POLITICS IS TOO IMPORTANT TO LEAVE TO POLITICIANS

The New Statesman is urging us to reject the status quo in favour of 'big changes'. And what has prompted them to do this? Have the contributors removed their reformist goggles and come to realise that the many and varied 'problems' that beset us are endemic to capitalism? Alas, no. The last straw is not endless war or persistent poverty but Conservative MP Alan Duncan's gardening expenses! The New Statesman wants 'real reform' and urges us to, er, sign a petition. Way to go! Result - same shit, different day. However, they do get one thing right: "politics is truly too important to be left to politicians."

Most people are fed up with politicians. Millions didn't vote in the recent Euro-Election. In fact, far fewer will read this blog because they think it's just some more political trash from leaders looking for gullible followers. The Socialist Party does not promise much, but we can promise you that we don't want you to follow us. In fact, what we are talking about can't be brought about by leaders or politicians but only by people acting for themselves — for a change.

When we talk about change we mean real change. Isn't it time that society was run differently? Aren't you tired of the same old problems: poverty, pollution, unemployment, homelessness, inadequate services, more wars, more children starving to death, a no-hope society? All these problems stem from one root cause.

The politicians are elected to run a system. And the golden law of the system is PROFIT FIRST, PEOPLE SECOND. This is how capitalism works whoever runs it. The Socialist Party could run it no better than the rest. And that is why we don't seek to do so. We want to see the system ended. And only you can end it.

The Labour Party will not end it. Indeed, they say that they are out to run the profit system in the interest of everyone. But the profit system can only work by exploiting the workers. Profits come from the legalised robbery of the wealth-producing majority. (Muggers are mere amateurs compared to the so-called Captains of Industry — the capitalists.) Labour is out to run capitalism; Socialists want to end it.

The pseudo communist and socialist parties (who we've opposed from the outset) offer to "lead the toiling masses". We reject such stupid arrogance. Workers are able to think and act for themselves. We can and so can you. Socialism, as we understand it, has nothing to do with state dictatorships like the one that used to exist in Russia and still exists in China. If that's Socialism, then we are against it. In fact, all it ever added up to was state-run capitalism.

The Socialist Party is a movement of and for workers. We are not here to make the millionaires richer. The vast majority of people own little more than their abilities to work. We are part of that majority. We say that the world (not just Britain or Europe) should belong to us all. Why should we be tenants in a world owned and controlled by a small, exploiting minority? Why should we have to sell ourselves to them for wages and salaries? Why should their profits come before our lives? The Socialist Party seeks to change all this. But, unlike other parties, we don't seek to change things for you. We have no leaders. If you join the campaign for socialism it will be because you want to play your part in changing society yourself, not because you want a leader to do it for you.

Real change means the end of the profit system. If you think that we are wrong, then tell us why. We'll argue with you, but we'll listen to what you think. If we're right — or may be right, or worth knowing more about — it's your duty to yourself to play your part in changing the world.

Socialists stand for a world where all resources are owned in common — where social affairs are decided democratically, not by the few with big money; where production is solely for use and not for sale or profit; where we work for the common good, not because we have to earn a wage or salary; where markets and money are things of the past. Think about it — it will be a real change.

When a majority understands and wants this new way of running society we can bring it about democratically. Who can stop the majority, who already run society from top to bottom through our work, from taking it into our own hands? It will be the most exciting change in human history.

We are not asking you to fight on the streets, but to fight with your brains — they are the most valuable weapons workers possess. The politicians expect you not to use them. We hope that you will.

(With thanks to SC)