Another New Year and we should look backwards towards the past and forward towards the future taking stock of what has been accomplished and of the work that lies before us on the path to the emancipation of the working class. The world is shaken with wars and threats of wars. At such a time the Socialist Party of Great Britain and its companion parties in the World Socialist Movement extends its hand of comradeship in New Year’s greeting to fellow workers in every part of the world. We wish all visitors to our blog a “Happy New Year” but such a wish would sound better if it is accompanied by a belief that the wish may be realised. We entreat those who agree with our case for socialism to join. We are optimistic about the prospect of genuine unity but not blindly optimistic. We can see that all is not rosy and that the road ahead is tortuous. But as we get organised and prepared to meet capitalism head on, we can face the future with confidence and enthusiasm.
Some have blamed the Socialist Party’s adherence to its principles for our apparent current failure. It is not our principles which have failed, nor is it is a question of changing our principles, but a question of applying them to life and of carrying them into action more effectively. We must present our view of the coming new year as one filled with revolutionary optimism and enthusiasm for the future. Each new battle gives us new hope for the class war between workers and the capitalists. The ruling class had forlorn hopes that they could get the workers to peacefully accept austerity but we view the refusal to resign ourselves to their cuts as the seeds of things to come. Workers have stood opposed to the attacks and tricks used against them and have shown that their struggle is far from dead.
With the media frequently filled with gloom and doom we can be assured that for the capitalist system 2014 doesn’t promise anything better than 2013 did. The political and economic pundits may point to a “recovery” but industry is still crippled by the crisis. For the working class there remains hardships and suffering. Nevertheless, for every act of exploitation by the capitalists, there are also examples of rebellion and resistance (and for 2014,hopefully, revolution) on the part of the people. For every effort to divide our struggle there were steps taken toward unity. The employers’ attempt to make the workers pay for the crisis has increasingly been opposed and protests have increasingly reflected peoples disgust with political parties and their leaders, none of them ever capable of rescuing the working class from the hell that this crisis has brought.
The realisation that the crisis is real and is here to stay for a long time has been burned into the minds of many last year and few little hope for any kind of real recovery much less even see light at the end of its tunnel. The whole of society is being affected, shaping the consciousness of millions. The workers movement itself is changing, from essentially a trade union struggle into a politically conscious movement against the capitalists and into a revolutionary socialist movement.
Some have blamed the Socialist Party’s adherence to its principles for our apparent current failure. It is not our principles which have failed, nor is it is a question of changing our principles, but a question of applying them to life and of carrying them into action more effectively. We must present our view of the coming new year as one filled with revolutionary optimism and enthusiasm for the future. Each new battle gives us new hope for the class war between workers and the capitalists. The ruling class had forlorn hopes that they could get the workers to peacefully accept austerity but we view the refusal to resign ourselves to their cuts as the seeds of things to come. Workers have stood opposed to the attacks and tricks used against them and have shown that their struggle is far from dead.
With the media frequently filled with gloom and doom we can be assured that for the capitalist system 2014 doesn’t promise anything better than 2013 did. The political and economic pundits may point to a “recovery” but industry is still crippled by the crisis. For the working class there remains hardships and suffering. Nevertheless, for every act of exploitation by the capitalists, there are also examples of rebellion and resistance (and for 2014,hopefully, revolution) on the part of the people. For every effort to divide our struggle there were steps taken toward unity. The employers’ attempt to make the workers pay for the crisis has increasingly been opposed and protests have increasingly reflected peoples disgust with political parties and their leaders, none of them ever capable of rescuing the working class from the hell that this crisis has brought.
The realisation that the crisis is real and is here to stay for a long time has been burned into the minds of many last year and few little hope for any kind of real recovery much less even see light at the end of its tunnel. The whole of society is being affected, shaping the consciousness of millions. The workers movement itself is changing, from essentially a trade union struggle into a politically conscious movement against the capitalists and into a revolutionary socialist movement.
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