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Sunday, May 01, 2016

"Arise ye prisoners of starvation, Arise ye wretched of the earth."

May Day inspires fear in the hearts of the capitalists and hope in the workers the world over. Why do they fear the worker's holiday? What are they afraid of? May Days have come and gone yet each and every year they are a sign of what rulers’ fear: the fear of general strikes, of political revolt, of workers’ uprisings, of the militancy of workers. 

 Eugene V. Debs wrote: "This is the first and only International Labor Day. It belongs to the working class and is dedicated to the Revolution."  

Our May Day is actually the only holiday celebrated internationally. It obliterates all differences of race, creed, colour, and nationality. It celebrates the brotherhood of all workers everywhere. It crosses all national boundaries, it transcends all language barriers, it ignores all religious differences. It makes clear the difference between all workers and all employers. It is the day when the class struggle is reaffirmed by every conscious worker. 

May Day is the portent of a new world, a classless world, a peaceful world, a world without poverty or misery. A world of abundance. It is the promise of socialism, the real brotherhood of mankind. May Day is a warning to the capitalist class, “Do your damnedest to us but your days are numbered!” May Day proclaims that there is but one race – the human race! 
May Day says the future is ours. More than any other group, the working class suffers from war; and only the working class, in all its strength, can win the struggle for peace. Workers march for freedom from deprivation on May Day. Workers march for equality on this May Day. 
On May Day, workers march shoulder to shoulder, in solidarity, black, brown and white — for democracy and social justice. Workers call for unity of all workers. 
May Day is a time for casting away illusions and preparing for the struggle. It is a time for the working class to heighten its vigilance against its enemies. It is a time to unite real friends to defeat our real enemies.

May Day is not simply a time of celebration of our class. World events serve to remind us that this is also a solemn occasion, a time when we bow our heads in respect for our fellow workers and brothers and sisters who have fallen. On May Day, we remember that the workers’ flag is red for a reason as our traditional labour song goes:
“The people's flag is deepest red,
It shrouded oft our martyred dead,
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their hearts' blood dyed its ev'ry fold.”

Not all those who wave the red flag or claim to speak for the working class actually do. Rather than overthrowing the capitalists, they argued that labor should try to win friends among the capitalist politicians and support one faction against another. For sure, over the past decades the ruling class has made a considerable number of concessions. But what are these gains, really? If you consider the wealth that the working people have produced, when you consider the power and potential for an abundance of the productive forces that the workers themselves have created, then these reforms are shown up for what they really are. They are nothing but crumbs, scraps left over from the table after the capitalists have had their feast.

Our May Day is the day of solidarity.

“Arise, ye prisoners of starvation.” 
May Day is the day of the working class, the class that has borne untold sufferings and has nothing, nothing to lose but its chains.
“Arise, ye wretched of the earth.”
May Day is the day of the exploited, here and around the globe. You have been despised and spat upon by capital, but now the road to your liberation is clear.
“The earth shall rise on new foundations, we have been naught, we shall be all.” 
May Day, is when we pledge to break the power of capital and declare war against these bloodsucking leeches. Their time is over, their days are numbered.
“Tis the final conflict, let each stand in his place. The Internationale shall be the human race.”

The Socialist Party cannot be bribed or bought, nor can we be diverted from our struggle in the defence of workers and oppressed people of the world. The Socialist Party advocates a class war that will only end with the complete emancipation of the working class and the total defeat of the capitalist class. In the revolutionary class war to rid the world of the evils of capitalism you will find us ready to volunteer to fight with all our hearts and souls.


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