We must teach one another

 

Within the World Socialist Movement, there is no advocacy of state ownership of the industries. There is no belief that political government should nationalise the industries, under the leadership of a supposed working-class party. The goal, rather, is direct democratic control of all industries and services by the workers united in an association of a cooperative commonwealth. The socialist political parties that constitute the WSM have but one thing to do upon winning control of the political offices, and that is to transfer all management authority to the workers' administrations and, in so doing, abolish all political forms of power, including the abolition of the socialist political party itself, without delay. The WSM calls for a complete change in the structure of government, creating local, regional and global networks consisting of delegates elected by neighbourhood and workers’ councils in manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, education, health, recreation, etc. Industrial democracy is to replace the political form of parliamentary democracy. The World Socialist Movement agree partially with the anarchists, insofar as to say that a truly class-free society must also be state-free, and have no coercive power that is distinct from and ruling over the populace. As Engels has written that, with socialism, "the government of persons is replaced by the administration of things." 

The WSM differs from anarchists and syndicalists in our insistence that the working class can only abolish the state by first capturing control of it. The working people must come to control the offices of political government (i.e., the coercive and nationalist-based form of government) in order to dismantle it. Therefore, the working class requires organisation in the political field. The ballot raises the workers’ movement above the level of a conspiracy. Without the use of the present constitutional method, the social revolution would have to be violent, either involving the slaughter of participants or the transformation of the mass movement into elite vanguardism of cadres. The WSM continues to insist that modifications to the surface forms of the social system by reforms cannot bring about structural change and fellow workers should not be distracted  with "palliatives." Labour parties and progressive liberals have failed to focus on the need for a revolutionary reconstruction, and possess a diluted political program with calls for gradual reforms which imply the continuation of capitalism. The goal of abolishing "the wage system" is abandoned and the aim of "a fair day's wage for a fair day's work" is adopted.

The members of the World Socialist Movement affirm, as a fundamental principle, that labour is the creator of wealth and is entitled to all it creates. They accept the logical conclusion of such as the overthrow of the whole profit-making system, the extinction of the exchange economy, the abolition of classes and the obliteration of poverty. We declare war upon wage slavery which robs workers and gorges capitalists.

Socialism is the common ownership by all the people of the factories, mines, transport, land and all other instruments of production. Socialism means production to satisfy human needs, not, as under capitalism, for sale and profit. Socialism means democratic control and management of the industries and social services by the workers where all authority will originate from the workers. Such a system would make possible the fullest democracy and freedom. It would be a society based on the most primary freedom, economic freedom. Socialism does not mean government or state ownership. It does not mean a state bureaucracy as in the former Soviet Union or China, with the working class oppressed by a new bureaucratic class. It does not mean a party-run system without democratic rights. It does not mean nationalisation, or even cooperatives, or state capitalism of any kind. It means a complete end to all capitalist social relations. To win the struggle for socialist freedom requires enormous efforts of organisational and educational work. It requires building a political party of socialism to contest the power of the capitalist class on the political field and to educate the majority of workers about the need for socialism. You are needed by the Socialist Party fighting for a better world. Find out more about the work of the Socialist Party and join us to help make the promise of socialism a reality.

The capitalist economic system lies at the root of all of modern society's major social AND economic problems. Abolish strife-breeding capitalism and those problems are either eradicated or left to die, for lack of nourishment, on the ugly vine from which they spring. The Socialist  Party has long contended that only socialism can solve the major social and economic problems plaguing our society today. But many people have been taught all their lives that "socialism" means the state-controlled system that existed in the Soviet Union, exists today in China or Cuba, or bureaucratic state control of society in general. World socialism upheld by the Socialist Party, however, is completely different from the Soviet or Chinese systems, Cuban or any existing system. It has nothing to do with nationalisation, a welfare state or any kind of state ownership or control of industry whatsoever. World socialism would give power not to the state, but to the people themselves, allowing collective control of their own economic future.

Socialism means a class-free society. Unlike under capitalism, where a tiny minority owns the vast majority of wealth and the means of producing it, everyone would share equally in the ownership of all the means of production, and everyone able to do so would work. There wouldn't be separate classes of owners and workers. The economy would be administered by the workers themselves through industrially based, democratic "associations of free and equal producers," as Marx described it.

The workers collectively would decide what they want to be produced and how they want it produced. They would control their own workplaces and make the decisions governing their particular industry. With the abolition of the capitalist expropriation of the lion's share of workers' product, all workers would receive, directly or indirectly, the full value of the products they create, minus only the deductions needed to maintain and improve society's facilities of production and distribution.

As Engels once described it, socialism would be a system in "which every member of society will be enabled to participate not only in the production but also in the distribution of social wealth."

Far from being a state-controlled society, socialism would be a society WITHOUT A STATE. Marx once said that "the existence of the state is inseparable from the existence of slavery." Consonant with this truth, socialism would have management, but not a separate, coercive body standing above society itself -- a state. The people themselves, through the democratic associations of workers, would BE ruling.

Socialism can only be built in a developed, industrialised society with a working-class majority. The Bolshevik and Chinese revolutions weren't socialist in character. They occurred in pre-industrial societies. Without a majority working class and the ability to eliminate scarcity of needed goods and services, the creation of a class-free society was impossible. Material conditions there bred conflict and made the continuation of the class struggle inevitable in such countries.

In a socialist revolution, the industrially organised workers take possession of the means of production, abolish capitalist-class rule and supplant the state with "associations of free and equal producers." 

In the Bolshevik and Chinese revolutions, an elite "vanguard" party seized control of the state and used the state to control the means of production. Instead of establishing a class-free society, the party-state bureaucracy became a new ruling class.

A socialist political party is needed to educate the working class and to recruit workers to the socialist cause. But a political party isn't suited to carry out the primary objective of socialism -- to bring the workers into collective control over all social production and distribution.

Socialist Standard No. 1405 September 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 PDF here

• Editorial

• Pathfinders

• UBI

• Cooking the Books 1

• Key work, key workers and shorter hours

• Material World

• Countdown to COP – Part Two

• Sci-Fi, Utopias and Socialism

• Parasites

• Letters

• Cooking the Books 2

• Proper Gander

• Book Reviews

• 50 Years Ago

• School Report

• Meetings

• Rear View

 

Join the Socialist Party

 

A socialist society must be one without social classes, states, central governments, money, trade, wage-labour, or employment, and must include voluntary labour and free access to all goods and services produced by society for all, based on their own self-determined needs. Capitalism, being based on the production and exchange of commodities, moulds its various social institutions in its own image

The immense productive powers of capitalism have long since reached a stage where the establishment of socialism has been possible but because of the fetters of the financial market and the profit system, it is unable to deliver what socialism can. Socialism has never been tried and it should be noted that what passed for socialism/communism in the former Soviet Union, and what is now taking place in China, Cuba et al, has none of the features of a socialist society. Rather, as we observed in 1918, what took place in Russia and subsequently in other countries called socialist was a form of capitalism run by the state with all the features of the capitalist mode of production – a monetary system, wage-labour, exploitation by the extraction of the surplus-value produced by the workers, state coercion, alienation of the worker from his product, and so on.

 

The Socialist Party does not advocate reformism, i.e. a platform of reforms with the aim of gradually reforming capitalism into a system that works for all. While we are happy to see the workers’ lot improved, reforms can never lead to the establishment of socialism and tend to bleed energy, ideas, and resources from that goal. Reforms fought for can, and frequently are, taken away or watered down. Rather than attempting gradual transformation of the capitalist system, something we hold is impossible and has been proven by a century of reformist platforms of so-called workers’ parties which have led instead to the reform of such parties themselves to accept capitalism, we believe that only socialism can end forever the problems of our present society such as war, poverty, starvation, inadequate health care and housing, insecurity, and environmental degradation.

 The Socialist Party is like no other political party. It is made up of people who have joined together because we want to get rid of the profit system and establish real socialism. Our aim is to persuade others to become socialist and act for themselves, organising democratically and without leaders, to bring about the kind of society that we advocate. We are solely concerned with building a movement of socialists for socialism. We are not a reformist party with a programme of policies to patch up capitalism. We view socialism as common ownership of the means of production and goods produced. Every individual contributing in accordance with ability and receiving in accordance with needs. And work shared out according to the ability of the individual: whoever has the ability to be a doctor does the doctoring. More time devoted to straightforward tasks and less time squandered on complicated or tiresome ones. Every individual need to work only two or three hours a day if all the needs of society are to be met, that will be enough - indeed, more than enough - to meet society's needs.

Our aim is to build a movement working towards a socialist society. We publish literature, we hold meetings and debates throughout the country, we write to the press and state our case wherever possible on the media. We operate on the internet with our website and blogs and are active on social media. We run weekend educational conferences, we sell and pamphlets, we hand out leaflets, we contest elections, and we discuss our ideas with people wherever we can.

We are unique

The Socialist Party has been unique in for:

· Consistently advocating world socialism - a fully democratic society based upon co-operation and production for use.

· Opposing every single war

· Opposing every single government

· Being a democratic and leader-free organisation. The more of you who join the Socialist Party the more we will be able to get our ideas across, the more experiences we will be able to draw on and the greater will be the new ideas for building the movement which you will be able to bring to us.

The Socialist Party is an organisation of equals. There is no leader and there are no followers.

So, if you are going to join we want you to be sure that you agree fully with what we stand for and that we are satisfied that you understand the case for socialism.

If you want to know more about the Socialist Party, its ideas and activities, please contact us,

 

The poor die younger

 The death rate of people living in the most deprived areas of Scotland was almost double that of those in the least deprived areas last year.

Figures showed the pandemic appeared to be increasing the gap.

The National Records of Scotland's (NRS) annual population report also said the poorest could expect fewer "good health" years.

Those in the poorest areas could expect 20 fewer years of good health than the more affluent.

Men in the poorest parts of Scotland have a "healthy life expectancy" - the number of years they can expect to live in good health - of just 47 years, compared with 72.1 years for men in the least deprived areas.

Women in the richest areas can expect to enjoy more than 21 years of good health than their counterparts in more deprived areas, where the healthy life expectancy is just 50.1 years, compared with 71.6 years for the most affluent communities.

The general mortality rate in the most deprived areas of Scotland was 1.9 times the rate in the least deprived areas. However, for deaths caused by Covid-19, the figure was 2.4 times the rate of those in more affluent areas. The risk factors associated with the virus were more common in poorer communities - such as diabetes, obesity and lung disease.

 The mortality rate for drug-related deaths in deprived areas was 18.4 times higher than in more affluent areas. For alcohol-specific deaths, the figure was 4.3 times as high and for suicides it was three times higher.

Pandemic sees death rate among rich and poor widen - BBC News

Thunberg on the Scottish Greens

 Greta Thunberg says she doesn't regard Scotland as a world leader on climate change.

She told BBC Scotland she recognised that some countries "do a bit more than others" but that none were coming close to what was needed. The Scottish government has previously described its climate change legislation as "world leading."It includes a target to reach net-zero emissions by 2045.

On the Scottish Greens' deal to enter government, she said tackling climate change was not as easy as voting for a green party.

She said: "Of course there might be some politicians that are slightly less worse than others. That was very mean but you get the point.

"It's a hopeful sign that people want something that's more "green" - whatever green means - but in order to solve this we need to tackle this at a more systemic approach."

She said she was "not 100% sure" that she would attend the COP26 talks in November and that her decision would be based on whether the event was "safe and democratic".

Thunberg still believes the conference will not lead to anything "if we don't treat this crisis like a crisis."

Greta Thunberg: Scotland 'not a world leader on climate change' - BBC News

For Workers' Emancipation

 

Capitalism can be reformed. It can be reformed in many ways. But it cannot be reformed in such a manner as to effect an essential improvement in the working-class conditions of life. It cannot be reformed in such a manner as to raise the workers from the poverty level. Reforms, insofar as they have had any effect, have been effective simply by preventing the workers from sinking too far below the poverty level, their function is to do no more than preserve the workers as able-bodied means of production.

It is not in the nature of capitalist society to provide better conditions for its slave class. The efficient operation of the capitalist industry requires not only a capable working class, it requires a working-class always at the beck and call of the master class. Only by keeping the workers bordering on necessity at all times can this condition be assured. The whiplash of poverty is far more effective than any coercive force could be in keeping them tied to the machine and subservient to their masters.

Those who would administer the affairs of capitalism are limited in their endeavours by the requirements of capitalism, and even though they would bend every energy to lighten the burdens of the workers, the system itself inevitably reduces the results to disheartening proportions.

Practically all of the reform legislation on the statute books of the capitalist world has been placed there by capitalist parties. The capitalists have never been noted for their generosity towards the workers, but they are practical gentlemen and they have long known that the smooth and economical operation of their system requires periodic additions to the mountains of reforms. Reforms to them are like a vile tasting tonic that must be taken from time to time for the protection of their health and well-being. Workers who live under poor sanitary conditions are ready victims of ailments that often develop into communicable diseases, and diseases do not respect the superior and necessary persons of capitalists. Moreover, workers afflicted by ailments spend time at home that could better be spent in the factory turning out surplus values for the factory owner. They must be protected against these conditions. They must also be protected against malnutrition, accidents, etc., in order that their efficiency as cogs in the wealth-producing machine may not be impaired. They must even be provided for when they are unemployed, for the repressive measures of bygone days are no longer sufficient to deal with the vastly increased number of workers thrown periodically into the scrap heap by modern industry. It is now more economical to provide them with necessities than to maintain a coercive force great enough to prevent them from helping themselves. Besides, as in times of war or other periods of trade expansion, their services may be required again.

Hence the measures dealing with sanitation and housing, sickness and accidents, health and unemployment! Hence the reforms piled upon reforms, reaching to the heavens! Hence the gradual conversion of the workers into destitute wards of the state!

There is a further reason for the acceptance of reform measures by the parties of the capitalist class. The workers form the immense majority of the members of society. They are the ones who suffer most from the evils of capitalism. They are only too conscious of the existence, if not the cause, of these evils, and they are ever ready to lend their support to whoever will promise redress. No party can govern without the consent of the workers. The capitalists, in consequence, must be ever ready with the required promises, if they are to protect their exclusive right to govern. Reforms that are not desirable to them can frequently be sidetracked afterwards, together with flattering appeals to the workers for loyalty, understanding and co-operation. Where they cannot be sidetracked, these reforms can always be watered down and presented with fanfares and glowing self-praise. It is an easy game to play, and while it does not give the workers very much, neither does it cost the capitalists very much, and it frequently assures for them a period of contentedness on the part of their slaves.

The class struggle is the product of a class-divided society. It exists no less today than in the class societies of history. By means of political action, the oppressed classes of the past strove to gain their emancipation. The form that this action took was dictated by the conditions then existing. By means of political action – and by no other means – can the workers gain their emancipation. The politics of the working class form the subject matter to be discussed below.

Society rests on an economic basis. The manner in which wealth is produced and distributed determines the form of existing society. The development of the productive forces calls periodically upon mankind to adapt society to the changed economic conditions. Modern industry ushered capitalism into existence. It now demands that capitalism pass out of the picture, to be replaced by a new form of society, one that will conform to the needs of the developing means of production, and, therefore, to the essential needs of mankind. It is the duty – the imperative mission – of the working class to undertake this task.

Capitalism has outlived its usefulness. Within its confines can be found no solution for the wretchedness and insecurity endured by the workers. Not more than momentary relief has ever resulted from the generations of effort to improve their conditions of life. Even their trade unions – their most potent weapon in these activities – have been forced to remain for the most part on the defensive, struggling not so much to improve their conditions as to prevent these conditions from becoming worse. Socialism offers the only way out. The failure of the workers to recognise this fact – no matter what else they may do – can result only in the preservation of things as they are, with the prospect of darker days ahead.

In the main, the world’s workers have in the past given their support to parties openly representing capitalist society. The principal agencies for spreading education and information have, throughout the period of capitalism’s existence, been under the control of the capitalist class and have been used for the purpose of fostering and preserving the illusion that there is no practicable alternative to capitalism. Incessant, insidious propaganda is levelled at the workers from the cradle to the grave, designed to cloud their minds in their own interests and protect the dominant position of the capitalist class. They are taught that their interests are tied up with the interests of their masters and that only in the solution of the latter’s problems can the solution of their own problems be found. It is no wonder, therefore, that for generations they have been only too willing to give their support to one or another of the various capitalist parties.

Capitalist parties represent, first of all, capitalism. They may differ as to the manner in which the affairs of capitalism ought to be conducted. They may differ as to the sections of the capitalist class whose interests ought to be the most favoured. But they are united in their opposition to those who would end capitalism. They are united even in opposing any effort to provide the workers with a greater share of the wealth that they produce. All of them are servants of the ruling class.

Social Ownership and Democratic Control/

 

One of the basic tenets of Marxism that the ideas of the ruling class are always the ruling ideas.

"The ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas; i.e., the class which is the dominant material force in society is at the same time its dominant intellectual force" - Karl Marx.

Capitalist ideas dominate the political-economic and social scene for the capitalist own and control the means of propagation, education, information and news. Thus, all discussion and debate is undertaken on their terms. It should be clear, then, that bourgeois ideology serves capitalist interests not only when it provides pro-capitalist solutions to pressing social problems but also when it confuses people, or makes them overly pessimistic and resigned, or makes it difficult for them to formulate criticisms or imagine alternative systems.

For many years the world was haunted by the fear of nuclear war and its potential to destroy humanity. Throughout this time, the companion parties in The World Socialist Movement continually pointed out the destruction of humanity could occur without nuclear war, and that capitalism was doing just that. Now, that threat is becoming abundantly clear.

“The day will come when the day won’t come.” Capitalism’s rapid, rampant, and remorseless rape of the environment is such that our planet may not be habitable in the not-too-distant-future.

The main focus of environmental destruction has been, as we all know, global warming. Though socialists fully welcome the attention given to the other world problems, such as the poisoning of land and water.

It’s typical that the effects of capitalism create a problem for everyday, normal functioning and then its apologists panic when it affects them.  For a business to survive, it must show a profit quickly and maintain its profitability to compete with other companies. In such a situation, human needs, including those of the capitalists, become meaningless.

In a socialist society, with the abolition of the profit motive, very different priorities will be apparent. Whereas water, and anything else people need may be moved from one place to another, environmental and human considerations would be prime motivators. The latest technology and safe, clean practices would be demanded and care of the eco systems on which human life depends, would be possible as the drive for profit and all that entails would have disappeared.

The Socialist Party and its companion parties stand alone in their respective countries in their consistent advocacy of the socialist solution. Their examination of society has taught them that nothing less than socialism can suffice, and they have adopted a common set of socialist principles which constitutes the basis of their movement and their conditions of membership. Adherence to these principles makes possible their steady insistence upon the fact that the immediate need of the working class is:

The establishment of a system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in the interest of society as a whole.

These parties at present form only the nucleus of the great working class movement which must finally rise to bring this programme into effect. The workers cannot depend upon others to do the job for them. It is a job that requires conscious and deliberate effort on their part. It is a job which they must do themselves.

Many and varied have been the interpretations that have been placed upon socialism. Stalinism and Hitlerism have both been described as socialism. At different times socialism has been announced. Labour parties frequently come forward with lengthy lists of reforms or elaborate plans for “nationalisation”, or “socialisation”, and describe these as socialism. Workers must guard against such nonsense if they are not to be fooled by political quacks, or people who have themselves been fooled. For this reason among others the socialists stress the necessity for socialist education. The workers must understand socialism before they can serve usefully in the struggle for its attainment.

Social reform is not socialism. Neither is government ownership. Socialism has not yet been established in any country. It exists today only as an independent working class movement striving against the opposition of capitalist and labour parties alike, its energies directed without deviation towards a single goal. There are no short cuts to socialism. It can be reached only through the conscious political organisation of the working class. But with that organisation accomplished, no obstacle can stand in the road. Socialism may be had for the taking. Take it.

The workers must ultimately turn to socialism as the only means of finding release from the problems of capitalism. Even though it were possible (which it is not) for the present system to provide considerably improved conditions for the workers, that would still be no justification in the eyes of an informed persons for its continued existence. It has solved the problem of wealth production, but it has failed to solve the problem of distribution. It divides the toil of the workers between production and a myriad of unnecessary activities related to distribution. It is wasteful and destructive of workers and materials. Its conflicts over markets, trade routes and sources of raw materials breed wars that grow ever more terrible in their dimensions. It is a haven of luxury and idleness for a useless parasite class. It is a fetter on further social progress.

Socialism solves the problem of distribution. Its introduction will mean the conversion of all the means of production and distribution from private or class property into the common property of all the members of society. Goods will no longer be produced for sale; they will be produced for use. The guiding principle behind the operations of industry will be the requirements of mankind, not the prospects of profit.

 Production under socialism will be pre-determined, and distribution effected with neither advertising nor sales staff, thus reducing wasted materials to the minimum and making possible the transfer of great numbers of workers to desired occupations.

The ending of exchange relationships will bring at the same time the ending of an exchange medium. There being neither sale nor profit associated with the production and distribution of goods, neither will there be money in any of its forms. Currency, credit and banking, whether private or “socialised”, will pass out of existence.

The advent of common property means the abolition of private or class property, which in turn means the abolition of class society together with the class struggle. The antagonistic classes of today will become merged in a people with common interests, and the former capitalists will have the opportunity of becoming useful members of society. This will not only remove the greatest of the burdens resting today on the backs of the workers, it will also further augment the available labour supply, by the inclusion of the capitalists and their former personal attendants, thus contributing to the general reduction in labour time needed to produce society’s requirements.

Since unemployment means not only idleness but also severance from the means of subsistence, such a condition could not exist under socialism. That there will be plenty of leisure time, however, is beyond question. It will be the conscious aim of society to constantly reduce the obligations of its members to production, thereby providing ever-increasing leisure time in which to enjoy the proceeds of their labour.

Wars constitute another wretched feature of capitalist society that will come to an end under socialism. Since they arise from the struggle of the capitalists over markets, etc., and since these struggles will no longer play a part in the affairs of society, they will remain only as a ghastly memory from a horrible past.

Socialism will not solve all the problems of human society. But it will solve all the basic economic difficulties that are a constant source of torture to so many of its members. The solution of a single one of these difficulties would warrant its introduction. The solution of them all renders it imperative.

Scottish Greens Enter Government

 

The Scottish Greens have formally entered government. It isn't the first time a Green Party has become a part of a ruling government coalition. It has happened in the Irish Republic, Germany and New Zealand. And of course, the Green Party have been running the city of Brighton for a number of years.

 Can we expect the Scottish Greens to make such a different impact on policies as all those failed to accomplish?

The blog will not question the good intentions or challenge the sincerity of the green activists but do they seriously expect the outmoded, profit-motivated, competitive and class-divided capitalist system that has created the mess we are in, to get us out of it. 

Change is to be made within the framework of the existing capitalist system. Ignored is the waste and destruction of raw materials and natural resources by the anarchy of capitalist production—its unplanned, senseless duplication of effort in a mad, competitive drive by each capitalist to “capture” the market. 

The harm and damage already done to all of us and to our environment by capitalism’s existence are now beyond exact calculation. If it is not abolished and replaced with a viable socialist cooperative commonwealth by the politically and industrially organised working class there is the distinct possibility that it may destroy civilisation in the process. 

The Scottish Green Party sees itself as the political tool of the wider environmental movement, arguing that it is not enough to be a pressure and lobby group, however militant, like Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth, or Extinction Rebellion.

 The Greens says it should organise to contest elections with the eventual aim of forming a Green government that could pass laws and imposes taxes to protect the environment. 

The Socialist Party says that no government can protect the environment. Governments exist to run the political side of the profit system. And the profit system can only work by giving priority to making profits over all other considerations. So to protect the environment we must end production for profit. 

The choice facing the world is one of the ruination of civilisation or the construction of world socialism. We address ourselves to those who agree that the capitalist society must be replaced with a free association of producers and citizens. We are committed to building a world that prides itself on having a sustainable environment and society that co-exists in relative harmony with undeveloped areas of the planet. We insist that our environment not be sacrificed on the altar of profit — either in the form of corporations devouring our forests and waters or in the form of urban sprawl and unnecessary development. 

We, in the World Socialist Movement, seek to build a society where the barriers between rural and urban are broken down through the reorganisation of society for the benefit of all life on the planet. We understand that we are not isolated from the world community. On the contrary, our internationalism allows us to understand how what we do has an effect on what happens across and around the world.