labour of the world is essentially slave-labour. There can be no true freedom for mankind until there is not another hireling left under the sun. So long a few own that upon which all depend, we are alike enslaved, and robbed. Behind the economics of capitalism, this industrial system rests upon this power of private capital to legally appropriate the fruits of the labour of society. It is elementally wrong that some people should own that upon which all people depend; and the only elemental right is that the people in common should own that upon which the people in common depend; and the only just reward of labour is the whole produce of labour.

As history well witnesses, the concentration of the wealth into the hands of the few has been the poison. It has brought the decline or destruction of every nation, every civilisation. Concentrated wealth is not prosperity but disease. Socialism comes to remove the causes that prevent humanity from being sisters and brothers. Socialism strikes at the root of the chief cause of our social problems and proposes to abolish wage slavery and competition and capitalism, itself. The whole influence of capitalism is to war against liberty, and to make all that is noble and good in the world impossible to share.

World Socialism is Our Aim

 

The precondition for building real socialism – a global society of freely associated producers - is to capture the State machine peacefully if possible via the ballot box, forceably if democracy is denied to us. Watching Leftists succumb to the pull of the lesser evil sirens, reeking of smoky back-room deals and political patronage at the expense of democracy, does not offer us any joy. We retain our dedication to revolutionary change and socialism. We are revolutionary socialists who believe that capitalism — as a system centered 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. We exist to organise for socialism. Human needs cannot replace profit as the driving force of society unless the people control their workplaces, their communities and neighborhoods. Under capitalism, a handful who own the factories, the mines, farms, and the banks control the wealth that the majority of the people produce. It is this system that we are fighting.

Our enemy is capitalism. In order to fight the enemy and win, we have to understand the enemy. 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 giant corporations around the world, seeking cheaper raw materials and corrupt local governments that will insure a "friendly investment climate." Capitalism continuously seeks cheaper labour costs. This is why we see so many plants closing down and “out-sourcing” and moving "offshore." We are told that this is a democracy, where the people rule. The capitalist class rules. It is “their” democracy. It is not just that it takes millions of dollars to run for high office. The state – the government and the legal system – were set up and developed to serve the interests of capitalism, to uphold the rights of property over of the people. The capitalist class needs to maintain its grip on the levers of power.

The struggle for a liveable planet is a life-and-death issue. Corporate greed has polluted our air, poisoned our waters, and drenched our food with dangerous chemicals. Our survival necessitates democratic control of technology and production and the elimination of the blind consumerism that causes us to squander so many of the world's resources needlessly. As we develop a new vision of socialism, we will have 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. The threat to the environment touches everyone. We believe in a socialism where fulfilment will be found in the relationships among people and not in the consumption of things. Only conscious socialist planning by all of society can make this a reality.

It is a paradox: The world and its people have never been so closely inter-connected than today, yet there are more fences and walls separating them than ever before. With almost 200 states that insist on their national sovereignty, effective international action and regulation are hard, if not impossible, to achieve. We are in the middle of a struggle between the forces of autocracy and nationalism on the one hand and democracy and global awareness on the other.

World unification is no longer a philosophical consideration. It is becoming a practicable possibility. The people of the world need a global democracy and a global administration that represents all citizens of the world. The advantages of capitalist globalisation and rising productivity disproportionately benefit the affluent. Intergovernmental organisations such as the UN or the WHO are only as effective as their member states allow them to be. Otherwise, their hands are tied. The UN does not represent humanity. It is an exclusive club of government executives whose job it is to pursue national interests.

Inequality is also growing across the world. Addressing this issue in a speech, UN chief Antonio Guterres said, "While we are all floating on the same sea, it's clear that some of us are in super yachts while others are clinging to the floating debris." 

According to the World Food Programme, 135 million people are facing crisis levels of hunger. There are currently close to 80 million displaced people who have fled war, persecution and instability. It is the worst humanitarian and refugee crisis in 70 years.

It is time that global institutions be equipped with the power they need to deal with global threats and manage global commons. If the people of the world unite behind this vision it can soon be at the top of the political agenda.