World Socialism - Roots and Shoots

 

What kind of society do we want as we harness the technology of artificial intelligence and robotics which could provide an era of abundance for all, releasing us from the drudgery of monotonous toil and enrich our lives. 

The Socialist  Party is the party of the dispossessed and oppressed, organised to build a new world but we do not offer a blueprint to a better future. But offer an invitation to all fellow-workers to join us in our  efforts to eradicate a social system based on exploitation, discrimination, poverty and war. The capitalist system must be replaced by political and economic democracy. That is the burning issue of our era, the only hope of humanity. A socialist society must be founded on true solidarity, on true cooperation.

Socialism is the only option to consider if you seek to avoid a dystopian nightmare where global crises are inevitable as long as profits dictate the course of humanity. Attempts to reform capitalism has failed. That failure puts a campaign for the socialist alternative once again on the immediate agenda. A world confronted by a political, social and economic emergencies  demands straight-forward solutions. Half-measures cannot meet the challenge. We need a socialist economic system based on common ownership. We will replace private ownership with collective control. The needs of people, not profit, are the driving force of a socialist society. This wholesale reconstruction will be accomplished by democratising all levels of society. We believe in the ability of working people to manage society democratically.

The Socialist Party’s task is not to convert the world. Our task is only to point out as widely as possible what should be self-evident to every person sufficiently educated to be able to read the book of history. It is not enough to point an accusing finger at the greedy and evil men who are running the government today. Their individual avarice and lust for power are important factors, but not the decisive ones. They are driven to desperate measures not merely by some quirk in their individual or collective minds or hearts, but by the very needs of the capitalist system itself. Many “reasonable” people suggest the answer is to put in good men and women to reform or patch up the system. In a rational world there would of course be no poverty or lack of resources which would be accessible to all and collectively used for the common welfare. But a world dominated by capitalism is not a rational world. Capitalist rivals competing in the long run undermines the system they seek to maintain.

History has taught us to be on guard against capitalist reformism. Fundamentally, the reason is that you can’t end all the social ills we suffer from without ending its cause, capitalism. No matter how sincere are the intentions, as long as the reformist’s influence is able to dissuade the people from replacing capitalism with a socialist system, then the reformist is our enemy. The Socialist Party cannot support any individual or group dedicated to the maintenance of capitalism. The oppressor and oppressed, stand in constant opposition to one another in a fight for the revolutionary reconstruction of society, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.  The essence of the capitalist system is the ownership and control of the materials and technology of production and distribution by a small class whose legal title to the lands, forests, mines, transportation, offices, factories, and other industrial and  utilities gives the people. Workers survive in a form of slavery, wherein labour power is paid for by wages, and the bare chance to live depends upon some capitalist master.

The socialist revolution cannot be achieved by direct seizure of industry by the workers, without the workers first having conquered the power of the state. The Socialist Party seeks to abolish a society which cannot constructively apply technological advances. Since capitalism produces for profits, it is indifferent to the fate of those workers thrown out of employment because of technological progress. A socialist society, however, would welcome such progress and would merely shorten the work week to give the workers the benefits of the new advances in machine production. The more successful the researchers, inventors and cooperators are, the greater becomes the profit of the wealthy who can take advantage of a new development greater the menace to the little people despite that this is the age of plenty

Socialism is all for all, not all for the few

 

The capitalist class does not change its greed for profits any more than the leopard changes its spots. When a corporation closes down its factories and stops production, it is no proof of the indispensability of capitalists in the production processes. It only points up the folly of the workers in allowing capitalism to stand between them and the plants of which labour is the heart. The working class should be controlling production in the interest of all the people. There can be plenty for all – but only by socializing the means of production and placing production under control of community committees. The working class today stands at a crossroads of history. The workers cannot afford to be lulled into a false sense of security. The empty gesture of capitalism to save itself must be repudiated. The admission of top capitalists that their system cannot provide security for the workers is an admission of abysmal failure and defeat, from the workers’ point of view. At the same time it is a challenge to the workers to take over production themselves for the benefit of the whole people.

 The material and technical resources for a socialist society unquestionably exist in the world today. It is capable of satisfying the needs of all its people. A handful of capitalists control our planet and make vast profits off the labour of the working people. All the major means of production - the factories, forests, farms, fisheries and mines are in the hands of a few hundred capitalists. Capitalism is a system of exploitation. A handful of parasites live off the backs of the workers and care little about their conditions. For workers, the future is less and less certain. The exploitation and oppression gets worse every year. All our misery is created so a small clique of very wealthy individuals can continue to line their pockets. The capitalists get rich by appropriating the fruits of our labour. At the end of a work week the worker collects his pay. The capitalists claim this is a fair exchange. But it is highway robbery. In reality, a worker gets paid for only a small part of the value he produced. The rest, the surplus value, goes straight into the boss’s pocket. The idea that everyone can get rich under this system is a lie invented by the rich themselves. Under capitalism, the only way to get rich is to trample on someone else. This is why workers have only one choice: either submit to this wage slavery or fight it!

 The only solution for humanity is the socialist revolution. Apathy will not bring such a revolution, but empathy may well do. Our drive to cooperate is greater than the desire for us to compete. Socialism is coming. The last phase of human slavery, called the “wages system,” is nearing its end. The conflict between worker and capitalist can never be permanently settled except by socialism.

The unparalleled development of industry, science and technique, particularly in the course of the last few decades, means that for the first time the material conditions for socialism now exist on a world scale. The sustainable and harmonious application of the new technology—robots, automation, artificial intelligence—the resources of the whole planet could be utilised to the full to provide a better life for all. Contrary to the pessimistic assertions of some environmentalists, there are ample resources potentially to guarantee a full and happy life for every human being on the planet. We have to-day ample resources for producing all the things we need. On a world scale, there is no shortage of resources. The only thing which stands in the way of the attainment of these things is the outmoded ownership of the means of production and distribution based on the exchange economy by a privileged handful, and the narrow limitations of the national state which has now become transformed into an absolute fetter on the development of the productive forces.

 A world socialist movement would usher in a new and qualitatively higher level of civilisation. Mankind would be freed from the horrors of war, hunger and disease.

 

The world is ours to share

 The Socialist Party says the choices facing our fellow-workers are world socialism or a final catastrophe. We believe that world barbarism will prevail unless a socialist reorganisation of society takes place. Many would say much of the world has already been turned into barbarism. There can be no world peace without a socialist reorganisation of society.  The Socialist Party has no other goal than the realisation of socialism. Political power is for us socialists only a means. The end for which we must use this power is the fundamental transformation of the entire economic relations. Currently all wealth belongs to a private capitalists. All social wealth, the land with all its natural resources beneath and on the surface, and all factories and works must be taken out of the hands of the exploiters and taken into common property of the people. Only then does the real task begin: the reconstruction of the economy on a completely new basis.

 At the moment production in every enterprise is conducted by individual capitalists on their own initiative. What – and in which way – is to be produced, where, when and how the produced goods are to be sold is determined by the industrialist. The workers do not see to all this, they are just living machines who have to carry out their work.

In socialism this will be completely different The employing class will disappear. Then no longer production aims towards the enrichment of one individual, but of delivering to the public at large the means of satisfying all its needs. Accordingly the factories, works and the agricultural enterprises must be reorganised according to a new way of looking at things:

If production is to have the aim of securing for everyone a dignified life, plentiful food and providing other cultural means of existence, then the productivity of labour must be a great deal higher than it is now. The land must yield a far greater yields, the most advanced technology must be used in the factories etc.

If we establish a way where everybody works for everyone, for the public good and benefit, then work itself must be organised quite differently. Nowadays work in industry, in agriculture and in the office is mostly a torment and a burden for the workers. One only goes to work because one has to, because one would not otherwise get the means to live. In a socialist society, where everyone works together for their own well being, the health of the workforce and its enthusiasm for work must be given the greatest consideration at work. Short working hours that do not exceed the normal capability, healthy work-places, all methods of recuperation and a variety of work must be introduced in order that everyone enjoys doing their part. Currently the capitalist, his works foreman or supervisor stands behind the worker with his whip. Hunger drives the the people to work in the factory or in the office.

In a socialist society the industrialist with his whip ceases to exist. The workers are free and equal human beings who work for their own well-being and benefit. That means by themselves, working on their own initiative, not wasting public wealth, and delivering the most reliable and meticulous work. Every socialist concern needs of course its technical specialists who give the guidance and advice so that everything runs smoothly and the highest efficiency is achieved.

One cannot create socialism with indifferent individualists. A socialist society needs people full of passion and enthusiasm for the well-being, full of solidarity and sympathy for our fellow human beings, full of courage and tenacity in order to attempt the most difficult. We do not need, however, to wait perhaps a century or a decade until such a person develop.

Socialism replaces the capitalist system – and immediately proceeds to administer on the basis of human requirements, ending the exploiting capitalists and their yearning for profits.

If you examine the problems facing the working people today, you find, first, that they are not new, but only a new variation of old difficulties and second, you discover that they would disappear if the capitalists were out of the way.

If a person is suffering from a fatal disease and the only chance of survival is a life-saving operation submitting to this operation is intelligent and rational. Surely, we must see that society is suffering from the cancer of capitalism and understand  that palliatives cannot cure. We need to cut out the cancer or resign ourselves to the progressively worsening of the condition.  We face a capitalist system exhibiting the newest symptom of the disease, the tragic collapse of civilisation. The alternative is to submit to the life-saving operation known as social revolution.

Socialism – the Alternative to Barbarism

 

The Socialist Party has always admitted that in its heyday capitalism was a progressive force. The lure for profits in the unlimited markets of the world stimulated the capitalist class to expand and industrialise the means of production. It encouraged science and invention to make possible the mass production of an abundance of commodities. It is true that in its progressive stage capitalists still robbed the workers of the product of its labour, just as it does to day. 

THE WORKING CLASS IS PAID IN WAGES ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE VALUES IT PRODUCES. 

 But then there was historic compensation for the robbery. The technological means for ultimately abolishing poverty from the face of the earth were being perfected. This reason for putting up with exploitation no longer exists. Poverty stalks the land – but not because of any lack of technology. Capitalism’s octopus grip of production is never released except when there is profit to be made. That is how “progressive” the capitalist system has become. So the wheels of industry stop turning and remain practically motionless until the blessings of business bank-balance rewards the investors. There is plenty of wear and tear on the human machine. Steadily the worker is depleted of ones power to labor. As we gets older we are threatened with “obsolescence” and are finally supplanted by a younger worker. 

 Every time the world enters a crisis, it also lets loose a great avalanche of beautiful promises for a post-crisis paradise on earth, of peace and good will. This abundance of empty promises is supposed to make up for working peoples self-sacrifice and shortages in happiness and the other necessities of life. After the pandemic ends, some are calling for the “Great Re-set”, a false slogan stirring only false hopes. Even the most starry-eyed should be disillusioned. Capitalism is far from altruistic and compassion and empathy is not how it operates. It is time for the workers to laugh in the faces of the demagogues of all political shades, with their windy promises to do this and that. Labour doesn’t need anybody to do anything for it – and furthermore nobody will do anything for labour. Labour can and must get on its own. It has the numbers, it has the industrial power. It needs only to cut the strings that keeps it dancing for the puppeteers.

What is needed is not a change of personnel at the controls but that the working peoples of the world must replace the rulers. This means the death of capitalism and the birth of socialism. Power and profit – the motive force of capitalism – will then perish. The peoples of the world will be able to produce their goods and use their resources ACCORDING TO THEIR HUMAN NEEDS. The wheels of industry has never ever ran for the people. If any one thing stands out above all else in the climate crises, it is the fundamental anarchy of the capitalist system. It is just impossible to make the profit system work in accordance with a plan. The purpose of production remains the same – how much is there in it for the controllers of commerce! Solutions to global warming  have been side-tracked or, if adopted, it has been done in such an emasculated form as not to hurt the profit motives of the bosses. The profit system, you see, recognises no plans. It has one unshakable purpose: PRIVATE GAIN.

 Economic crises have been marked by great abundance of productive resources, both capital and human – BUT UNUSED RESOURCES. That is the socialist indictment against capitalist anarchy. People starve in the midst of plenty because capitalism is geared to production for private profit. THE ONLY WAY OUT FOR THE WORKERS IS THROUGH SOCIALISM because all resources would be owned in common. But when a capitalist government proposes to go on a spending binge, the question always is: “Where will the money come from?” This again shows how capitalist economists are caught in a vicious circle. These capitalist politicians and economists – with their grandiose but futile plans – dare not face the fact that all future progress lies on the road to socialism. All of society’s problems arise from a common cause – the concentration of industrial and political power in the hands of the few against the many.  The future can be shaped by the workers in their own interests and the interest of the whole of society. To cut loose from the capitalist class, to step out into independent political action to supplant the useless capitalist class in the ownership and control of production. Modern production – which has been built up through the ages from the ingenuity of all mankind – can be released for the peaceful uses of people only by freeing it from the stranglehold of the political and industrial rulers of the world. Socialism will accomplish this next step in human progress.