WHAT WE WANT AND WHY.

 

Knowing as we do the ambition and aspirations of our fellow-socialists to grow our movement, we fear that the progress we have made has been unsatisfactory. But no matter what our adversaries may say, and however slow progress may so far have been, the future is with us. One is apt to forget that capitalism, though it has lasted far too long for us already, has after all only had a short run, compared with preceding stages in the evolution of human society. Even so, it shows already unmistakable signs of being decrepit scarcely coping with all its problems and dilemmas. Just observe the pitiful helplessness of the whole crowd of capitalism’s henchmen and hirelings, of its spokesmen in the media, excuse its failures. Note capitalism’s prominent men and women, its scientists, its military experts  warning and imploring the ordinary men and women throughout the world to end the menace of global warming which they, the politicians know not how to end.

 

One wishes that the ordinary men and women throughout the world would put an end to the sordid system of competitive capitalism.

 

The task of spreading this knowledge is left to the socialist. With our scant means, and all the wide channels of propaganda closed against us, it is indeed a heavy task. There is only one ally for opening the workers’ eyes and driving home the lesson that nothing but a fundamental change as proposed by socialists, can help. That ally is the constant deterioration of conditions and the glaring failure and futility of all efforts and measures to cope with it. With all the long and painful experience before them, the workers should certainly no longer be as ready as they have been in the past, to swallow the rubbish that capitalism is the only possible system and that common ownership and democratic control of the means of life by society as a whole is supposed to be a Utopia.

 There is the task, a hard task admittedly, but worth the doing. Life to the socialist means unremitting toil in the cause of socialism, perseverance in spite of all discouragement, the marching onward in the face of all doubts and difficulties. Even if we of this generation do not see and taste the fruits of our sowing, yet even then we shall have our reward—in the knowledge that we have fought on the side of energy against apathy, of youth against the decrepit, of life itself against death.

 

Socialism has not yet been achieved and the capitalist class are still strongly entrenched in possession of property and power. Large numbers of workers now realise that capitalism cannot provide comfort, security and peace to the populations of the world, but much has yet to be done before mere discontent with capitalism can be transformed into an understanding of the need for replacing capitalism by a social system in which the means of production and distribution shall be commonly owned and democratically controlled by the whole community. Much of the discontent of the working class, instead of being directed to the building up of political parties having socialism as their aim, is being frittered away uselessly in “Labour” parties aiming to reform capitalism by democratic means or in "Communist” parties which have the object of introducing state capitalism. Neither in aim nor in method does the Socialist Party or its companion parties in Canada, India, New Zealand and United States of America fall into either of these two camps. These parties hold that the sole aim of the genuine socialist movement is and must be to achieve socialism; that this can be done only when a majority of the workers have become socialists; that the road to socialism is by gaining control of the machinery of government by democratic, parliamentary means; and that the Socialist Party, while extending the hand of fraternity to the workers of all lands, must on principle refuse to ally itself with the parties of capitalism, whether they openly avow themselves such or whether they pursue the aim of capitalist reform under the name of "Labour” or “Communist.”

 

Many of the adherents of reformism and advocates of state capitalism pay lip service to internationalism, yet, like the British Labour Party on the one hand and the Communist Party on the other, are prepared to lend themselves to the furtherance of capitalist imperialism. Socialists can have no part or lot in capitalism and imperialism.

 

Unlike those parties, which degrade the name of socialism, the Socialist Party and its companion parties have an unbroken record of loyalty to socialism and working-class internationalism in peace or in war. In the Great War, 1914-1918, and in the World War, 1939-1945, the Socialist Party stood by the principles of socialism and proudly proclaimed its refusal to give support to capitalist war. True to our international Socialist principles we seek contact with Socialist workers in other countries who take their stand on the same principles, with a view to setting on foot at last a genuine world socialist movement free from the national prejudices and compromise policies that up to the present have hindered the earlier march of the Internationals.

Capitalism - the Con-Trick

 

Measured by capitalist yardsticks the economy has been working quite well. The stock-markets are booming, share prices are sky-high and the  rich are adding to their wealth. The voice of socialists are  still much too weak to stand up to the tremendous din of the media apparatus to show that capitalism is unstable and involves a cycle of recurring economic crises.

The World Socialism Movement  share a vision of a real commonwealth. It means a global system of society where all wealth is held in common and is democratically controlled by all people. It is a society from which borders and frontiers, social classes and leaders, states and governments have disappeared, in which production is geared to meeting needs, not profit, and in which people give of their abilities and have free access to the benefits of civilisation. This is the cooperative commonwealth socialists look forward to.

 Our object is to achieve the education of the working class to their real interest in society, and to expose the bankrupt social order under which we live.

We live in a capitalist society, and this is world wide. The main feature of this society is property ownership, buying and selling. On the one hand there are those who own all the important things in the world, land, factories, mines etc. On the other side the vast majority of those who own nothing except their abilities. By sheer necessity, those who own nothing are forced to sell their abilities to those who own. On this basis society as it is functions.

From what has been said it is clear that there are only two classes of people in capitalist society. Those who own, the capitalist class, and those who sell their skill, the working class. The popular view of a middle class is really a myth. The doctor is as much a worker as the bus driver, or the street cleaner. Observe that even doctors go on strike to support their demands for more pay and better conditions. Workers’ income groups are different, but they are still of the same class.

The conflict between capitalist (to pay as little as possible) and worker (to secure as high a price as possible) is an inherent feature of capitalist society. Nothing that can be said or done can reconcile the opposing interests of these two classes. Those of the owning class have clear ideas as to their interest. They, however, with their power and wealth and control of the mass media use these to maintain and even widen the division within the working class. They have done this with great success. Their existence depends on this division.

We must remember that society as it is today does not mean that it was always so. There was a time when men lived as slaves; they changed from this and became serfs. They again changed to the present system of wage earners. We socialists believe, and events the world over support us, that the time is ripe for another change. Our present social system has outlived its social usefulness ; it is now a hindrance to mankind. Most people sense that something is fundamentally wrong with the world, but can’t name it. That unnamed thing really is, trying to operate a social system that is no longer in harmony with world conditions. Things are produced only if they can realise a profit, not to satisfy human need. Observe the vast areas of poverty alongside pockets of wealth. Capitalism has done much in the improvement of productive methods for man. It is quite hopeless at distributing this wealth it can create.

Socialists advocate a system of society where each will contribute to production and partake freely of his need. Sounds fantastic? We have heard that before, just think for a moment of the fantastic things we have come to accept as normal under capitalism. It is now quite normal for thousands of people to starve to death, as we have seen , while farmers in Europe and America are paid not to cultivate their land. Capitalism distorts the vision of a future society. We can only see a different system in terms of our present one.

Socialism can only function on a world wide basis. It cannot and does not exist in any country. Russia was just as capitalist a country as America. The constant reference to Russia as a socialist country only served to confuse the issue of what socialism is. The attainment of socialism is not only possible but necessary. The great mental problems that are evident in the developed countries: more people are going mad, there is widespread frustration and a deep sadness that seems to dominate people’s life. Even pleasure has been turned into a way of escape. All these are becoming more noticeable in our society.

The task ahead is difficult indeed; so much distortion and confusion to clear up. That is why we need your help, in whatever way you can. Read our literature, get to understand fully our point of view. Apart from the personal reward that this knowledge will give, you will be able to play an historic part in popularising socialism throughout the planet. Hard and difficult yes, but so worth while.

Universal Ownership of the World

Capitalism is a sick society and this is becoming more apparent with each passing day. Crime and violence are a continuing part of daily life. Police savagely assault and even kill poorer citizens with impunity. Desperate people fight back by striking out at anything within their reach. The military are regularly deployed in the major cities to preserve property and 'law and order'—the same law and order which created the conditions in the first place. This capitalist ‘utopia’ is becoming a hell of hatred, despair, and violence. This can no longer be ignored and so people, or at least some people, are beginning to lose confidence in the reasonableness of the system.


We live in a world where wealth and poverty are juxtaposed.  We point out that all modern wars are capitalist wars, and as such did not justify the shedding of working class blood on the battlefields. That they should be of no concern to the workers no matter with what idealist sentiments either side cloaked their real aims. That the only way to abolish wars was to abolish the conditions that gave rise to them, the buying and selling system that was behind the pursuit of markets, trade routes and sources of supply. We sent out Manifestoes to the workers in the belligerent countries stating that we had no quarrel with the workers of any nation and pledging ourselves to work for the triumph of socialism.

 

We accept the fact that there is a class struggle in society—but that its solution lies in the hands of the workers to take political action for the establishment of socialism when they understood and want it. Consequently we have put forward candidates in the parliamentary and local elections for the purpose of taking control out of the hands of our capitalist rulers in order to clear the way for the establishment of socialism.

 

We hold that all people in the world, regardless of colour or nationality, are capable of understanding socialism and its implications. There is no fundamental difference in mental capacity of different groups of mankind, only differences in their stages of social development which has nothing to do with a difference in mental capacity. On this, as on other aspects of our attitude, we have published pamphlets explaining our outlook.

 

We are a Marxian party. That is to say we base our outlook on history and economics on the theoretical researches of Karl Marx. On the basis of Marxian economics we have pointed out that there is no solution for booms and slumps as long as capitalism lasts. That booms and slumps are inevitable products of capitalism and will always be a part of it. On the basis of the same principles we have shown that the huge rise in prices since the thirties have not been due to the rises in workers’ pay, but have mainly been due to the devaluation of currency. This in spite of the new machinery and methods introduced which were alleged to cheapen costs of production.

 

We have always insisted upon the capture of political power before any fundamental change in the social system can be achieved. Political power is the centre of the capitalist citadel, though the workers place this power in the capitalists’ hands at election times. But no fundamental change is possible until the majority understand and want it. We have also been opposed to reform policies and have kept unswervingly to the pursuit of socialism as our sole objective.

 

Finally, just as capitalism has spread all over the world, bringing similar conditions of frustration, poverty and insecurity to all peoples, so also the seeds of discontent and the yearning for something better has become a part of life everywhere. Unfortunately this discontent takes wrong turnings and has led to riots and nationalist uprisings that, in the long run, have helped nobody but the ruling class of capitalists or budding capitalists. The solution is the same everywhere, for socialism is an international movement involving the workers of the world, whatever their colour. It is not possible to establish socialism in one country alone, in the midst of a wilderness of capitalism. That was the fiction spread by the Lenin and the Bolsheviks and their servile followers.

 

 But just as capitalism has spread, so have socialist ideas. socialist parties and groups with similar ideas to ours have developed in different parts of the world and form a Socialist International movement; such parties have arisen in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and in India

 

We therefore urge the workers of the world to unite in the world-wide socialist movement which has already begun, because socialism is the only solution to the social ills of mankind. Socialism is a system in which there will be no privileged class, as everything that is in and on the earth will be the common and equal possession of all mankind.

The World Socialist Movement

 

We have always maintained that the spread of socialist ideas does not depend upon the existence of the Socialist Party or its Companion Parties, but that they arise from the system under which we have to live. 

 

1.  The WSM claims that socialism will, and must, be a wage-free, money-free, worldwide society of common (not state) ownership and democratic control of the means of wealth production and distribution.

2.  claims that socialism will be a sharp break with capitalism with no “transition period” or gradual implementation of socialism (although socialism will be a dynamic, changing society once it is established).

3.  claims that there can be no state in a socialist society.

4.  claims that there can be no classes in a socialist society.

5.  promotes only socialism, and promotes it as an immediate goal.

6. claims that only the vast majority, acting consciously in its own interests, for itself, by itself, can create socialism.

7. opposes any vanguardist approach, minority-led movements, and leadership, as inherently undemocratic (among other negative things).

8. promotes a peaceful democratic revolution, achieved through force of numbers and understanding.

9.  neither promotes, nor opposes, reforms to capitalism.

10.  claims that there is one working class, worldwide.

11.  lays out the fundamentals of what socialist society must be, but does not presume to tell the future socialist society how to go about its business.

12.  promotes an historical materialist approach—real understanding.

13.  claims that religion is a social, not personal, matter and that religion is incompatible with socialist understanding.

14.  seeks election to facilitate the elimination of capitalism by the vast majority of socialists, not to govern capitalism.

15.  claims that Leninism is a distortion of Marxian analysis.

16.  opposes all capitalist war and claims that socialism will inherently end war, including the “war” between the classes.

17.  noted, in 1918, that the Bolshevik Revolution was not socialist. Had earlier, long noted that Russia was not ready for a socialist revolution.

18.  the first to recognise that the former USSR, China, Cuba and other so-called “socialist countries” were not socialist, but instead, state capitalist.

19.  claims a very accurate, consistent analysis since 1904.

 

Month after month, year after year, our fellow workers appear to be too satisfied with the capitalist system — or too apathetic — to want to put an end to it. They seem almost fatalistic and resigned to their poverty and misery. Workers feel powerless to deal with the important questions affecting their lives. So they ‘participate’ in politics only to the extent of investing some emotional energy by identifying with some personality whose victory will give them some vicarious satisfaction. The workers’ sense of powerlessness with respect to events also makes them unconcerned with policy issues concerned with proposals for reform. Middle-level bureaucrats, editorial writers, intellectuals, and all species of ‘middle class’ reformers frequently advance proposals that are intended to solve, within the confine of capitalism, such problems as racial conflicts, riots, decaying cities, unemployment, air pollution, and foreign policy dilemmas. Such people often bemoan the lack of interest among workers for these proposals. Workers, through their experience, have developed a cynicism about such promises and they feel “let those who get paid for it worry about it”. Outside the small strata of the decision-makers for capitalism, little serious attention is given to the stuff that is served up by the news media as the subject matter of politics. Thus, in one sense, the American scene remains unchanged. The frivolities and gossip that pass for political and social issues are discussed by a small number of those concerned, the masses apathetic; businesses keep on making profits that are quietly pocketed by the ruling capitalist class, and everyone continually faces the problems which the capitalist mode of production makes inevitable. From this perspective  capitalism everywhere has not changed fundamentally in the past hundred years—only the problems have gotten larger. War, climate change and pandemics, for instance, now threatens to annihilate the human race. Yet still political class consciousness, the conscious desire for socialism, is still all but non-existent

 

 

Yet this discouraging sameness is deceptive. Beneath the surface, the forces that shape ociety are at work, ceaselessly changing the foundations. It is not merely that machinery improves, workers become more skilled and new commodities are marketed while capital accumulates. Men and women’s ideas also change as their conditions of life change. 

 

The truth of the matter is that, however successful and secure  capitalism looks at first glance, it is plagued with deep contradictions. These contradictions revolve around the inability of  capitalism, despite its wealth, technology and power, to satisfy human needs. On one hand there is fabulous wealth, on the other hand the most basic of human needs go unsatisfied. Scientists will eventually put a man on the moon but  society cannot perform the simple ask of getting a hungry man with his face pressed against a shop window into contact with the food he needs. Children die of rat bites within sight of the world's marvels of engineering. The illiteracy rate and the rate of infant mortality of the US are above that of far less advanced nations. Farmers are paid not to produce food while millions in the world are starving.

 

 

 Capitalism is the cause of these many social problems we endure and those problems are world-wide, existing not only in obviously capitalist countries like Britain or France or Germany but also, in the form of state capitalism, in countries like China or Cuba. Because capitalism is world-wide so too must be Socialism, the system which will replace it and whose common ownership, democratic control and production solely for use will provide the framework within which today’s social problems can finally be solved.

 

This is why we sometimes refer to our object as “world socialism”, making it absolutely clear that we reject all nationalism and all national approaches to working-class problems. It is also why we are linked with Companion Parties in other parts of the world, with the same objective and the same principles as us and which exist in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and India.