The TUC has organised a mass demonstration in London under the banner of Britain Needs a Pay Rise. It will take place on Saturday, and will begin with a march through central London, culminating in a rally in Hyde Park. This will be the fourth march that the TUC has organised since the coalition came to power. The first – the March for the Alternative – in March 2011 saw 500,000 people attending a huge march and rally in London.
The most striking feature of the wave of unrest sweeping the working class to-day is the contradictory character of the claims put forward. Many people have an unwarranted optimistic view that capitalism can be tamed and controlled. Enthusiasm and good intentions they may have. Understanding is what they do not have. Hasten the day when many will make mature socialist demands for a world of free access, common ownership of the world's wealth, and the abolition of the wages system. The reformers are seeking to attract people who do not want capitalism changed but merely changes in capitalism. Their ideals are not merely hampered but hamstrung. The need for popular support came into conflict with their avowed aims, bartering its beliefs for votes. By accepting this society they are forced to work for it, not against it. In the class struggle it is not only what you are against but what you are for that counts. Workers who advocate capital accumulation and production for profit are in the end just as welcome to the capitalist class as members of the élite itself, provided they realize on which side their bread is buttered.
The market system doesn’t work for the likes of us. It’s for the people who own industry or land and they are doing very well out of it, growing richer and richer through our hard work. For workers the real value of wages has shrunk and welfare benefits are being cut. Housing is becoming less affordable for many, rents are rising and benefits are being cut. Unemployment is on the rise, especially among young people. The truth is that the system is run in the interests of those who own it. For governments, the wealthy are more important than us receiving education or health care. So long as we depend on an economy based on the market with the private or state ownership of the means of living we don’t possess much of a future.
In our workplaces we co-operate and work together. If we didn’t need to toil for our employers. and we owned the land and all the places of work ourselves, we could make all the things we need, without buying and selling and without bosses. If we want to go beyond the limits forced upon us by the pressures of the profit system then a vision beyond capitalism has to be on the agenda. While it’s important that we use trade unions to defend ourselves and get the best deals we possibly can under the present system we can also build towards a movement to bring about a better future. That future we call socialism, a future where we would have common and democratic ownership of the resources of the world. A future that will work if the majority of us want it and are prepared to work for it using democratic struggle to create a world of common wealth.
The word "unity" symbolises an idealist condition that appeals to the gregariousness of human beings. Having this fine appeal, it is continuously used by all sorts of unscrupulous people and bodies as a cloak. The charm of the "idea" of unity has produced phrases which have become of daily use, such as "there's safety in numbers," "we sink or swim together," and many other common expressions of speech. All this indicates the "social" aspirations of human beings, and challenges the capitalist conception of "it's every person for themselves." The socialist asks this question about unity: Will it help abolish the wages system and establish socialism? If it will not, then it is futile except for political con-artists to dupe workers. So to answer the question "Why don't you socialists unite?" is that before socialists can unite we must be sure they are socialists. with a clear conception of fundamental principles. Much time and energy has been continuously wasted in fruitless groupings and re-groupings. The thousand and one stunts, reform measures or immediate demands have not had the slightest unifying effect, but has merely bred bitterness and disillusionment. This does not mean that socialists do not want unity. We do but it must not be chimerical or ephemeral, but solid and lasting. Such unity can only come about on the basis of correctness in theory, which will ensure correctness in practice. In no other way is unity possible. The growth of socialist knowledge is a guarantee of a united working class, therefore spread socialist knowledge.
CAPITALISM is a system of survival of the fittest. A system of exploitation whereby there exists multi-billionaires and the impoverished. A system that encourages selfishness and individual promotion. A system that allows unearned income from profit, interest and rent. A system that creates wars between national states over necessary assets. A system that restricts progress when the interests of the capitalist are not met. Capitalism does NOT stand for freedom of the individual.
SOCIALISM is the system that’s possible and needed NOW. A system of co-operation between people , in a world without money. Every man, woman and child will have free access to all production. A system where all the needs of the human race can be met. A system that is compatible with human nature. SOCIALISM is NOT state control.
Our success rests upon our ability to make the struggle about “all of us.” To adopt an all-encompassing approach which pulls together and builds alliances with the community. We support, fully and utterly,workers in their efforts to stand up to their employer, a struggle we all share an interest in. We share, though, an even greater interest in getting rid of the wages system all together. Workers are learning by bitter experience and bloody sacrifice for interests not their own. They are learning very slowly. The job of the Socialist Party is to shorten the time and to speed up the process.
No comments:
Post a Comment