Towards a Society of Solidarity

 “The ethic of capitalism is: ‘From each whatever you can get out of him—to each whatever he can grab” - James Cannon

The obscenity of today’s world  is that the most important thing is money and profit, and not human needs. We know how to feed people who are hungry, and we know how to cure people with preventable diseases, but it is obscene that we do not do it. In pursuit of maximising profits, capitalists intend to use Artificial Intelligence and robots to displace, if possible, millions of workers. The profit driven corporations “are racing to automate their own work forces to stay ahead of the competition, with little regard for the impact on working people. Money dominates the world as never before. Perhaps it is time to consider an economic and social system that puts social needs, social welfare and social health to the forefront.  Very few people in the world will go through life without some form of  economic anxiety or worry. Ultimately their problems must be addressed as part of a wider systematic change that moves away from a capitalist for profit system to a system directed by people’s needs.

Was this socialism? So many on the left today believes that  turning back the clock to the days of FDR’s New Deal, reproducing the welfare state of the Nordic countries is what socialism amounts to. The Socialist Party tends to be a bit old-fashioned. We cling to the concept that socialism is the abolition of private and government ownership, a class-free society and the  the total transformation of society that will allow us to enjoy true freedom for the first time in human history. Without a coherent  vision of a better world and the organization that goes with it, working people’s resistance to capitalism will likely go nowhere. The first and the easiest step is telling the truth about our current society and presenting a clear picture of  a society that serves the well-being of humanity. This is not how capitalism works. Capitalism breeds chaos because its priority is to maximise profits above all else.  It’s the poor who suffer the most hardships and hazards.

Wars can be ended. Global warming can be reversed and environmental destruction can be repaired. And the only way is to get rid of the cause, i.e., the profit-driven system of capitalism. Working people that have no control over their circumstances; no control over their governments; no control over their economic situation; no control over the weapons their governments produce in the world of capitalist competition for profit.  These are capitalists’ imperative to rule the world in their own interests. The capitalists care about nothing except their wealth and power. And, in order to maintain that control, they must resort to war, plunder and environmental destruction. They must drill and mine with abandon. They must bring down mountaintops. They must chop down rain forests.  They must pollute and poison the land water and air. Our masters are  creating a world of fear and chaos — blinding us to our common human interests of living in a peaceful and plentiful world shared by all. They want us at war with one another. They thrive on spreading race, class, religious and ethnic hatred where none instinctively exists. This is not humanity at work. This is capitalism working as normal. And only  working people across the globe, have the power to end this insanity by building a world where human interests and the welfare of our planet are our collective concerns, and the fruits of our labour are shared equally by all. This is our true human nature—to work together to save and protect our world—this is what socialism is all about.

 

When it comes to war, the capitalists say, “there has always been war—it’s human nature to be war-like.” When it comes to economic inequality they say, “there has always been a wealthy minority in power over the lower classes —the wealthy are on top because they are smarter, better, stronger. The poor are poor because they are less intelligent.” We are taught to believe that this is the way it is, has always been, and will always be. The economic structure of capitalism and the laws created and enforced by capitalists are all designed to allow the wealthy to accumulate the profits that the working masses produce. Capitalism—by its very structure—is designed to protect the privileges of the wealthy by any means necessary. That is the purpose of the courts, the police and the military. Capitalism is democracy for the wealthy and dictatorship over the working class.

 

Capitalism is a stage of social evolution that has outlived its usefulness. It destroys the world in order to increase private profits for the wealthy. Natural resources wherever they are found, are taken by force of violence for the benefit of privately owned corporations. Capitalist production pollutes and destroys the environment because taking the proper precautions to produce durable goods and to preserve the health and safety of workers and the planet cuts into their profits. That’s why factories spew their filth in the air, land and sea with abandon and without guilt. There is only one thing that stands in the way of our road to a socialist utopia—and that is capitalism—the private ownership of the means of production by a tiny, despotic, divisive, parasitic capitalist class that can only survive by oppression, violence and war. Capitalism has to go

 

So what will socialism look like? Socialism’s fundamental economic structure turns capitalism—the private ownership of the means of production — upside-down. Socialism is an economic system that democratises production in order to fulfill the needs and wants of all on an equal basis, instead of on the accumulation of private profits for the few. Production for need and want instead of private profit will free up resources to ensure safety and efficiency on the job—both for the health and safety of workers and the preservation of our environment. It will eliminate the waste of producing inferior products designed to break down so that they have to constantly be replaced—a standard practice of capitalist production to increase profits. Instead, we can concentrate on the production of durable products that can be upgraded as technology evolves. Without the private, profit-driven capitalist motive of production, we will be free to revolutionise production methods without sacrificing the well being of people or the planet. The goal will be to produce durable goods more efficiently—maximising automation while gradually shortening the work-week and increasing living standards for all—so that everyone can have, not only all the necessities and wants of life, but more free time to pursue personal interests, the arts, scientific advancements. We will be free to study life on earth, preserve our environment and explore the intelligence and diversity of the species that share our planet with us. It will be a world without racism, sexism, war, jails, poverty, starvation, homelessness, ignorance, despair, drug addiction, crime and pestilence. Under a democratic and cooperative socialist society, the free and equal development of each individual’s talents and abilities will finally become the condition for the free and equal development of all of us. With a socialist society—with an ecologically safe and carefully planned communal economy, there are no obstacles that we won’t be able to overcome. It will be a society designed to encourage human development to its fullest while preserving and safeguarding the health and welfare of our planet for the benefit of all.

Lie with dogs and get fleas

 

Serial party-founder, George Galloway, launches a unionist party, ‘All for Unity’, which will stand candidates in all eight regions of the country.

His fellow members include right-wingers such as UKIP and Tommy Robinson supporters

During the  2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign Galloway said, "I have always hated nationalism. My flag is red. I care nothing for either the Scottish or the British flags.” 

A sentiment shared by the Socialist Party even if Galloway’s later Brexit support suggested that he was indeed a British nationalist and that the Union Jack was indeed his flag.

To be clear, by refusing to join the Scottish separatists and advocate for an independent sovereign state of Scotland, the Socialist Party is no way endorsing the current status quo of the union.

A plague on both Westminster and Holyrood. 

There is enough for all

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

The Nationalist Smokescreen

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Capitalism must go

 

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

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

 

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

 

Doesn’t it make sense?

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

It is really that simple.

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