International Socialism

FOR WORLD SOCIALISM

“The revolutionary proletariat will have neither to keep its ancient nationalities nor to constitute new ones, because by becoming free it will abolish classes: the world will be its fatherland.” – Paul Lafargue

Socialist history show that the ideals behind it never left the consciousness of many people. Working people continue to suffer exploitation, in the workplace and throughout a society ruled by capitalism’s money-power. Socialism can no longer be the reformist social democracy that has betrayed its promise by seeking to perfect instead of going beyond capitalism. The only future for humanity is the socialist road.

It is capitalism that creates the tensions and conflicts within society and their actions are not onl condoned, but assisted by politicians. That is why working-class people must understand capitalist political and economic structures and the way these structures in society are use against them. The more we understand this, the easier it is for us to understand who are to blame for the tensions and conflicts and the easier it is for us to work for, and create a socialist society to overcome these tensions and conflicts. Over the years we have seen a tremendous development of modern technology. Today the working class can produce all these new techniques, but we have to ask ourselves, shouldn’t this be enriching our lives? Instead of that, there is a widening gap between the rich and the poor. How can this modern technology be used when workers are more and more thrown onto the scrap heap? The main lesson of so-called globalisation is that working class people must pursue their own independent globalisation. No section of workers, no matter in what country they live, should be left to fight alone. International unity is the only positive way of organising opposition to the oppression imposed on us by the politicians and multi-national corporations. Workers can never overcome the tremendous contradictions of the profit system by giving up their rights and allowing themselves to be more and more exploited.

The Socialist Party is the only party based on the common interests of the international working class. It is aimed at forging a united movement of workers of every country.

The socialist working-class movement has been recognised as an internationalist one, despite the failures of repeated attempts to forge organisational unity. The spirit of internationalism remains alive wherever workers raise the banner of socialism. It remains alive because the internationalist nature of the socialist movement has its roots in the common oppression experienced by all labouring classes and in the international character of the capitalist system itself. The interests of the working-class of one country are the same as the interests of the workers of the other countries. Because of the division of labour established by capitalism, the basis is laid for a new international organisation of labour and planned production on a world scale. Thus, the struggle of the working class on all countries forms the basis for the movement towards socialism. We are the producers of wealth, and we must control that wealth.

 Internationalism is a vital part of the socialist movement because it is a powerful antidote for some of capitalism's most vicious and virulent ideologies, such as divisive racism, nationalism, patriotism and chauvinism of all kinds. A clear view of the communality of interests of the working class throughout the world provides a powerful bulwark against the bellicose propaganda which issues daily from ruling-class sources, even though the calls for "international cooperation” are being used by ruling-class representatives to mask their pursuit of material interests via globalization. The problems workers confront in the UK are, in essence, the same as those confronting workers in every other part of the world. War, attacks on democratic rights, exploitation, unemployment, poverty and environmental destruction are not merely American problems. They are world problems that require global solutions. Humanity needs revolution, socialist revolution. This is a revolution that defeats and dismantles the whole repressive apparatus of the current order, where people struggle together for the common good, where everyone contributes whatever they can to society and gets back what they need to live a life worthy of human being, where there are no more divisions among people in which some rule over and oppress others, robbing them not only of the means to a decent life but also of knowledge and the means for really understanding, and acting to change, the world.

Socialist society cannot be constructed on a national basis. It would be a politically fatal error to believe that workers in different countries can resist the attacks of capitalism, let alone secure the victory of socialism. World socialist revolution is the means by which the great problems of our age can and must be solved.

"The workers have no country" and therefore "Workers of the world unite" – Karl Marx

The nation state is alien to the interests of the working class and that in order to advance their interests workers must 'settle matters' with the bourgeoisie of each state, that workers must challenge the power of their 'own' capitalist class directly. This opened the possibility of internationalism - assertion of 'the common interests of the whole proletariat, independently of all nationality'. Internationalism implied uncompromising opposition to the local state and its dealings with the rulers of other capitalisms - other members of the 'band of warring brothers' that constituted the ruling class at a world level. It also implied practical activity by workers to organise in mutual solidarity across national borders and in solidarity. This was not a merely a matter of abstract identification with the oppressed. Marx maintained that workers must free themselves of patriotism and national superiority in their own interests, for without discarding these aspects of capitalist ideology they would never themselves be free. Socialists are internationalists.

Today, some 250 million migrants live and work around the world, and in the coming months and years many more will certainly join them. It is time to accept that the ebb and flow of human movement cannot be stopped. Destination countries – whether in Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, or Oceania – should not turn their back on the desperate and wretched. It is important that we accept the fact that efforts to block migration are bound to fail, with disastrous consequences for human lives – whether they are lost on sinking boats in the Mediterranean and the Andaman Sea or threatened by xenophobic violence in South Africa, India, or elsewhere. Those migrating today are doing so for the same reasons that once spurred millions of Europeans to leave their countries. They are fleeing poverty, war, or oppression, or are searching for a better life in a new land. All too often, migrants are used as scapegoats but to be sure, immigrants must accept to adapt to the cultures and customs of the countries in which they settle.

Many of today's migrants, like those in Lebanon and Jordan have legal claims to asylum under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the subsequent 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. When potential refugees are blocked by offshore barriers, detained for excessive periods in unsatisfactory conditions, or refused entry because of restrictive legal interpretations, the protection of international law is lost.

The developed world wrongly feels that it is being asked to care for a disproportionate number of people seeking a better life. In reality, 70% of refugees seek protection in developing countries. Lebanon, for example, has a total population of 4.5 million people yet by the end of this year, it will likely harbor close to two million refugees, driven from their homes by violent conflict in neighboring Syria and elsewhere. Building higher fences is not the answer. Migration will continue until we lift the poorest and most vulnerable out of the conditions they are currently fleeing.