The Reality of Nationalism

 

The Socialist Party often receives requests to give our support to various nationalist movements. We are not willing to give our support to political parties endorsing nationalism. As socialists, we are opposed to the exploitation of the toilers either by foreign or native exploiters. As that exploitation can be ended only by the achievement of socialism, through international working-class action, we are opposed to the nationalists who have capitalist aims and is not deserving of working-class support. We are also not prepared to associate with non-socialist political parties. It is of no real consequence to a worker whether he or she toils for the profit of a native-born employer or a foreign corporation. The real problem is the fact that the means of production are controlled by a class that forces us to labour and suffer to greater or less degree the miseries suffered by fellow toilers in other lands.

Many workers attribute their miseries to foreign rule rather than to the private ownership of the means of production. The different sectional interests of landlords, factory owners and traders will be a fruitful source of strife. The struggle for markets against Chinese, Japanese or any other international interests will add further fuel to the fire. And all the time the worker will toil and suffer, his or her needs forgotten under the new regime unless we assert ourselves in the only direction that will serve our interests.

Nationalist movements will not help workers to emancipate themselves from their subjugated conditions. Nationalism draws support from wealthy financiers and manufacturers who inflame national prejudice with the object of climbing upon the backs of the workers to positions of greater wealth and power. Too often have the workers’ aspirations for a better life been diverted into the chase after national independence which has gained them only a different flag to wave over their misery.

The fact that we are opposed to all nationalist movements does not mean that we acquiesce in the brutal suppression of workers who have been victims. We are opposed to the capitalist system wherever it raises its ugly head, but we know that the solution to the workers’ exploited position under it is the same everywhere. The only road to deliverance for the worker is the path to socialism, and we must travel along that road in brotherly harmony with the members of our class throughout the world. The remedy is not new nations for old but the abolition everywhere of capitalism. 

Build a Better World

 

Despite the many threats, despite the growing poverty and misery that workers are subjected to, a world of abundance for all stands within our grasp. The potential to create such a society exists, but that potential can be realised only if workers act to gain control of their own lives by organising socialism.

 In these critical times, the Socialist Party calls upon all who are increasingly aware that a basic change in our society is needed, to join us to put an end to the existing class-divided society and place the land and the instruments of social production into the hands of the people as a collective body in a cooperative socialist society. 

The propertyless are today the overwhelming majority where the wages of these have declined until they can purchase only the bare means of subsistence. No degree of toil can any longer, under the prevailing system bring just rewards to the wealth-producing workers of brain and brawn. Socialism means but one thing, and that is the abolition of capital in private hands, and the turning over of the industries to the direct control of society as a whole. Anything else is not socialism. Socialism is not the establishment of the $15 minimum wage, not the abolition of the gig economy, not the enforcement of health and safety laws.  None of these, nor all of them together, is socialism. They might all be done by the government tomorrow, and still we would not have socialism. They are merely reforms of the present system, mere patches on the worn-out rags of servitude. Socialism is the common ownership of production and distribution.

While not opposing any reforms or improvements which may be secured under capitalism, the Socialist  Party steadfastly sets its face against taking time away from its main battle, for revolution, in order to carry on the struggle for reform. It refuses to be manoeuvred into abandoning its main demand in order to fritter away its energies chasing immediate demands. It turns a blind eye to the tempting bait to lead them astray into side issues and blind alleys. The one demand of the Socialist  Party is Socialism, unadulterated and undiluted and its demand is the unconditional surrender by the capitalist class of the state machine and the wheels of industry.

In our campaigning, we state our principles clearly, and speak the truth fearlessly, seeking neither to flatter nor to offend, but only to convince those who should be with us and win them to our cause through an intelligent understanding of its mission. It must be clear to every thinking class-conscious worker that the present terrific struggle for world power is waged by the capitalist class to secure a greater share in the exploitation of labour. It is a matter of paramount importance that we, as socialists, apprehend the basic conditions underlying the strife and that we prepare to meet the consequences to the world’s workers that will issue from it. In the confusion arising from false issues of the capitalist class, put forward to mislead the workers, we must ever be on our guard against the apologists for the bosses posing as friends of labour. When we are told that we need industrial relations arbitration and anti-strike laws, we know that such laws not only fail but are a denial of the working class's right to develop all its powers to gain emancipation. When we are told that we must be patriots, which interpreted means readiness to serve in wars to kill our fellow workers and defend the property interests of the owning class. We know that the working people are a propertyless class with no country to defend and no fatherland or motherland to fight for. We strongly denounce all brands of national chauvinism and patriotism as opposed to the interests of the working class. Instead of nationalism, we must do all in our power to promote the true internationalism of labour.

The Socialist  Party insists that it is the most humanitarian movement on earth. More so than philanthropic NGOs, reform campaigners, and charity societies. It, and it alone, carries within its programme the truest hopes and possibilities of humanity. The Socialist Party is unique in being based on the material programme which will make the realization of those aspirations an accomplished fact. Socialism alone will supply permanent improvement in the condition of mankind. Change with the times — or perish.? It is high time for socialists to abolish obsolete tactics, abandon the will-o’-the-wisps of reform,

Capitalism Must Be Abolished

 There are many points on which the Socialist Party takes a different stand from that taken by political groups on the left.

 There are differences in principle and therefore, necessarily, differences in tactics. If an organisation’s principles are correct, and the individuals concerned are honest and clear, the tactics reflected must also be correct. If an organisation’s tactics are wrong, it is nearly certain that its principles can be nothing else but wrong. For this reason, if organisations differ on tactics, there is apt to be a like difference in the principles espoused by each.

If the Socialist  Party’s analysis is correct, then it follows that the tactics reflected by this analysis are also correct. And by showing that the left-wing’s goal is wrong, that automatically disposes of the tactics these organisation advocates. The Socialist Party never compromises truth to make a friend, and never avoids exposing errors lest it makes an enemy. The integrity of purpose will inspire and win the confidence of those whom we aim to weld into class consciousness. We educate to organise the working class for the conquest of political power, for the complete overthrow of capitalism. Until that is accomplished, the Socialist Party will yield nothing.

Take a glance at the position of the left-wingers and what do we see? Neglect of the goal gives rise to the same spineless attitude that we showed existed in the industrial field. The Left wants a dictatorship of the proletariat and argues that the large mass of workers will never become socialist and will have to be led by an enlightened minority. So it is willing to unite with any movement of workers, no matter how wrong this may be, in order that they will have some masses to lead. The left is willing to barter away all its principles for the sake of recruits into its ranks, with party member numbers more important than principles

The Socialist  Party declares that the emancipation of the working class can only follow the downfall of the capitalists and the means of production placed into the hands of society. The Socialist Party knows that no leaders are going to pull the workers into socialism. As Marx stated, “The emancipation of the working class must be the class conscious act of the working class itself.” A muddleheaded working class will never be able to act correctly or move in the proper direction no matter how brainy the leaders may be. “The day is past,” says Engels, “for revolutions carried through by small minorities at the head of unconscious masses.”

The Socialist Party is opposed to violence or the advocacy of violence in the labour movement because it knows that such tactics are playing right into the hands of the capitalist class. It is not cowardice that dictates our position but common sense and it is not heroism or bravery that dictates the advocacy of violence. It is not courage that makes the foolhardy rock a boat in rough seas, it is idiocy. Here in the UK, we have a right to come out openly and agitate for the overthrowing of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist society.

As Engels says:

“We, the ‘revolutionists,’ the ‘upsetters,’ we thrive much better with legal than with illegal means in forcing an overthrow.”

 If we did not have this opportunity then no alternative would be open for us but to advocate force overthrow of capitalism. Peacefully if possible, violently if necessary

The Socialist Party's attitude toward reforms, in general, is that the left, overly anxious to capture political office seizes upon every opportunity that captures the imagination of the people, regardless of whether it concerns the workers as a class or not. 

The Socialist Party does not refuse ameliorations and reject palliatives offered by the capitalist class, but contends that the more revolutionary the workers become, the stronger they make their economic and political organisations, and the more readily willing will be the capitalist class be to offer reforms in order to keep them content and compliant. 

The Socialist Party holds that the political party must be a party of no compromise. Its mission is to point the way to the goal and it refuses to leave the main road to follow the small bypaths that lead into the swamp of reformism. Capitalism cannot be reformed. It must be overthrown

The Socialist Party has always held that taxes are paid by the property-holding classes out of that portion of wealth, produced, true enough, by labour, but which labour never pocketed. In other words, taxes are paid out of those values, produced over and above the wage which the worker receives and which are generally known as surplus value.

The Socialist  Party holds that the working class the world over is indivisibly one; that as victims of the capitalist class their interests are common, regardless of nationality, colour or gender. Some on the left maintain that immigrants cause a keener struggle for jobs and lower wages for the workers. The fact remains that while immigration does add to the number of workers, and to that extent increases competition among the workers, it is a drop in the ocean compared to the real cause — the introduction of new technology, out-sourcing and off-shoring of production, plus the increased concentration and centralisation of capital. Even if every foreigner from now on were excluded, the misery of the workers would remain. The scapegoating and demonisation of immigrants foment racism and prevent the organising of the workers.

 

Building the Future We Want

 

Working people are certainly looking for a way out of the present insane system where millions of people are suffering want in the midst of a potential abundance of everything.

But someone attempting at the present time to convince fellow workers that socialism offers the only solution for the problems of the working class suffers from a severe handicap. For he or she is immediately confronted with the task of explaining the history of the former Soviet Union plus the failures of many other supposed socialist countries. Most people are under the false impression that socialism existed in the former Soviet Union, and knowing what they do in that country, they tend to be prejudiced against any speaker urging socialism as the solution to the ills of society. We have explained the situation in the Soviet Union was so contrary to the theories and ideas of socialism,  that instead of disproving socialist theories, actually do the opposite and confirm them.

Nevertheless, as an alternative to what they perceive, people instead propose gradual change suggesting that it may be possible to modify and reform the present system by eliminating its worse features. That is what many liberals have been trying to do for years and once again the Socialist Party analyses demonstrate its lack of success.

Another distressing problem confronting all of us is the problem of war which is such a distressing thing that many well-meaning people devote a great deal of energy in an attempt to find an answer that will make armed conflicts unnecessary. However, if a person is interested in peace, without holding that only by ending the capitalist system is the only effective way of assuring peace, he or she is liable to accept all kinds of Utopian ideas that have as their goal the prevention of war under the present system.

 The Socialist Party accepts the position that war is inevitable under the capitalist system and wants to use the desire for peace that exists amongst people as an aid in the struggle to overthrow the capitalist system. The Socialist Party does not argue whether this or that particular policy of the capitalist class will ensure peace.

To comprehend the real nature of all the many social ills confronting humanity we must we must analyse how the capitalist system functions. What capitalists do to make their profits is the key to understanding our world.

The basic idea of socialism is that all the means of production and distribution be owned in common by all of the people and that every person, who is not too young, too old, or too sick, cooperate in producing those things which every member of society needs and uses. Instead of having individuals or corporations own all the factories and hire workers to produce goods only when a profit can be made from their sale, society as a whole will own the factories, and the workers will produce the things required to feed, house and improve the health of all of the people, and to satisfy all of their cultural needs, Delegates to various administrative bodies will be elected by the workers to allocate resources necessary to satisfy the needs of society and then factories will be set into motion to provide more than enough of each item. Instead of the anarchy and competition of the market and exchange economy that prevail at present, production and distribution will be planned. A change in the system of property from private ownership, producing for profit, to common ownership, producing for use, will solve most of the problems inflicting working people.

The Socialist Party contends that industry has developed to a point where a sufficient quantity of goods can be produced to assure everyone a very high standard of living. The change from capitalism to socialism, by eliminating the waste inherent in capitalism, would easily provide for all the needs of everyone.

One World or None

 

World-threatening dangers cannot be averted by means of trifling tinkering. Capitalists are not interested in production to benefit the people of the world. They are interested only in profits. If the technology already available in the world were to be used for the purposes of construction, the entire planet could be transformed and the standards of living and level of culture raised to undreamed of heights. This is not possible under capitalism. Plenty under this system can only produce crises of over-production, recessions and lay-offs, because of the basic necessity of the capitalist class to make profits. The insanity of  capitalism is that it creates inequality, poverty and unemployment and all the crises of society because it over-produces. Not, to be sure, in relation to human needs, but in relation to the market. Consequently, a garment manufacturer, instead of conducting consumer research of the number of people who need clothes, produces as much as he thinks he can sell at a profit. So does his rival. The market becomes glutted, because there are more clothes produced than the consumers can buy – not, of course, more than they need.  Their motives are not the needs of men and women but: how much profit can we make?

Despite hunger in dozens of countries, crops in millions of bushels are diverted to fuel vehicles. It is also more profitable to feed livestock than starving people. This fact alone indicts capitalism as the great obstacle to human progress.

Many socialists say the alternative is world socialism or inevitable, catastrophe and that  barbarism will prevail unless a socialist reorganisation of society takes place. Global warming has made socialism incalculably more necessary because the only alternative under capitalism is misery and suffering for the entire population of our planet.

 The capitalists know how to destroy mankind, but not how to create harmony for  humanity. Given the continued existence of capitalism, the prospects for peace and prosperity is remote. Only socialist one world can abolish scarcity and economic hardship. Capitalism has long provided the knowledge and the technology which are necessary for a socialist reorganisation of society, but it fails to provide for the simple wants and needs of working people. We want peace, instead of bloodshed and destruction. We want security instead of insecurity. We want decent homes for our families instead of slums, good healthcare for everyone and plentiful schools rather than child labour. We want comfort and prosperity, not low wages, unemployment and hunger. We want democracy and freedom instead of totalitarianism, bureaucracy and racial and religious conflict. But capitalism with its giant corporations, automation and robots and abundant natural resources, capitalism is unable to provide us with these elementary needs. It is unable to avoid wars. Capitalism produces more and more for destruction. It continues to direct more and more production into armaments production, to protect the wealth interests of the few. A constant redivision of the sources of wealth and profits takes place, with the carving up of the spoils. Unless the working class eliminate the system of profits and plunder wars will persist forever. While the  capitalists are united against the workers, they are in competition against each other and against their capitalist counterparts abroad. They all try to outproduce and outsell each other on the market because the mainspring of capitalist production is profit, not human needs. As long as capitalism endures, the crises of capitalism will only be accentuated. It is a little more difficult for workers to understand this but on a world scale capitalism has reduced the standard of living and decreased the freedom of mankind. It has produced privation and totalitarianism in most of the world. 

Every new discovery and invention which improved the productive technique of capitalism and made possible a saving of human labour and a refinement of the product, the benefits have not been distributed to mankind. The more advanced become the tools of our society, the more wealth becomes polarized at one end, and poverty at the other. We see the phenomenon of poverty in the midst of plenty.

Under this system of capitalism a handful of oligarchs and plutocrats control the wealth and power of the planet. They own corporations. They own the politicians because they finance the big business parties which put them into office. They have the power of life and death over all of us. Socialism, and only socialism, will create a true world society, a world without national barriers, without international rivalries, without master and slave nations and, hence, a world without war. There will not be a global government of a dominant economic elite but a worldwide administration of all the peoples that inhabit the planet. Its primary duty will be to conduct the affairs of the world with the aim of eliminating poverty, diseases, hunger and insecurity. while solving the climate crisis we all face.  Its sole criterion would be the needs of the people. In abolishing classes in society, socialism will change the form and type of governments which exist today. Governments will become administrative bodies regulating production and consumption. They will not be the instruments of the capitalist class, i.e., capitalist governments whose main reason for existence is to guarantee the political as well as the economic rule of big business, their profits, their private ownership of the instruments of production, and the conduct of war in the economic and political interests of this class.

Socialism will end the  root evil of modern society, i.e., the private ownership of the means of production, the factories farms and mines which produce the necessities of life.  Production will become the property of society, owned in common, producing for use, for the general welfare of the people as a whole. With the abolition of the private ownership of the means of life and with it the factor of profit as the prime mover of production, the sharp divisions of society between nations and classes will disappear. Then, and only then, will society be in a position to become a social order of abundance and plenty for all, for socialism will create a new world of genuine cooperation and collaboration between the peoples of the earth.

In abolishing classes and the state socialism will at the same time destroy all forms of dictatorship, political as well as economic. The world socialism will be the freest, most democratic society the world has ever known truly representing the majority of the population. 

World socialism will assess the industrial potential of the world, determine its resources, the needs of the people and plan production with the aim of increasing the standards of living of a free people, creating abundance, increasing leisure and opportunity for cultural enjoyment.

World socialism will not concern itself with profits and war, but with providing decent housing for all the people.

World socialism will provide for a multitude of schools for all the people.

World socialism will cease to regard education primarily as institutions to produce skilled labour to help operate the profit economy.

World socialism will create a system of good healthcare.

World socialism will provide worthwhile work with job satisfaction for all as this will be labour without exploitation. For the aim of socialism is not the increased exploitation and intensification of workplace, but the increasing technology, science and invention to diminish toil, to create time in which to permit all the people to enjoy the benefits of social progress.

World socialism will place at the disposal of science and the scientists all the material means to help create an ever-improving social life for mankind. Today’s society contains all the pre-conditions necessary for socialism, gigantic industrial enterprises containing machinery which could produce the goods of life in abundance. Mankind has developed a marvellous technology to create a fruitful life of abundance.

Only world socialism can place science where it properly belongs: in the service of the people.