What will be our future if we don't stop capitalism

The Socialist Party is not afraid of isolation. There are times when socialists, if they are to remain true to their principles, have no other alternative. For years we endured slander and lies in the struggle for our ideals. We survived. We are proud. We retract nothing and repent nothing. We are not afraid of isolation when circumstances impose it. Join the Socialist Party with its ideas and traditions. We urge all revolutionary workers to add their energies to the efforts in a common struggle to build a powerful party of revolutionary world socialism. Everyone who is a socialist ought to join the Socialist Party. If it is not exactly what you think it ought to be, get in and help make it right; for, through the referendum, the membership can make it what they will. It is the only party in which each and every member directly control by means of the party poll. To vote for the Socialist Party does not make you a party member. It is necessary to join the party organisation and pay dues. You may inquire why it is necessary for you to join the Socialist Party and pay dues. The reason is this. The Socialist Party is conducted in the interest of but one class. It is impossible to expect any other class to be interested in the welfare of your class, therefore, if you desire to better your condition in life you will have to unite with other members of your class in bringing about the desired results. When you formally join the party you have the same rights as any other member. In the Socialist Party the membership elect all officers by referendum vote, and all matters debated at conference are submitted to the membership by referendum vote to approve or disapprove.

Capitalist production results in dividing society into two classes, the capitalist class and the working class. These two forces of society, whose interests are diametrically opposed to each other, are naturally forced into a continuous class struggle, which can only end with the abolition of the wage and profit system. Under this system the wage workers own nothing but their labour-power, which they must sell to the capitalist in the open market in order to live, while the lion’s share of labour’s product flows into the pockets of the capitalists who buy and sell labour power for the sake of profit. The Socialist Party declares for the abolition of the wage and profit system, and for the introduction of the cooperative system of production and distribution. Capitalism has been tried and found guilty of untold crimes. It has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. Capitalism exploits working people; capitalism breeds war, environmental destruction, poverty, slums, child-labour, unemployment; it regularly and inevitably calls forth crises of recession and factory shutdowns; it breeds racial hatred and religious bigotry, and makes a mockery of the words peace and security

You workers who find it impossible to make both ends meet, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to continue to support a system that will continue these deplorable conditions or will you be real men and women. Millions of men and women are determined that the children of tomorrow, shall be safe from the ravages of poverty disease and war. This is a beautiful, bountiful planet, abounding in natural resources. But they do not belong to the people. They belong to the corporations and the banks in a network of interlocking businesses, small and large – rail and air, mines and mills, public utilities, oil and chemicals, department stores, fast food, media, finance companies. There is also the highest degree of technical development and of industrial efficiency as well as productivity. But they do not belong to the people. The safety and health of the workers and their communities is not a consideration for the capitalist owners of industry. Labour saving and labour displacing technology such as automation and robotics that could be blessings to humanity to eliminate drudgery and heavy work, deprive workers of their jobs. Plenty can be produced for all, an abundance of food, clothing, shelter and means of education, amusement, travel, recreation, for all the people. "Heaven on Earth" is not a Utopian dream. The material basis is the utilisation of labour, machinery and materials to full capacity in planned socialist production and in socialised distribution. Produce for use and not for profit! Today, no matter how much is produced, none of it belongs to the people. If the products of farm and factory cannot be sold for a substantial profit they are stacked in warehouses and granaries and allowed to rot. We have "shortages" while “plenty” is hoarded and stored away. A small group of owners condemn millions of workers to a mere existence wage and throw millions out to starve. We can work, to live and support our families, only when they say so. When they nod their heads factories and mines close or open up. This is free enterprise; this is the profit system; this is private ownership; this is capitalism. It has produced war and more war, hunger and want, unemployment and misery, in the midst of untold wealth. It solves no problems for the welfare of the people. That a worker who is able, willing and anxious to work can be jobless, that the stench of the slums can arise in all our great cities, that a child can go hungry, should forfeit capitalism's right to continued existence. It's one world with the same hopes and dreams, heartaches, headaches, everywhere.

Is this the best of all possible worlds? Have you not wondered what you can do to help change these conditions? We are sure you have. Let us tell you what you can do.

The Socialist Party has no interests apart from the people, no narrow selfish "axe to grind." To be in the Socialist Party is not a career. We join through enlightened self-interest to work unselfishly so that by freeing the workers from wage slavery all humanity including ourselves is freed from greed and tyranny. "The greatest good for the greatest number" is the concept members of the Socialist Party practices. We strive unremittingly for all the interests of the people, to fight for our goal of socialism which will come more quickly through the solidarity, class consciousness and understanding. Our perspective of socialism becomes clearer and the need for it more imperative with each passing day, as history exposes the criminal inadequacies of capitalism.

A Socialist Party cannot properly or fully function without a wide, deep and firm base of a working class membership. We don't think we will build a mass revolutionary party by one-to-one recruitment of those convinced by our regular educational work. We explain to workers that it is yet not an adequate instrument to achieve a socialist world, and that it is an initial step to build a global revolutionary party. The Socialist Party holds the deepest conviction and confidence in the workers, their militancy, honesty and courage and their burning hatred of exploitation as well as their their power to free themselves and all mankind from all forms of oppression.

"Rise like lions after slumber,
In unvanquished number,
Shake your chains to earth, like dew,
That in sleep have fallen on you,Ye are many--they are few."

So sang the poet Shelley long ago.

We are proud of our Party. It is a tough world. But men and women like yourselves can understand comradeship and great ideals. Are you ready to join the Socialist Party.

Change the World

The Socialist Party hold many ideas about how to change society for the betterment of all of humanity. It had a vision of a world where all people work without compulsion, of order without government or authority and of peace without violence and coercion. The Socialist Party realised that there is a wealth of materials, technology and human power, enough to make possible a high living standard coupled with considerably less labour time per person than the current full-time job. The chaos of capitalist production and distribution of wealth can only be stopped by creating a new economic and social system based on human needs. It is apparent that the survival of life on Earth itself is also dependent on the overthrow of capitalism, for as long as it exists, profits for the few will come before human needs and environmental survival.

The Socialist Party agreed that the majority of working people must be the primary forces in stopping the capitalist class and its governments. When this vast majority of humanity realises that the inherent inequality and futility of capitalism are wrong and no longer acceptable, and when these people realise the power they have to shape society, they will shut down the system and take back the wealth sucked out of them by the rich minority.

The understanding of the need for an alternative to capitalism will come when leading voices show the validity of a free society, and because of mass disillusionment with the status quo and its violence, wars, prisons and poverty. Already this disillusionment appears to be affecting a majority of Americans, but positive alternatives to the current world situation are not yet being sought out, perceived or thought possible. Most people probably desire a socialist future, and if shown the options towards this possibility they could create such a conscious society, after an initial struggle with the leaders of the world capitalist minority. We all need to continue to insist that a free, positive culture is up to the people to create. When the majority does overturn the capitalists, the direction society takes will of course be up to those same people who have made the revolution. Capitalism, even in its profitable periods, is inherently weak, directly dependent upon the very people it oppresses and exploits.

The Socialist Party believe that the creation of a new state will perpetuate centralised power beyond the control of individuals. They contend that if the vast majority agree with the goals of a free and equal society, they could defend themselves in a coordinated way but control their own lives and communities at an individual and community level. That way, delegated decision-makers would not be beyond the reach of the people. Working people are entitled to full information about, and control over, the environmental conditions that affect their health and survival where they work and live. The poisoning and destruction of the environment is a crime that threatens human survival, and should be treated as such. 

Environmental and health standards must be established by working people and communities with full access to technical information and based on consultation with experts of their own choice. Community committees must be empowered to decide directly on projects to establish factories or use industrial processes that may adversely affect the local environment. Such committees must be empowered to gather full and accurate information about the relevant ecological and health issues, and to make their decisions on the basis of this information, not out of concern for corporate profits. Just as they must reject the false dilemma of having to choose between employment or cuts in wages, working people must reject arguments by the capitalists that they cannot afford to take the measures necessary to clean up and protect the environment, or that workers’ jobs will be threatened by environmental protection measures. Working people cannot afford bosses who put profits before the health of their employees and the community. 

Socialism Now More Than Ever

The two basic classes in our society, the working class and the bourgeoisie, are locked in a bitter struggle. The bourgeoisie represents the old system of exploitation and oppression. The working class represents the fundamental progressive force, the most consistent social force in the struggle to eliminate capitalism. It’s the capitalists that get rich by appropriating the fruits of our labour. At the end of a work week the worker collects his pay. The capitalists claim this is a fair exchange. But it is highway robbery. In reality, a worker gets paid for only a small part of the value he produced. The rest, the surplus value, goes straight into the boss’s pocket. he bosses get rich, not because they have “taken risks” or “worked harder,” as they would have us believe. The more they keep wages down and reduce the number of employees with speed-ups, the more they can steal from us and the greater their profits. And if the boss thinks he can make more profit somewhere else, he just closes his factory and throws the workers out on the street.

The idea that everyone can get rich under this system is a lie invented by the rich themselves. Under capitalism, the only way to get rich is to trample on someone else. This is why workers have only one choice: either submit to this wage slavery or fight it! Only socialism can respond to the just aspirations of the working class and the people. Working people will overthrow the capitalists and build socialism. 

Around the globe, the working class is in motion. The working class has always fought against the capitalists. There is a growing determination to overthrow this system of capitalist wage slavery and build world socialism. But although revolution is the main trend, we know that history proceeds through zigs and zags and that the struggle for revolution may suffer setbacks.

Our planet is rich in natural resources. It is capable of satisfying the needs of all its people. A handful of capitalists control our world and make fabulous profits off the labour of working people. All the major means of production - the factories, the mines, telecommunications and transportation – are concentrated in the hands of a few thousand capitalists who employ millions of workers. for the workers, the future is less and less certain. The exploitation and oppression gets worse every year. Our misery is created so a small clique of very wealthy individuals can continue to line their pockets. Capitalism is a system based on exploitation. A handful of parasites live off the backs of the workers and could not care less about their situation. The capitalists' spokespersons endlessly vaunt the merits of this system where “everyone has an equal opportunity,” and “democracy rules.” But the truth is that it is a hoax: a paradise for the rich and powerful, a trap and an illusion for the exploited and the poor.

The state is an economic tool by the wealthy. When the capitalists need to develop certain sectors of the economy that require large initial investments, when they need to protect certain industries that are essential to the entire ruling class (like transport), when they face bankruptcy or in sectors that produce little profit (health care hospital services), the state underwrites them them. Nnationalisation in no way mean the people control or benefit from these companies. It just means the workers of these nationalised companies are subjected to the same conditions as workers in private industry.

Prices rising faster than wages, redundancies and lay-offs where those out of work are piling up debts as our communities education, health care and transportation fall apart. And our cities are becoming more and more unlivable. To the great majority of its people the world is going to hell and politicians lying through their teeth. The capitalist rulers cannot continue to maintain capitalism without plunging into one war after another, in their quenchless thirst for more profit. They double-deal and double-cross others like them from other countries as the divide their ill-gotten gains and spoils. They keep saying they have solutions, but they all come down to one thing – we have to tighten our belts as they tighten the noose around our necks. They demand that the people sacrifice – and sacrifice some more. They tell us we will just have to get used to the fact that things are bad and will keep getting worse.

Things do not have to be like this, and people will never be satisfied living this way. All over the world people are rising up to fight back against those whose wealth and power have been built upon the backs of the world’s working people. More and more people are talking of revolution. At the very heart of this struggle is the basic conflict between the working class – the millions who have no means to live except through their labour, and whose labour is the driving force in society – and the capitalist class – the handful who do no productive work but live and accumulate billions from the labour of the workers, and continually grind the workers down in accumulating more. The working class possesses tremendous potential power to change the world, a fact that is shown every day in the process and product of its labour and in its many struggles against capitalism. It is the task of the working class to wield its mighty power to remake society to serve the interests of the great majority of the people.

The great store of society’s wealth is created by the millions of workers who with their labour mine, grow, and transport raw materials, construct machinery, and use the machines to transform raw materials into finished products. The machines, raw materials and other means of production created by the workers are an important part of the productive forces of society, but the most important part is the working class itself without whose labour the means of production would rust and rot. But in the hands of the capitalists the means of production become tools for the continued enslavement and impoverishment of the working class. Production is on a massive scale, but with the present economic relations, the basic producers, the workers, are increasingly unable to buy masses of goods they have produced. Goods pile up and stare the workers in the face, for lack of one thing – money. Under the capitalist system, production only takes place if those who control production, the capitalists, can make profit from it. And they can make profit only by wringing it out of the workers, and constantly pushing their wages down to the lowest level, allowing the workers only enough to keep working and to bring up new generations of workers to further enrich capital.

Part of the workers’ labour covers the cost of maintaining themselves and their families–their wages–and the rest is unpaid labour that produces surplus value for the capitalists, the source of their profit. This exploitation of the workers to create private profit for the capitalists is the basis of the whole capitalist system and all its evils. Capital chases after the highest rate of profit, as surely as iron is drawn to a magnet–this is a law beyond anyone’s will, even the capitalists’, and it will continue in force so long as society is ruled by capital. Owning and appropriating a part of the total capital of society privately, each capitalist must try to enlarge his share at the expense of the other capitalists. Capitalists therefore repeatedly introduce new machines and technology to try to produce goods faster and more cheaply, in order to grab more of the market from their competitors. But this machinery and technology costs the capitalists additional money without bringing additional profit–which can only be gotten from the labour of the workers. So there is the constant tendency for the capitalists’ rate of profit to fall, which constantly leads to desperate attempts on their part to push the rate of profit up, to the highest level possible. Capitalists battle each other for profit, and those who lose out go under, even huge corporations can collapse. While each capitalist tries to plan production, the private ownership, the blind drive for profit and the cut-throat competition continually upset their best-laid plans, and anarchy reigns in the economy as a whole.

Capitalists constantly pull their capital out of one area of investment and into another, along with bringing in new machines to speed up production. Some capitalists temporarily surge ahead and expand while others fall behind or are forced out of business altogether. With each of these developments, thousands of workers are thrown into the streets and forced once again to search for a new master to exploit them. All this is why, from its beginning, capitalism has gone from crisis to crisis. And the way the capitalists get out of these crises only lays the basis for worse ones – they destroy goods and even the means to produce goods, scramble to grab up more markets, and a bigger chunk of the existing ones, and increase their exploitation of the workers. The strongest capitalists survive, and in surviving concentrate more of the means of production in their hands and hurl more of the smaller producers into the ranks of the working class. As capitalism develops, society more and more divides into two antagonistic camps–at one pole tremendous wealth and greater concentration of ownership in fewer and fewer hands; at the other pole tremendous misery for the millions who can live only by working for the owners and can work only so long as they produce profit for them.

Through all this, and especially in times of the sharpest crisis, the basic contradiction of capitalism stands out all the more starkly: production itself is highly socialised–it requires large concentrations of workers, each performing part of the total process and all essential to its completion, and it is capable of massive output on this basis; but the ownership of the means of production and the appropriation of the wealth produced is “private”–in the hands of a few, competing owners of capital. But so long as capitalism is not overthrown, it finds some way out of the crisis – temporarily.

Through a series of such crises large corporations have come to dominate and monopolise the major industries. Banks have increasingly merged their capital into industry, creating finance capital and monopolising credit as well, interlocking it with industry. Monopoly or duopolies has become the rule where competition once was, but competition still exists, and in fact grows more intense – between different monopoly capitalists within these countries and internationally, and between the monopolies and smaller capital that seeks to expand and challenge the existing monopolies. Anarchy and the chase of competing capitalists after higher profit remain in effect. The laws of capitalism remain in force, especially the commandment: “expand or die.” The market of the “home” country is too limited for the continued expansion of capital. So, backed by the military might of their governments, the monopolies penetrate into every possible part of the globe, not only or mainly to sell goods, but to exploit labour, grab up supplies of raw materials–for their own production process and to keep them out of the hands of the competitors-and to set up production in other countries to “secure” their markets.

The undeveloped or developing nations they have made into indirect colonies and distort their economies to fit their own profit drives, allying with the local landlords capitalists and government officials in these nations, and turning them into their junior partners in the plunder, keeping these countries in an enforced state of backwardness, in order to rob their resources and make profits . To back up this international robbery they ring the globe with their armed forces. These monopoly capitalists are modern-day imperialists, having empires far greater than the ancient Roman, Greek, Persian and Ottoman rulers.

It is impossible to “reform” capitalism. The only solution is to go forward, to socialise the ownership of the means of production and the appropriation of the products of production. This requires a political revolution, the overthrow of the rule of capital by the working class, which, in its socialised productive labour, represents the embryonic organisation of the future, socialist society. The working class as a whole never ceases battling for its day to day needs. This resistance to capital erupts in a great upsurge of rank and file struggle. Despite the divide and conquer schemes of the rulers, the unity of the working class is being built through these struggles. Increasingly united the working class is intensifying its mighty war against capital. For the workers, capitalist “freedom” means in essence the freedom to choose between toiling for some capitalist or starving - and in times of economic recession even the first choice can disappear.

Now is the time to overthrow the capitalist system and build a completely new kind of society. It has become possible for the people to finally take their place as masters of society and break all social chains enslaving the producers and shackling production itself.

AAARG...Not another one

The political scene is really buzzing here in Scotland. The Labour Party is in turmoil. Nicola Sturgeon on a visit to Dublin, said her preference was for another independence referendum vote in the latter half of 2020.

The nationalist argument, as propounded by the SNP is very simple ― and wrong. The people of Scotland, the SNP say, suffer because they are misgoverned from England; what they need is an independent nation of their own so that they could begin to solve their problems. In fact the problems faced by workers in Scotland are basically the same as those in Britain or Ireland or any other country; they are caused by international capitalism and can only be cured by world socialism. The setting up of more frontiers in the world would be irrelevant and a waste of time. The simple truth is that capitalism will be just the same as far as the working class are concerned. What is required is another system of society, not new management for the old one.

 Members of the Socialist Party reject allegiance to any nation-state and regard ourselves as citizens of the world. We accept the boundaries between countries as they are (and as they may change) and work within them to win control of each State with a view to abolishing them all. Our aim is the establishment of a world community without frontiers.

The Socialist Party echo Burn's desire for the day 'That man to man the world o’er shall brothers be for a' that'. This will be a fact when the world's wealth, owned in common, can be utilised for the satisfaction of all mankind. 

When it is darkest, the dawn is not far away

Many have heard the saying, “socialism or barbarism” which is growing more and more into reality with the approaching consequences of global warming and the climate crisis. Socialism cannot be built on the ruins of capitalism by destitute beggars striving for bare survival. The Socialist Party always said that the future belongs to socialism despite what appears to be dim prospects when the very word “socialism” seemed to almost dropped out of the political vocabulary. The word's connotation has been with what existed in the former Soviet sector of the world when socialism has become synonymous with tyranny, a sad fate for a word which in better days was linked always with liberty. With the concept of socialism reaching rock bottom it had no place to go but up. And up it in popularity it has gone, without a doubt. The calamities and looming catastrophes of our current social system is forcing people to wonder if there is not some other way out and once again they are looking towards people who call themselves socialists if there is a socialist movement worthy of the name as an alternative to barbarism. There is a reawakening of interest in socialism. Many are willing to listen, for deep down they know there is something rotten with the way things are. There is an increasing recognition that what Karl Marx had to say a over hundred years ago has a good bit of application today, and shows people where hope lies. The new socialist movement will be based on people who can free themselves of their miseducation

The Socialist Party is thinking of a future in terms of sustainable development where humanity looks to understanding nature’s laws and working in harmony with them, rather than treating nature as the enemy. We do not believe in the permanence of capitalism. We aim to build – and we invite you to join us in building an honest party that tells the truth to the workers, a democratic socialist party with the goal of nothing less than the conquest of the capitalist world. All the material conditions for this victory of humanity are in place. Socialism on the order of the day and the workers’ revolution is the means to realise it. Political power is wielded by social classes through political parties. The transference of power from one class to another is not an automatic process. The party of socialism, facing a well-organised capitalist class highly conscious of its interests, must strive to excel the enemy in both organisation and conscious will. It cannot, if it is to reach the historic goal, be an amorphous all-inclusive society of undisciplined dabblers. A party with a vague programme, or, worse still, no principles at all, would be like a someone without ideas. People learn from all their experiences, whether positive or negative. More optimistic are we that out of the present ferment in the environmentalist campaigns and the coming radicalisation of the participants we see the emergence of a revolutionary socialist movement.

Rely on ourselves, not the politicians

Every day working people suffer the hardcore reality of few jobs, bad working conditions, ineffectual health care, dilapidated housing and poor education for our children. We can see our lives going down the drain. But there’s a growing consciousness that we don’t have to take things as they are. It scares the hell out of the rich to see workers uniting to fight for what we need, resisting their laws, their system of rule. The rich are trying to prevent more workers from joining this movement, trying to keep us under control. They really have no answer, no solutions as to how to better the lives of working people.

Only with socialism will working people have the means to collectively and democratically decide the direction their society will take and how they will participate in it. The capitalists hate and fear any sign of a fight-back. There is no kind of reformism which is going to provide a real long-term solution to the exploitation of the working class. In order for the working people to fulfil their historic role of abolishing capitalism and establishing socialism, it is necessary that they be organised as a class. We need cures to kill the infection but all the capitalists offer are more band aids. They offer no cure because they have no cure. Poverty and inequality are a natural part of their system and making a law to get rid of them is like trying to end cancer by making it illegal. For the capitalist there is only one law–the law of profits. The closing of companies, low wages, speed-up, and lay-offs are part of everyday life under a system where capitalists compete with each other by squeezing out as much wealth as they can from our labour. Only as long as the capitalists can make a profit from our sweat do they give us the “right” to slave for them. They dread the prospect of people that they will see that all our problems are a result, not just of a handful of greedy bosses, but that these problems are a permanent part of life under the ruling capitalist class and their whole rotten system.

Workers don’t need a crystal ball to see their future. The capitalists in their never-ending grasp for higher profits, are intent upon making the world a den of misery for a majority of working people. In contrast, the working class, if it were united, could not only stop the assault in its tracks, it could turn this country and this planet into a storehouse of plenty for all. The problem is that people accept capitalism and its logic and therefore see no alternative to the current mis-leaders who defend that system at all costs. A working class that does not see its own power today certainly doesn’t see that it can generate a real alternative to capitalism. Tomorrow, will be the time when all things including socialism will seem both possible and necessary. The revolution will not come through condescending saviours but through the actions and the consciousness of the working class itself. The Socialist Party's method is simply to tell the truth to our fellow-workers. Trying to reform capitalism is no solution for the working class. The reformists display little sense of the realities of capitalism; many believe that the growth of the welfare state will turn into a mixed or socialistic state as time goes on. The “welfare state” never meant raising people out of poverty and providing a better life for them and their families. It is one thing to defend all the crumbs, like state benefits, that have been won. It is quite another thing to pose more or better welfare as a real solution. The answer to unemployment and poverty is not welfare but a new society which will have real solutions for all, a new society based on human needs, not profits, using all the resources of society for the benefit of all. Faith that capitalism can be reformed is prevalent those intellectuals whose careers are based on the existence and expansion of the welfare state who compromise between the crudely greedy rulers on the one hand and the impoverished masses on the other. When push comes to shove they settle for the illusions in what capitalism can offer while accommodating to capitalist misery—on behalf of the poor. Thus reformism today means acceptance of austerity, cloaked in the illusions of a return to prosperity. They do not specifically name capitalism as the problem or call for revolution as the answer.

Today most workers know they are not doing well and that low wages, stringent working practices, multi-tier contracts, non-union shops, etc. are key to the attack on them. Employers' attacks will inevitably increase if we allow the system to continue who perpetrate a system that divides and weakens the struggle and saps the working class of its consciousness as to who the real enemy is. They purposely propose strategies which teach the working class not to identify with their class as a whole but with only one sector.

Food Emergency in Edinburgh

People in deprived parts of Edinburgh are facing the threat of food shortages as supplies at food banks across the city run “critically low”, the Edinburgh Food Project, a charity which operates seven food bank centres across the capital,has warned.

The charity, part of the Trussell Trust Food Bank network, said it only had enough food for this week, and may not be be able to supply people with complete food parcels beyond that point.

Operations manager Bethany Biggar told The Independent donations of food were not sufficient to meet rising demand.

She said: “Until we have a benefits systems that’s caring, compassionate and supportive, a minimum wage covering the essentials, and a workforce that is reliable and secure, we will continue to support those who need us. We will not allow people in Edinburgh to starve.” She added the charity had no choice but to depend on the “generous support of the public” and without this, it “simply would not be able to help people living in poverty”. Ms Biggar said if the charity does not succeed in increasing stock levels now, its food parcels will be unable to meet that standard, which is why it is running an urgent appeal for public donations.

The charity had so far helped 11,402 people over the last 12 months, a 19 per cent rise on the year before. It had also been 4,530 food parcel requests between January and April this year – 47 per cent up on the same period last year.  Food parcels are made up of three daily meals and cover three days of supplies. Recipients of food parcels are entitled to collect food from the charity up to three times in six months.

The charity had received £4,800 in grant funding from the Scottish government to purchase fresh food, which was “just enough” to cover two of its food banks in Pilton and Craigmillar.

25 per cent of people (3237) helped by the charity experienced changes to benefits and delays to benefit payments, and this was one of the most common reasons for their dependence on food banks. But at almost 53 per cent (6002 people), low income was the most common reason, while others included homelessness, debt, sickness and domestic violence.

Socialist Party Solidarity

This is a crucial time for the working-class movement where workers express their solidarity with the struggles of their fellow-workers all over the world, when they re-pledge themselves to the fight for their rights and freedoms and to step up the struggle for the end of the exploitation of man by man. They say that the working-class movement has been defeated, that socialism has failed. But the question which they do not raise is: does the capitalist system which they are promoting, and which they say the people are accepting, does it solve any of the problems of the working people, either in any part of the world? The decisive question is whether or not a system solves the problems which face the people.

Do you want to perpetuate your own class slavery? Do you want to maintain and strengthen the capitalist government which has shown by its every act that it is nothing but the tool of the capitalist class and acts against the working class every time? Then cast your vote and your lives for the profit of the master class. The Socialist Party is for the abolition of capitalism and the emancipation of the workers from wage-slavery. The working class is still the decisive force in every country. We never abandon the socialist ideals, we are Marxists and we propagate our full views.

Labour is the source of all wealth. In the present society the tools of labour are the monopoly of the capitalists. That the working class is kept dependent on these is the ultimate cause of misery and all forms of oppression. The goal of the Socialist Party is therefore to abolish the existing mode of production (the wage system) and to allow the means of labour the present private capital, to be converted into the common property of society, at the disposition of all members of society, which is the only way of guaranteeing the worker full compensation for his or her work. The fight for the liberation of the working class from its present position, which is beneath a free people, is not a fight for new class privileges and prerogatives but for equal rights and equal obligations for all and for the abolition of class rule. A society based on exploitation is one in which one class, through its ownership of the means of production, is able to live as a parasite class, not producing, but living on the labour of—that is, exploiting—the other class. Socialism aims at giving a meaning to people's life and work; at enabling then freedom, their creativity, and the most positive aspects of their personality to flourish; reconciling people with themselves and with nature.

The capitalist class works overtime to convince workers that socialism has nothing to offer but a gray, bureaucratic world of robotic people. The reality is quite different. We as socialists want to replace the rule of a handful of exploiters, the capitalists, with the rule of the working class, the producers of the wealth of society. We seek to replace the anarchy of capitalist production, with its depressions and unemployment, with a planned socialist economy, based on the needs of working people. We fight for world socialism in which full equality for all will be a reality and not a hypocritical slogan. We stand for the fullest democracy for working people over the few, the handful of parasitic robber barons who rule today. We seek to subvert the domination of the employers over the workers. We are for the overthrow of capital, and the transition to a class-free socialist society. Working people have shown that their revolutionary spirit of rebellion cannot be crushed. The capitalist class, nor its lackeys among the working class, have succeeded in quelling the revolutionary spirit of the working people.

Many on the reformist left claim that higher wages will solve all problems, when the problem is the wages system itself which condemns workers to be wage slaves for capitalism and to continually struggle for a living wage. The principal lesson from these struggles is that, by themselves, they will never solve the problem. Another year from now, and workers will be forced to fight precisely the same struggle again, just to keep close to their present standard of living. It is necessary to take the struggle forwards, to fight not – only for a living wage, but to fight for the complete overthrow of the capitalist system of exploitation, and for the establishment of the working class as the ruling class. There are no solutions within the capitalist system.