Controlling
immigration has always been a major issue in many parts of the world.
It
is all too easy to blame immigrants for causing or at least
aggravating problems such as unemployment, bad housing or crime.
Whether it is a matter of people from Eastern Europe or South Asia in
Britain, or Hispanics in the United States, or Germans in
Switzerland, a finger can always be pointed at ‘them’
for making things worse for ‘us’.
Socialists, however, prefer to take a wider view.
Our argument has always been that socialism would be worldwide, with no nation states, no borders, and the common ownership of the whole Earth by the whole of humanity. It’s not that we in the Socialist Party advocate a mass immigration. In the socialist way of looking at things since no one would be an immigrant or emigrant in a world without states and therefore without boundaries. It’s like saying a person born and raised in Hampshire or Surrey who then moves to Berkshire is an immigrant. Socialists don't prescribe where people, let alone “masses” of people, should live or move to in a socialist world. It’s entirely up to them as free individuals in a free society. Of course, this whole argument presupposes that migratory patterns are some kind of natural phenomena and that those seeking to migrate will continue to wish to do so in a Socialist society. Remove the cause of the poverty that drives migration and most people would not wish to migrate. Most migrants would love to have stayed where they were, if it wasn't for war, poverty, oppressive regimes, etc. If anything there is likely to be far less in the way of wholesale migration in the sense of people uprooting themselves from one part of the world and relocating elsewhere. Of course, people will still travel and visit other parts of the world and this is a good thing. Cultural diversity is something that needs to be nurtured, fostered and above all experienced and I am all for it. Variety is the spice of life and one of the many insidious effects of capitalism is its tendency to create a dreary monoculture everywhere. World cities are more and more starting resemble each other with the same predictable array of corporate chains setting up business in them - the "McDonaldization" of global society.
As socialists we stand in solidarity with our fellow workers, without distinction of nation, race or sex, and see the successful resolution of the class struggle as the only way to address the poverty our class suffers. We can't let the employers divide us and play us off one against the other. If we organise in unions, and politically, we can fight back.
The whole point about socialism is that we living in a globally integrated and interdependent world in which the production of goods is a thoroughly socialised process spanning the entire globe. That is what lies behind the very concept of socialism itself. It is about bringing the social relations of production in line with the socialised character of modern production which is global in scope. World socialism will operate with one simple and ordinary human ability which is universal — the ability of every individual to cooperate with others in a world-wide community of interests. Socialism will be a world without borders and with no concept of migration, where we will all be at home anywhere. In socialism, we will all be able to travel our planet to work wherever we desire, safe in the knowledge that our brothers and sisters will welcome us on whichever shore we land.
Our argument has always been that socialism would be worldwide, with no nation states, no borders, and the common ownership of the whole Earth by the whole of humanity. It’s not that we in the Socialist Party advocate a mass immigration. In the socialist way of looking at things since no one would be an immigrant or emigrant in a world without states and therefore without boundaries. It’s like saying a person born and raised in Hampshire or Surrey who then moves to Berkshire is an immigrant. Socialists don't prescribe where people, let alone “masses” of people, should live or move to in a socialist world. It’s entirely up to them as free individuals in a free society. Of course, this whole argument presupposes that migratory patterns are some kind of natural phenomena and that those seeking to migrate will continue to wish to do so in a Socialist society. Remove the cause of the poverty that drives migration and most people would not wish to migrate. Most migrants would love to have stayed where they were, if it wasn't for war, poverty, oppressive regimes, etc. If anything there is likely to be far less in the way of wholesale migration in the sense of people uprooting themselves from one part of the world and relocating elsewhere. Of course, people will still travel and visit other parts of the world and this is a good thing. Cultural diversity is something that needs to be nurtured, fostered and above all experienced and I am all for it. Variety is the spice of life and one of the many insidious effects of capitalism is its tendency to create a dreary monoculture everywhere. World cities are more and more starting resemble each other with the same predictable array of corporate chains setting up business in them - the "McDonaldization" of global society.
As socialists we stand in solidarity with our fellow workers, without distinction of nation, race or sex, and see the successful resolution of the class struggle as the only way to address the poverty our class suffers. We can't let the employers divide us and play us off one against the other. If we organise in unions, and politically, we can fight back.
The whole point about socialism is that we living in a globally integrated and interdependent world in which the production of goods is a thoroughly socialised process spanning the entire globe. That is what lies behind the very concept of socialism itself. It is about bringing the social relations of production in line with the socialised character of modern production which is global in scope. World socialism will operate with one simple and ordinary human ability which is universal — the ability of every individual to cooperate with others in a world-wide community of interests. Socialism will be a world without borders and with no concept of migration, where we will all be at home anywhere. In socialism, we will all be able to travel our planet to work wherever we desire, safe in the knowledge that our brothers and sisters will welcome us on whichever shore we land.
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