War Crimes and Punishment

 

 The media and the political mouthpieces of capitalist ideology have done their job well. Ukrainian and Russian workers are being caught up by their respective "patriotism" to fight and die for “their” country.  Socialists work for the day "patriotism" will simply mean being proud to be part of humanity. 

Patriotism is better called national chauvinism. This "patriotism" equates loyalty to the nation with loyalty to the capitalist-controlled government and its policies. It seeks the acquiescence of workers in the crimes, aggressions, depredations and depravities of the ruling class and its agents.  It is intended to trick workers into sanctioning whatever is deemed in the interests of the oligarchy. It's nationalistic baloney asserts that our interests as a “nation” are totally bound up with, if not identical, to those of our exploiters. But as we know, in class societies the state does not serve everyone equally. Instead, its main efforts are directed to helping the class that rules over the economy. In capitalism, that means essentially helping the capitalist class accumulate capital, repress opposition to their exploitative rule, and legitimise all the forms in which this goes on.  But to do this job well, the state has to appear legitimate in the eyes of most of its citizens, which requires above all else that its consistent bias on behalf of the capitalist ruling class be hidden from view. The flag and other patriotic symbolism are crucial to the success of this effort. Throughout, emotions play a much larger role than reason or thinking generally, and the strongest emotion evoked by patriotism is the pleasure of belonging to a cooperative social community where everyone is concerned with the fate of others. Unfortunately, the social community only exists in the shadow of an illusory community dominated by the ruling economic class and its state, where none of this applies.

There is a form of “patriotism” to which workers should adhere; it is loyalty, not to the institutions of the nation, but to the people; more precisely, to the majority of the people -- the working class -- with whom they share a common material interest. For workers today, class consciousness - loyalty to one's class -- is patriotism. International working-class interests are the paramount interests to be served - not those of any capitalist nation state. Without solidarity to one's class and to one's comrades. workers are helpless in the face of the ruling class's monopoly of the means of production. If workers can stick together, they can respond to employers' control of work. Solidarity between workers is therefore an essential prerequisite for success in class struggle. Class consciousness is the key to working-class victory in ending the class struggle.

Dividing our class on national lines and allowing us to be played off against each other can only serve our masters. It can hardly be denied that national borders have repeatedly divided the working class. To confront business-driven austerity, militarism and war requires a united social and political struggle by the worlds working class aimed at the abolition of capitalism. How does the erection of new borders and the formation of new nation-states further the unity of the working class anywhere? The capitalist class makes use of many weapons. One of its most efficient psychological tools is nationalism. Patriotism is the cattle prod that keeps workers apart and weakened. The socialist argument is not to tell people “to fight for independence” but to explain “you are not independent, comrade, and you should not be. You are dependent on the working class of the world and they are dependent on you. We all depend on each other.” A genuine socialist party globalises the agenda and explain that all local issues have global causes that calls for global solutions.

Patriotism works to disguise the real differences which exist amongst people—which are differences of class and which involve irreconcilable differences of interests—and to encourage workers to identify with the institution—the state—which is the primary defender of class society. The slogan “workers of the world unite” is in part a call on proletarians to acknowledge that their home is in the company of other members of their class wherever they are to be found. Working people have only one country—the planet earth. There is only one foe—the bosses. The Socialist Party doesn’t believe in patriotism. Our critics can call us unpatriotic but we will take pride in being unpatriotic.

The world is a “global village”.

 

“Let's not be English, French or German anymore. Let's be European. No not European, let's be men. Let's be Humanity. All we have to do is get rid of one last piece of egocentricity - patriotism." Victor Hugo

 

The Socialist Party is for a class-free society. We are opposed to all ideologies which divide the working class, such as religion, sexism and racism. And we are against nationalism and patriotism. Cultural freedom and diversity should not be confused with nationalism. That specific people should be free to fully develop their own cultural capacities is not merely a right but a requirement. The world would be a drab place without its magnificent mosaic of different customs, traditions and cultures.

The curse of nationalism is not new. There is always a load of myth and romanticism surrounding nationalism. Nationalism is an idea that varies in time and places which has as its central core the belief that a national population group is the most important political category, and political rights are primarily given to individuals as members of nations. Nationalism is a source of war and carnage; death, destruction and divisiveness, rather than international solidarity. The mythical image of nationalism as a movement of pioneering, progressive, pious, peace-loving nation-building has been more than exposed. Every form of nationalism is no less aggressive or bigoted than is ever the case under a system of society where the laws of the jungle are presented as being the rules of civilised conduct. Every nation's flag is dripping with the blood of its enemies; every ruling class pays for its power in other people's lives.

 Why love a country more than any another simply on the basis of the bit of soil you happen to have been born on? The only thing that matters is class, not nationality or any of the other diversions that stop the "have nots" from challenging the "haves". Whilst the "have nots" are busy feuding with each other on behalf of the "haves" they are missing the real battle.  It is the working classes who are sent to war to kill and be killed on behalf of the "haves". They are the true enemy, not the working classes of other nations. Nationalism is a politics of a frustrated local elite who seek to build support for their own class programme by arguing that class alliances and independence are the way to resolve the genuine grievances of the people. Yet the local ruling class is dependent for its economic and political survival on the maintenance of close ties with other capitalists. They accumulate wealth by relying on multi-national corporations, which joins in joint business ventures. We reject the idea that there is a common "national interest" between the different classes within a "nation". Their interests are in direct contradiction. The phrase "national interests" hides the interests of the ruling classes, which are against the interests of the people themselves. Nationalism is not a vehicle for the expression of the will of the majority of the people - the workers - but is instead a tool of the ruling class. It serves to distract the people from their daily misery with a romantic invention, appealing to their emotion over their intellect in order to create a myth of "national interest", in which all classes of a country have more in common than their respective foreign brethren. The realisation of an independent nation means the realisation of the right of the local capitalists to take power and exploit the proletariat. It is capital that will continue to dominate our political institutions in whatever form they take and capital has no country. Separatism offers precisely nothing to the working class.

Nationalists argue that people long to have their very own country. Nationalism, though it is a seemingly noble effort to realise social unity, is the twenty-first century's great plague. Nationalism continues to hypnotise us with unrealistic visions of heaven-on-earth. Nationalism divides human beings territorially, culturally, and economically. National identity is used by the state to legitimise its actions. Nationalism is regressive. There is no place in a free society for nation-states, either as nations or as states. The capitalist class use the old rule of divide and conquer, polished and updated for modern times. Nationalism as a crude control device. Racism and xenophobia and nationalism and patriotism and every other tactic of division have been promoted relentlessly by capitalism. Nationalism is used to propagandise and manipulate the masses of people against their better interests.

 Our unity is this system’s Achilles’ heel. Only a working class with a consciousness of itself and united across all racial and national boundaries is capable of emancipating themselves.

The Socialist Party case against nationalism is straightforward. We do not advocate re-drawing the border. No socialist will ever fight to defend any border — we want to do away with the divisiveness of countries and states. Nationalism can never be a solution to the problems of oppression. The problem is class, not national, racial, or religious origins. As a class, workers have no country.  Workers across the globe share a common exploitation at the hands of an increasingly global capitalist class. Nationalism means lining up with the same people who exploit them. Rather than submitting to the divide-and-rule  policy of the nation state, they should fight alongside other workers who, like them, exist to enrich the people at the top.

 Socialists say that a Ukrainian worker has more in common with a Russian worker than they do with their own boss. Nationalism has served as a convenient weapon of ruling elites to keep “the people” on-side. All sorts of unpleasant dictatorships have stirred up nationalist fervour to prop themselves up. We seek to do away with artificial boundaries and borders. The world will not be divided into countries by lines drawn on a map by capitalists to mark out their property.

 Our vision for a free society is that of a working class revolution which can finally uproot and defeat capitalism which brings not only exploitation but alienation too. Our goal is the humanisation of the economic system. We condemn the capitalist system where it must always be "You or I" and rarely "You and I".

Put your class first, not your country.

 

No matter how utopian the quest for world solidarity may appear in to-days world of conflicts, no other road seems open to escape fratricidal struggles and to attain a rational world society. Socialism will rise again as a global movement and on the basis of past experience, those interested in the rebirth of socialism must stress its internationalism most of all. While it is impossible for a socialists to become a nationalist, we are, nevertheless, anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist. However, the fight against colonialism does not imply adherence to the principle of national self-determination, but expres

Working people are taught  from a very early age that the country they were born in is somehow special. We are taught to be proud of the country where for generations our families have been exploited. We wave flags, sing national anthems and are taught to mistrust workers from other countries. Nations take a great deal of building. There is almost no nation-state that has not had its boundaries drawn in blood, its foundations built upon flesh and bones. Nations are manufactured, not born. People who have a common history or speak the same language do not have a common interest; they are divided into classes, and a worker who speaks a particular language has a common interest with workers speaking other languages but not with a capitalist who speaks the same one. We see the harm that is done by national boundaries, that prevent workers from moving to be with whom they want to be with; prevent them from sharing their skills and their knowledge as they see fit, prevent them from seeing their common cause.

Enormous damage has been done, throughout the world, by the notion that one country and its people are superior to the others. Socialism recognises the essential unity of the human race and the urgent need to celebrate it by building society on that basis. In a socialist society the traditional knowledge and expertise held by small communities will be respected, especially where this relates to local ecology and sustainable systems of land use, and priority will be given to local decision-making over whatever has to be delegated to wider regional or global democratic control.

Home is where the heart is; the place with overtones of permanence, belonging, security, comfort, childhood memories, bonds between people, familiarity with how things are done, habits and customs taken for granted, the familiar streets, smells, sounds, all the things that framed them and in doing so strengthen the impressions of who they are and what they stand for.

In a broader context home may be perceived as a wider geographical area, a country, a homeland standing for something more than a family’s local community. The "one-world" home, in common to all of the human species, has 200 or so artificially created entities called "nations".

What is it a nation offers its individual inhabitants and what is their offering to it? What do they require from their country and it from them? The country is a geographical, physical place; large, small, populous or sparse, barren or lush, mountainous, coastal, frozen, temperate, fertile or harsh, requiring nurture, husbandry, protection. Physically it can offer minerals and crops depending on its situation and in proportion to the care given it. The shared identity of the inhabitants of the nation will be as has developed over generations – history, customs, religion, community relations, occupations, way of thinking – something impossible to enforce as empire builders and nation creators have been reluctant to accept. A shared identity with universal, mutual respect and acceptance cannot be enforced. It is surely the shared identity, that elusive quality, love of one’s birthplace, hopes, dreams, aspirations, that people feel when they talk of "their country", the tangible and intangible connections.

Confusion of the country with its institutions brings the problems of nationalism and patriotism. Nationalism manifests itself like a sophisticated tribalism, with pride, tradition, attitudes of superiority, patriotism and flag-draped buildings. Ill-considered rhetoric needs to be confronted, contested at any and every opportunity. Self-replicating, regurgitated mantras built on lies, fears and hatred need overturning without hesitation. The challenge is to dismantle the barriers which deafen, blindfold, shackle and dehumanise us

 
To promote the notion that the area of our birth (‘our’ country) transcends or neutralises our class status or gives us a common cause with a class that socially deprives and demeans us, that imposes either mere want or grave poverty on our lives and the lives of our families, is to be cruelly deceived by the political machinations of capitalism. We are all part of one globalised exploited mass with more in common with each other than with our supposed fellow-countrymen bosses. Workers do not share a common interest with our masters.

 

 Nationalism, in its essence, is a poison. Nationalism has always been a disease that divided human from human. It produces artificial arbitrary borders between human beings on trivial linguistic and cultural differences, and it conceals hierarchical and class-based conflicts. There is no “benevolent” nationalism. There is no place in a free society for nation-states. So let us create a truly libertarian form of collectivism. When free associations of producers and confederations of communities replace the nation-state, humanity will have rid itself of nationalism.

War-Fever

  

The position of the Socialist Party on the question of war is quite clear. We are opposed to war not on humanitarian grounds, but on the grounds that wars arise out of the struggle between competing sections of the capitalists over the question of the possession of the wealth of the world and matters relating to it. Our attitude on war cannot be toned down because we happen to be in a minority or because any other attitude at any given moment appears to be more consistent with the humanitarian instincts of social beings. The Socialist Party's attitude to war and war preparations is sound because the degree to which it became accepted by the workers would to that extent make war more difficult (if not impossible) for the capitalists to pursue. It does not appear likely that workers are yet in a position to accept the Socialist Party's position on wars in any great numbers. Nor would it be reasonable to expect workers who do not accept the Socialist Party case against capitalism generally, to understand and accept our attitude to war. Nevertheless, that provides no grounds for compromise. To water down our opposition to wars in any of its aspects would be to lessen the possibilities of its more general acceptance should conditions develop favourably for it. Socialists do not give up the task as hopeless but remember that economic forces, as well as human reason, are on our side against the brutal power of the propertied class and their agents.

No socialist could take exception to the struggle of the workers to preserve a democratic platform. On the other hand, we cannot support any movement which encourages workers to sacrifice themselves in defence of capitalist wealth. If working-class history has any meaning for those who wage the struggle today, it is that the association of workers with capitalist movements has led only to their division and confusion. The clearest presentation of the class struggle leads to another conclusion; that every movement of the workers must be waged on the basis of unity with their fellows and of fundamental opposition to the capitalist class. One persistent problem for the capitalist is to ensure the acquiescence of the working-class in the property-owning rights of its masters. But capitalist interests demand much more than that. If any national section of the capitalist class is to survive in its struggles with its competitors it must have a working-class willing to defend its interests. It is the perpetual concern of the capitalist class to arouse that willingness.

What are wars for?  Not national glory, not democracy, not even to safeguard the rights of small nations. No! Those things were, and are, only camouflage of high sounding phrases to hide the sordid reality. That reality behind the false, enticing phrases was—profit. The struggle between sections of wealthy capitalists for freedom to exploit and wring profit from the work of property fewer wage workers in different parts of the earth. No matter how the warmongers try to gloss over the facts, the truth remains that all these wars and prospective wars are fought for capitalist purposes, not to secure the establishment of some ideal of democracy, nationalism or anything else. It is the workers who are asked to make the supreme sacrifice in the name of patriotism.

Statesmen from around the world travel thousands of miles and engage in summits and conferences that delight the hearts of these politicians as it is all being done in a good cause and over and over again they point out that they are determined to secure peace, perpetual peace. All representatives are agreed on peace—in principle. That is why they are engaging in such a terrific prolific arm trade. Building numerous fast and powerful bombing planes. Concluding pacts of mutual support in case of attack. Staging military exercises. No expense is grudged in convincing all and sundry of their peaceful intentions. The capitalists assert they are too poor to pay workers a wage that will ensure a comfortable existence. Now surely this seems strange when wealth is used up providing warships, tanks, planes, missiles and the troops to use them. And more extraordinary still, all this wealth is simply wasted because none of the powers has anything but peaceful intentions—at least, in principle.

Peace is only pursued so ferociously because capitalist private property interests have to be served. If there are no capitalists’ interests there will be nothing to go to war over. The only way to secure this is to make the means of production the common possession of all. Then we will have peace in fact as well as in principle, and many more human arms and brains to lighten the labour of producing enough to enable all to live comfortably.

War and Why. The Cause and the Remedy

 

The ruling class have shown on many occasions that they are past-masters in the art of inducing self-deception among the workers. The art of lying is one of the chief characteristics of capitalism everywhere. The main task is to present the lie in such a manner as to make it appear to be true. This, unfortunately, is easy. The working class, from childhood onwards, are trained in such a manner best calculated to make it difficult for them to separate truth from falsehood. This deception is aided by the reformist movement. Clear evidence of this can be seen today. The capitalist class cleverly conceal their real aims behind lofty phrases, so that today we hear from all quarters the words and slogans, "Peace,” “Democracy,” "Collective Security,” etc. With these slogans, capitalism is stampeding the masses into war hysteria.

There is a clear indication that working people and their families may expect to go through in the next thieves' quarrel between their capitalist masters. Briefly, the Socialist Party’s case is that all wars by capitalist States are undertaken for the purpose of protecting foreign investments, securing markets and of securing fresh sources of raw material. Judge each war by the result, and it will be seen that this is the result of nearly every war during the last century. Workers have nothing to gain as the result of war, whether the State in which they happen to be born is victor or vanquished.

The Marxian analysis of capitalist production lays bare the cause of all wars,. The worker produces commodities of a far greater value than his or her wages enable them to buy back. Out of the struggle for this surplus comes the struggle for markets at home and abroad, and with the capitalist development, trade barriers are erected. The struggle grows keener, finally, the tension reaches breaking point, and war is declared. War is, then, a quarrel between the various sections of the capitalist class over the disposal of the surplus wealth stolen from the workers in the course of their exploitation. It 'is, therefore, a quarrel in which the workers have no concern, and to end it they must remove the cause, i.e., the class ownership of the means of production. This they can do by organising to capture political power from the master class and to establish a system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means of production—in short, socialism. The capitalist is the enemy, and, whether he appears as a democrat or a dictator, he can offer nothing but wage slavery to the working class. 

Socialists everywhere oppose the principles of socialism to the war plans of the ruling class in such a way that the class issue is kept clear and the real aims of the ruling class exposed. Our battle cry is: “ Working men of all countries unite.” The worker replies to the war threat of capitalism by lining up for socialism. Without this fundamentally class-conscious outlook, capitalist wars, and consequently working class slaughter, will always be a riddle to members of our class whose discontent with the present order of things need socialist understanding to give direction and effectiveness to that discontent. We members of the Socialist Party proceed towards our objective, firstly, by educating ourselves, and, secondly, by passing on that education to our fellow workers.

The reason organised peace movements have failed is that they have all consented to the power structure which creates war. War is neither democratically begun nor democratically prosecuted. It is therefore facile to contend for wars to be fought on the terms of moralistic teachings. These pleas, no matter from how many mouths they come, are lame.

Nothing in human history is inevitable. We are not living and organising society according to any pre-ordained schemes. We are masters of our own history, not slaves of it. We can do what we choose. But you know that these are not the sort of ideas that we are encouraged to develop. On the contrary, we are encouraged to think of ourselves as slaves to the present order of things. Although another world war is not inevitable if the present state of society is allowed to continue then it is a distinct possibility. The profit system is an unstable and volatile method of organising society and armed to the back teeth as many states are, the recipe is being mixed for an armed conflict. History is ripe for socialism and there are clear reasons for its vital urgent establishment.

Troops Out - No War in Ukraine

 

Don’t die for capitalism, Live for socialism

 

‘The main enemy of every people is in their own country' - Karl Liebknecht

If you are opposed to war and all that it represents—as any right-thinking person should be—you will advocate policies and take actions that will make war impossible, by removing its causes. That is, you will seek to transform society in the interests of human beings as a whole, without restriction to so-called race, nationality or gender, by establishing socialism in place of capitalism. Like many other problems thrown up by capitalism, war has produced a group of people intent upon solving or ending it within capitalism, not recognising that this and other problems are inevitable under the present social order. The tenor of many pacifist arguments is that we can do nothing constructive until this war is ended

 The class struggle, in its varied aspects, exists and continues because capitalism divides mankind into warring classes, those who live by owning the means of production and distribution, and those who are propertyless and must sell their labour-power to the former.  Capitalism gives the ruling class the incentive to protect vested interests bound up in trade routes, sources of raw materials, and areas of foreign investment. Control of the machinery of government gives them the power to wage war. The only sure road to peace is the road that leads to socialism, the conquest of the powers of the government by a politically organised socialist majority. The so-called peace movements have all failed to understand the nature of the forces against which they pit themselves. They are stuck in the rut of nationalism, just as are those to whom they appeal. None of them can see any further than capitalism, even though some of them sometimes use phrases that might give a different impression.

 While nationalist feelings prevail, it will be relatively easy for the propaganda machine to persuade workers that “if the country is good enough to live in, it is good enough to fight for.” Nationalism is a big help to the ruling class in getting support for armaments and ultimately for war. As long as workers think in terms of “the country,” it is logical for them to be prepared to defend it. Thus all the horror weapons become “necessary” in the name of “defence.”

The capitalist classes of the major power blocs maintain their military machines for the purpose of protecting or expanding their spheres of profitable influence, nationally and internationally. This minority of people own the factories, the land and all those assets which go to make up the country. At the same time the majority of people—the working-class—own nothing to fight about. Workers in all parts of the world have a common interest to get rid of the social system which condemns them to exploitation. They cannot do this in ignorance; they must realise what capitalism means and how to change it. If you really care about people you will want to campaign for their enlightenment, for an absence war—in a word, for socialism.

While the Socialist Party’s immediate task is to impart socialist knowledge to the working class, the pacifist's immediate anti-war work is to attempt, by any means, to end the war. Their views arise, in general, from looking at the war in isolation and not realising that peace of any description, as it will leave the capitalist basis of society intact, will carry with it the seeds of a future war. They ignore the fact that so long as we have capitalism,.with its competitive struggle over commercial matters, such as trade routes, sources of raw material, control of relatively undeveloped areas of the world, so long will we have war. While the working class lack socialist knowledge and support capitalism they will support the wars that occur; this support is given because war, at the time of crisis, appears to them as the only possible policy for "their" government or country to pursue. We know that this war will end before we have socialism, but lasting peace cannot be gained without socialism. The question of its being remote is therefore entirely irrelevant. As we have shown, socialism is an urgent necessity, a practical and immediate policy for today, and we have yet to be shown how by deferring it until some future date the working class can benefit.

The Reason Why

 

Keeping up with current affairs has become very largely a question of following the moves in the conflict between the Great Powers. Vladimir Putin, unable to keep his pledges of prosperity for the Russian workers, shatters the superficial harmony of Europe by sending troops into Ukraine, qualifying him for the role of the World’s villain, following Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein. The capitalist class set the armed forces in motion only to defend capitalist interests. 

 

We cannot just decide to end wars. What we can do, though, is decide to establish a society in which war is inconceivable. What is needed is a clear analysis of why humans go to war. It is not because of our genes, our natures or our beliefs. It is because capitalists make themselves richer and more powerful by obtaining more exploitable populations and raw materials. And until capitalism is abolished, its ruthless, competitive drive for profits will condemn workers to die needlessly in wars.  Although governments can ignore "public opinion" over going to war, hoping to win people over once it's started, they'd like to have this support from the start. One way to achieve this is to glorify the armed forces and present them as heroes doing their duty to defend the rest of us. But it is equally logical for socialists to reject and combat such militarist propaganda because we don't want workers to kill workers from other countries in pursuit of capitalist interests. We want the members of the armed forces to be seen for what they really are: mercenaries for the ruling, the capitalist class. We can conceive of any situation in which we would give our support to either side in capitalism’s armed struggles. We decline to single out one or two aspects of war – particular atrocities or types of weapons  – we oppose the system that gives rise to these things.

 

Where diplomacy fails there remains the threat of force of arms to get what is wanted. From time to time this clash of interests breaks out in open warfare. It will not be questioned by any socialist that it is his or her duty to oppose the wars of the ruling class of one nation with the ruling class of another, and refuse to participate in them. An anti-war campaign, as such, is, from the working class standpoint, absurd. Just as the class struggle cannot be abolished save by abolishing classes, so it is impossible for capitalist nations to get rid of the grim spectre of war, for capitalism presupposes economic conflicts which must finally be fought out with the aid of the armed forces of the State. The only solution to war and the myriad other problems that face the workers of the world is to abolish capitalism and replace it with socialism.

The only way to help yourself in the matter is to do all you can to help bring in a system of society where "international” conflicts are totally unnecessary, where YOU can live a life of peace is the SOCIALIST system; nothing short

 Why do humans continually wage war on each other, despite the constant efforts of diplomats and the development of ever more frightening weapons capable of killing millions? Actually, the cause of war is never found in the people that actually fight them. Throughout human history, wars have been fought and paid for by the poor, who ironically are the ones who always come out the loser of every conflict, no matter who claims victory. It isn't even correct to blame the people who start the wars, the ruling or owning class, because even they answer to a higher authority which goads them to hurl bodies and bullets at their so-called enemies. If you really want to understand why wars are fought, simply look at what is actually being fought over - the answer invariably ends up some form of property. Wars can be stopped forever by simply removing the reasons for their existence.

Oppose All Wars

 The Socialist Party is against any and every war. It’s task is to work to turn that war into a class war. 

Before being able to combat evil, one must know its cause. Thus, seeking the primary cause of war is the first step in preventing it. It is impossible to understand modern wars without understanding the class basis of society. 

 

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. 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. 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.

Socialists predict the inevitability of war if capitalism is not overthrown. The real roots of the war can be seen in the class system of society. A study of the nature and causes of modern war proves that war is an essential part of capitalism. The contradictions and conflicts of capitalism lead and must lead to war. A common misconception is the wide-spread belief that the anti-war is independent of the class struggle in general, that a broad alliances of all sorts of persons from every political group can be formed around the issue of fighting war, since – so the reasoning goes – these persons may be all equally opposed to war whatever their differences on other points.  War is thus removed from its social base, considered apart, from its causes and conditions. War is not the cause of the troubles of society. The opposite is true. War is a symptom and result, of the irreconcilable troubles of the present form of society, that is to say, of capitalism.

The only way to fight, against war is to fight against the causes of war. Since the causes of war are part of the inner nature of capitalism, it follows that the only way to fight, against war is to fight against: capitalism.

 

It is of little use to cry out against war while we tolerate a social system that breeds war. No one can uphold capitalism – whether directly, as an open adherent of the capitalists, or indirectly, from any shade of liberal or reformist position – and be against war, because capitalism means war. Only a socialist can fight against war, because only a socialist takes the road to the overthrow of capitalism. To suppose, therefore, that socialists can work out a common platform “against war” with non-socialists is an illusion. There is only one anti-war policy: the programme for revolution.

The socialist revolution can and will eliminate war because, by overthrowing capitalist economy and supplanting capitalism with a socialist economy, it will remove the causes of war. With socialism there will no longer exist the basic contradictions that lead to war. The expansion of the means of production, under the ownership and control of society as a whole, will proceed in accordance with a rational plan adjusted to the needs of the members of society. Socialism will remove the limits on consumption, and hence permit the scientific and controlled development of production. Thus, with socialism, war will disappear because the causes of war will have been removed.

 

We have no flag. We have no country. Our enemy is in my own country, and this enemy is the same for all the workers of the world. The enemy is capitalism. The Socialist Party calls for the replacement of capitalist society by a just and better word based on the socialist cooperative commonwealth of the workers of every country.