WHY WE ARE HERE
The candidates of the Socialist Party of Great Britain are
entering this election with a viewpoint that is completely opposed to those of
the other parties taking part—that viewpoint is one of working-class interests.
You may consider that the Labour Party, or even some other party, is concerned
with working-class interests, but a brief look at the facts shows that this is
not so.
For all its talk of "democracy" and "equality
of opportunity," what has the Labour Party ever done for you or for the
working-class generally? Did it solve the housing problem? Did you become
substantially better-off between 1945 and 1951? Did the threat of war recede?
The answer to all these questions must be an emphatic NO! Of course, the record
of the Tories is no better.
Why is this so? The answer is a very simple one. Neither of
these parties sets out to solve your problems or to make you better off—what
they set out to do, in fact, is to run this social system called capitalism in
the only way that it can be run; that is in the interests of your bosses,
employers, ruling class, call them what you will.
What then is the basis of this social system? Capitalism
means a social organisation where all the means of producing wealth (mines,
land, factories, transport and so on) are owned by a small section of the
people. That leaves us, the working class, with nothing except our ability to
work. And work we must, or else we starve. From the employer's point of view,
it is a simple proposition—more for you means less for them, and so they do all
that they can to prevent any raising of your living standards. The fraud of
inflation carries out this job well, so that wage increases are often nullified
by a corresponding rise in the cost of living.
But this isn't our only objection to capitalism. Our bosses
are always squabbling with the ruling classes of other countries over the
distribution of the loot, resulting in continual international crises and minor
wars, leading sooner or later to major ones.
THE ALTERNATIVE
We say that there is an alternative to this state of
affairs—the alternative of Socialism. Socialism means a world where the things
of life will be produced solely to satisfy the needs of mankind, instead of for
the purpose of realising a profit for your bosses; a world where the whole of
humanity will own and control the means of living and where wars and
international tension cannot exist: a world where people will no longer be
subject to the threat of unemployment and to the perpetual struggle to make
ends meet—in short, a world where everyone will freely and equally associate
and enjoy all the fruits of their labour. It may be objected that these are
hardly matters which concern local electors, but in fact the problems of local
government are the same as those of the national government, only at a lower
level. The measures affecting rates, rents, housing, education, etc., are no
more than the carrying out of government policy, which means capitalist policy.
HOUSING
One of the most pressing questions of local government is
the housing problem, and although the Labour and Tory parties talk glibly of
the numbers of flats and houses built, the fact remains that to-day's housing
problem is as bad as it ever was. At root, the lack of decent accommodation for
working people is a part of the working-class poverty problem. If you happen to
be well-off, there is no lack of fine houses and flats—at an appropriate price.
In other words, workers live in poor houses and flats because they cannot
afford anything better, and never will be able to afford anything better as
long as they remain members of the working-class.
EDUCATION
Education too, under capitalism means the fitting of our
children for the tasks required by the social system; in other words, the
production of the engineers, clerks, miners and all the other kinds of worker
that are essential to capitalism. The present-day bias towards technical
education is but a reflection of industry's needs for more and more technical
workers. Nothing wrong with that, you might think. But the trouble is that
capitalism has no regard for the realisation of a child's potentialities or for
education in the sense of equipping children for full and happy lives.
RATES AND TAXES
The problem of rates is another that is much discussed in
the council chamber, but basically it is not one that really concerns workers.
The whole principle of taxation, national or local, is the levying of a share
of the profits for the State, in order that it might efficiently carry out the
task of keeping capitalism going. Your wages, generally speaking, are no more
than sufficient to keep you and your family going from one pay-day to the next,
and this is affected little, if at all, by the raising or lowering of the level
of taxation.
We say that all these problems are capitalist problems,
which means that they are inseparable from the nature of the society under
which we live. All the efforts of the reformers over the years have not altered
your basic position one bit. What is required is something far more drastic—a revolutionary
change in the nature of society.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Our proposition is a simple one. We and people like us (the
working-class) not only produce all the wealth but also carry out all the
necessary functions to keep society going. The tragedy is that we keep it going
for the benefit of a privileged minority. What we suggest is that workers throw
off the domination of the ruling class and organise and run society in their
own interests instead of in the interests of their bosses. Then and only then
will we see an end to the problems that have beset the working class for so
long.
This is a proposition well worth struggling for, hence our
participation in this election. Our candidates are here as a protest against
capitalism, and to give working people an opportunity of registering their
support for the only constructive alternative to capitalism and for the only
effective solution to their problems. Everyone who joins us in the struggle
against this pernicious social system is helping to make the life of capitalism
shorter and helping to bring about a sane and rational social order.
Do not think that because there are only three of our
candidates in this election, there is no point in supporting us. At least,
three socialists in the Town Hall would mean a lot of useful propaganda for
socialism and would ensure that there were a least some members of the council
who really did represent the working class. In any event, the need for
socialism becomes ever more pressing in a world riddled with frightening
problems, and a start must be made in wresting power from the ruling class.
Every socialist vote means another step towards a freer, better world.
Hackney Borough Council Elections - 1959
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