There is enough for all

 

The atrocity of forcing the poor to pay for life-saving necessities exposes the very core of capitalism—a system where profits for the tiny few come before human needs. The capitalists rationalise that the competition for profits is endemic to human nature and that a socialist society based upon production to satisfy human needs instead of profits is an unattainable fantasy.

 

Human nature, they claim, is based upon the struggle for the survival of the fittest—the competition between all living beings for the means of survival. Capitalism, they argue, is the natural extension of this basic struggle, i.e., that the private accumulation of vast amounts of capital and the military might to guard that wealth in the hands of a tiny few of the “fittest” humans is just basic human nature and, therefore, capitalism is the “natural” social and economic structure. This argument is sophism and is carefully promoted in every aspect of social interaction, education and mass media propaganda throughout the capitalist world, whether ruled by kings, parliaments or congresses.

 

In nature, survival of the fittest refers to the successful survival of entire species—not the few “best of the best” from each species. In nature, endangered species are those whose population has been decimated, and there are only a few survivors left—and, most importantly—their numbers could be too few for the species to survive. In other words, it is necessary for massive numbers of a species to be able to thrive—to live healthy enough lives to reproduce healthy offspring—for the species as a whole to survive. Life depends upon the success of the entire specie’s ability to survive and thrive. Not on the survival of a few of the “most fit.”

 

The fact is, it’s utopian to think that capitalism can do anything but continue on the destructive path of survival of the most wealthy at the expense of all life on Earth. Socialism is the only alternative to the destruction inherent in capitalist production-for-profit and it’s our only hope for all of life’s species and the Earth itself to survive and thrive. Working people must completely re-adjust and transform production, not just take it over from the capitalists. This is the conclusion that needs to be derived from the current political and ecological threats to both humanity and the planet. A world planned economy, including all industries and agriculture, run democratically, and based on the abolition of capitalism is the only real hope for humanity and will assure that humanity enjoys worldwide common ownership through which it can remake and transform the economy, and so facilitate saving both itself and the planet. 

 

Workers are paid only a tiny proportion—as little as the boss can get away with—of the actual wealth we produce through our labour. We don’t need the capitalists to be able to produce the things we need and want. We could all have free housing, education, healthcare, food, clothing, and entertainment—anything we can imagine—under a socialist society. Socialism is a system that puts the needs, wants and passions of people, and the health of the planet, and all the life on it, first. By uniting together we can finally end the barbaric, profit-driven system of capitalism—the last vestige of slavery—that is plundering and destroying the planet. Through socialism—acting and working together democratically for the good of all—we have the power to change the world and create endless possibilities. If there is “good” and “evil,” then “good” is the potential to nurture each other and protect our environment. Above all to make democratic and rational decisions based upon need, want and the health of our planet and not on the accumulation of private profits for the few. “Evil” is the system of capitalism itself, whereby the private ownership of the means of production, and the profits produced by our labour, are owned and ruled by the capitalist class—a tiny minority of individuals, who are not only constantly in conflict with one another—but are united in a war against us, in order to get more of the profits we produce. Humanity is fundamentally good because it’s in the best interests of all to live peacefully and cooperatively on this planet. Nothing is impossible and we have nothing to lose, and a Paradise to gain. That’s socialism.

The Nationalist Smokescreen

 

The worker in Scotland is equally exploited as the worker in England. Scottish nationalists by no means struggle for the liberation of workers. They only struggles for its own selfish ends. They want an independent Scottish sovereign state to have a bigger slice of the profits from exploitation of Scottish workers. Left-nationalists contribute nothing but division and confusion in the midst of the workers. They ally with the little bosses and don the garb of independence in order to reach a larger public. Many people are fed up with capitalist society  and they make easy pickings for nationalists. Nationalism and  independence are  empty slogans which demagogues can fill with a false and even dangerous content. Capitalist "freedom" means bosses are free to screw us all. In capitalist society, only the bosses are free - free to hire and fire, free to pillage and plunder, free to make our class slave for their profits.

 The cause of socialism recognises no borders, has no fatherland other than the world, and cannot succeed without the unanimous agreement of all the world’s workers, the World Socialist Movement (WSM), stands with all our fellow-workers across the world. We seek to remake a world with no borders. Socialism cannot exist without a change in consciousness resulting in a new fraternal attitude toward humanity, both at an individual level, within the societies where socialism is being built or has been built, and on a world scale, with regard to all peoples suffering from capitalist exploitation. For us there is no valid definition of socialism other than the abolition of the exploitation of one human being by another. We have to prepare conditions so that our brothers and sisters can directly and consciously take the path of the complete abolition of exploitation. We cannot be indifferent to what happens anywhere in the world, because the practice of worldwide solidarity with fellow-workers  is not only a duty for those  struggling for a better future, it is also an inescapable necessity. Socialism knows no borders. For the workers there were no frontiers and no nationalities, but only mankind. Socialism is all about world community. There is no room for nation-states.

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

Socialism can never happen in any one country without the help of the workers of all lands. For us neither geographical boundaries, nationality, nor colour makes rivals or enemies; for us there are no nations, but only fellow-workers  whose mutual sympathies are perverted by masters whose interest it is to stir up hatreds between the dwellers in different lands. We are working for equality and fraternity for all the world, and it is only through equality and fraternity that we can be effective.

Since the world is divided up into nation-states where weaker subservient countries are subject to their stronger imperialist masters, the inevitable result of this rivalry among the nations is trade wars and actual war itself. This nationalism alone indicts capitalism as the great obstacle to human progress and social evolution. 

The WSM aspires for a world worth living in.  Where no nationalities exist but where diverse cultures flourish.

Capitalism must go

 

A profit-motivated economic system  represents a mortal threat to our health, to our lives, and to our planet. The capitalist class bases all their decisions on how to run industry and the economy solely upon whether or not they can make a profit. They, as a ruling class, override all else in their quest for profit, with no regard to environmental or human catastrophic consequences. There is no limit to the depths of poverty the capitalists will force upon the world’s working class in their drive to maintain their rate of profit and accumulate personal wealth. Modern society has the knowledge and the technology to make the world a heavenly paradise, but the very economic structure of capitalism itself will not allow it. The profit-driven engine of capitalism consumes everything in its path turning it into the profits that only they benefit from. The fundamental fact is, capitalism can’t be reformed. Sure we can win a few reforms here and there and we must continue  to fight for these reforms. But ultimately, the capitalist class must be overthrown and production for profit must be replaced by production for the needs and wants of the majority, and the health and safety of our planet. These fundamental changes are not unreachable fantasies; they are essential to our very survival. A world socialist revolution is the only way we can achieve the elimination of war and all weapons of death and destruction and an end to environmental catastrophes that result from the “profit-above-all-else” mentality that is the essential nature of capitalism. Only world socialism can ensure economic and social justice for all.

What we need to do is come together to use the power we have to actually do something about it. First, we have to realize who we are. We are workers. We are essential to the production of all commodities and the excavation of raw materials necessary to manufacture them. Our labour is responsible for every penny of wealth accumulated by the capitalists, the private owners of the very means of production our labour built and fuels. We are responsible for producing all the profits—including that which the capitalists use to pay our wages. The capitalists pay nothing at all. They have gotten a free ride. The capitalists own the factories, the farmland, the machines of industry, and the distribution of goods and supplies. They themselves produce nothing yet they take almost everything, leaving us the minimum they can get away with. They are the exploiters of workers and the commanders of capital, whose interests are diametrically opposed to the interests of working people the world over. The interests of capitalists and workers could not be further apart. The capitalist system puts the accumulation of vast sums of private profit and personal wealth above all else and is responsible for leading the world to the brink of ecological collapse. And make no mistake about it: while they may compete, bicker, even battle among themselves from time to time, capitalism’s collective interest lies in maintaining the class distinction between themselves and the masses of workers. They are compelled to do so to maintain their rule over us, over all the wealth we produce with our minds, hands, and backs, and over the land we walk on. The capitalist profit motive breed chaos and disregard for anything but profits. They plunder and pollute the land. They lie, cheat, swindle, sow division and distrust among people. They make the laws, hire the police, and enlist the armies to maintain their control over the means of production. By maintaining their stranglehold and enslavement of the workers, they protect their exclusive ownership rights to the plentiful wonders of the world, which they wantonly squander.

 

Divide and conquer is the technique they use to establish the inferiority of everyone else. The goal is to turn each worker against the other so none will join together to turn against the rich. Divide and conquer is the only way a tiny capitalist minority can maintain rule over the overwhelming majority of workers. They represent less than one percent of the world’s population yet they own and control over 90 percent of all the wealth, land, and property on the planet. Because we working people are the overwhelming majority of people on the planet. We are the ones who know how to make and do everything. We don’t need the capitalists or their rotten system that uses up and exploits everything—especially human beings—in the pursuit of private profit. In fact, the capitalist system itself is standing squarely in the way of human advancement. There can be no rational planning in the interests of what is best for the health and welfare of the planet. We  must look after ourselves from a collective-centered point of view, i.e., always looking out for our and our planet’s best interests. To do this, we must do away with the capitalist system and its chaotic profit motive. That’s all socialism really is: Working people taking over the means of production; democratically and collectively deciding what people need and want; using all our technological skill, know-how, and creativity to produce the best of everything; and eliminating all the waste involved in the production of shoddy goods that are designed to throw away to sell to the poor. With the fantastic global information technology networks we already have in place, we could calculate and allocate  what things and how much of them we need in no time, so that everyone would be provided with the best of everything. By eliminating the capitalist profit-driven mode of production and replacing it with a socialist mode of production, we could rationally plan and share the work, develop the best, safest, and most efficient production and distribution methods, and distribute everything free of charge to everyone. Without the profit motive tying the overwhelming majority of people to hours of drudgery.

 

Doesn’t it make sense?

Allow all people to develop to their fullest; to pursue all their interests; to hone their skills so each one will be able to contribute at his or her fullest capacity to the common good. From each according to skills and abilities, and to each according to individual needs and wants. The goal of socialism, or communism, is to eventually eliminate the need for money or any kind of exchange of one form of labour for another, or one thing for another. Instead, everyone just gets all they need and want, and contributes any talents they can develop to the fullest for the betterment of all

It is really that simple.

Under a rational, socialist, planned-economy, each machine that replaces labour, and each young worker joining the workforce, would not take someone’s job away but would simply reduce the total number of hours everyone would have to work, freeing up more time for each to, in turn, develop even more knowledge and skills. The thing we workers need to comprehend is that together, in unity and solidarity with each other toward such goals, we do have the power to change this dog-eat-dog world into just such a society.

Scottish Workers for Socialism

 Although Scots speak of Scotland as “our” country, and throughout its history millions have died or have been mutilated in defence of what they called “their” country, as a matter of fact Scotland does not belong to the whole of the Scottish people, but to a comparative few. How many Scots can point to a particular part of the map of Scotland and say “this is mine”? The great number own perhaps their home and a even less possessing of a garden, the greatest portion of Scotland being divided among a few great landlords.

The SNP speak of Scotland as a wealthy country. Does that mean that the Scottish people as a whole are well off? By no means. A few are immensely rich, most get a bare living, a large number are degradingly poor. The land and all the means of producing the nation’s wealth are owned by the landlords and capitalist class. The great mass of the people own nothing except their muscles and brains, that is, their power and ability to work. In capitalist Scotland , production is carried on not for the purpose of supplying the needs of the people but for the purpose of sale in order to realise a profit. Only those who have something to sell can get a living. Only those can obtain things who can afford to buy. This is the commercial system, and this is how it works out:- Scotland manufactures sufficient  goods, for example, to supply all the requirements of the people. But the workers cannot afford to buy all that they require of these commodities. To use the language of commerce, “the home market cannot absorb the home production”, and so the capitalist sends his goods where he can sell them. Two-thirds of the annual production goods are exported from Scotland every year while the workers who have produced these have to go without them. If things were produced for use, nobody would spend time in the manufacture of shoddy goods, jerry-built houses, or adulterated food. Commerce is the only purpose of Scottish industry.

The worker has nothing to sell but labour powerto an employer for so many hours a day for a certain price, that is, wages. Since one cannot separate labour power from one’s body it comes to this, that a worker actually sells oneself like a slave. We socialists, call the workers of capitalist countries, “Wage-slaves”. Wages are determined by what it costs to keep a family. How many working people do you know who can save out of their wages? They may be able to put something by in a good year, but bad years come and the savings are gone. It is a fact that in Scotland on the average a worker is not more than two weeks removed from penury.

The capitalist will only buy labour if he can make profit out of it. Just compare the value of the goods you turned out in a day when you were in the factory, and what you received for your work. The difference between the two is the employer’s profit. Profit is the result of the unpaid labour of the worker. In capitalist Scotland, the workers are continually robbed of the results of their labour.

The capitalist will compel the worker to work as hard and as long as he can, for as little money as possible. In spite of health and safety laws, inhuman sweating still flourishes. Whole industries in which absolutely bad working conditions exist. Even through the efforts of the best-organised trade unions wages never rise higher than the cost of living. And even this is not secure. In the endeavour to produce as cheaply as possible, the capitalist continually introduces labour-dispensing technology, which enables him to produce more goods in less time and reduces the standard of skill required. As a result unemployment is continually on the increase.

The immense quantity of goods produced in Scotland which cannot be sold because the workers do not earn enough compels the capitalists to seek markets abroad. They are compelled to seek for undeveloped countries in which to re-invest the profits they have wrung out of the workers at home. Furthermore, the enormous strides which industry has made during the last few decades has created a greater and greater demand for raw materials. For that reason the government which exists solely to serve the interests of the capitalists, strive to acquire wider and greater markets rich in resources. The capitalists of other countries are in the same position, and the rivalry between the capitalists for the possession of these territories leads to trade wars. A sovereign nation such as the SNP seeks will abide by the rules of capitalist competition.

What does capitalism offer the worker? A life of drudgery and toil, barely a subsistence. Always the dread fear of the sack. A drab, dreary existence and when unable to work any longer, to be thrown on the scrap-heap. Nationalists say there will be a change and things will be different after independence. But with all the nationalist policies and plans, if capitalism remains in existence, the worker will still remain subject to the capitalist. There will still be riches and leisure for the few, toil, and poverty for the many. Mansions with landed estates for the wealthy, shoe-box housing estates for the workers.

Capitalist Scotland can offer its workers nothing but wage slavery. Instead of a separatism, the Socialist Party offers together a world wide co-operative commonwealth which we can build together.