Last year saw world-wide protests “against” capitalism, which included direct action at Wall Street and the City of London, so it’s worth considering the positive case for Socialism for everywhere else there is doom and gloom.
Eurozone politicians are scuttling around trying to out-fox each other with the workers of Europe and elsewhere promised dire hardship unless some deal can be hatched to save the Euro and bring down the level of debt.
Church leaders, such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, are calling for an extra tax on bankers. They and seemingly fair minded commentators nod with approval at this not so novel, “Robin Hood” approach to capitalist redistribution while the workers are again threatened with horrendous drops in living standards.
Workers in Syria are being killed in the streets with desperate attempts by the current dictator President Bashar Al-Assad trying to use his control over the armed forces to sustain his grip on political power. Sixty people were killed and hundreds are injured by bombs in Baghdad the day the last US troops pulled out.
Yet another war seems to be looming in the Middle East between Israel and Iran, the sabers, (possibly nuclear ones), are being rattled while tensions again build up between Britain and Argentina over the Falklands and it’s off shore oil reserves.
And some 30,000 children die every day of poverty related issues, mostly in places like Africa, while obesity presents itself as a major health risk among the workers of the more advanced capitalist countries through a diet of poor food from the fast food industry.
Time indeed to consider the case for Socialism!
What is Socialism?
The bare bones of what Socialism will be, is quoted in all Socialist Party of Great Britain literature, as our Object states, Socialism will be:
A system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means and instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in the interests of the whole community.
What a magnificent concept! A concept yet to be realised, but one very much within our grasp! Wealth is to be produced to satisfy human needs, rather than as a means to profit for a privileged minority and parasitic class of capitalists. There will be no private ownership of the means of production and distribution; therefore there will be no conflicts over ownership.
Conflicts of ownership within capitalist society probably account for the most common uses of the police, judiciary, prison systems and the armed forces than any other single item. If there are no conflicts of ownership there can be no wars! Wars are fought for real things such as oil and gas fields in Iraq, Kuwait and Libya.
Wars are never fought for such esoteric motives such as “defending democracy”, “protecting civilians”, or “opposing tyranny”, although these, and other high sounding phrases, are often used in the justification presented by the various warring governments, as to why the workers should be willing and able to massacre other workers, or be massacred themselves. Needless to say, all wars are claimed as “defensive”, and God is invariably on the side of every army competing in these conflicts!
So within Socialist society, there will be a driving force to satisfy human needs. There will be a willingness to co-operate and help each other. With no private ownership of the means of production and therefore no money relationships, there will be a desperate need and desire to rectify the problems left over by capitalist society. Not least the malnourished, diseased, and poverty stricken victims of capitalism’s so-called “free market” (If you can’t afford it, go without and possibly you starve!)
One of the consequences of establishing Socialism will be the changing nature of the workforce, – yes, even Socialism requires workers! – humans can’t live without working! The nature of the work will change profoundly. Gone will be the armies of lawyers, bankers, salesmen, insurance brokers, money gamblers of all kinds, police, judiciary, armed forces, and all the other current paraphernalia of society to protect and help distribute wealth among capitalist society.
There will a sudden injection of useful human labour into society never before seen in history. And the majority of such a new injection of labour will be willingly doing what was unavailable before. Your derivative dealer may find it more rewarding to use his/her skills in calculating the odds of bad harvests in South East Asia, than in betting on the prices of various stock in say 6 months’ time. Such people will have the opportunity for the first time to use their skills for the betterment of their fellow humans, including themselves! – actual productive work!
As there will be no employment, therefore there can be no unemployment. A state of capitalism whereby a section of the working class is either lucky enough to be exploited, or unlucky enough to be on the scrapheap of the “industrial reserve army” as Marx put it.
Current estimates put the global number of unemployed workers at around 200 million, or more than the whole workforce of Europe, or of the USA. Workers who would be desperate to be producing profits for their masters, but who are denied access to the “free” labour market, the biggest market in the world.
And under capitalism it is a market, because things including human labour power have to be bought and sold. But before things can be bought and sold, they first have to be produced. Without human labour, nothing new is produced. No rabbits out of hats, or a universe in 6 days by an omnipotent God. No, only pure hard work produces wealth, nothing else. Get over it economists!
So to put it in a few words, the case for socialism is that it will lead to the removal of the major problems presented by capitalism, war, poverty, housing, unemployment and insecurity. Bearing in mind that Socialism must be established consciously and politically by a willing majority, it will result in a population of workers who want to solve the major problems thrown up by capitalism, so that they in turn can enjoy “the fruits of their labour”.
However, before the workers can use their votes to dispossess the capitalists, they must first have some understanding of what capitalism is and what Socialism will be. They will not learn these facts from theologians, archbishops, economists and capitalism’s politicians.
