Capture the Political Machine

The goal of The Socialist Party is an economy in which all participants are equal and goods are freely available to all, an entirely money-free society in which products are available to all. It involves moving from a money-driven society to a society driven by people, their talents and their passion for life. Where everyone contributes their natural talents or acquired skills to the greatest benefit of all in their community.

The tremendous efforts made by the ruling class to maintain control of the political machinery is a most significant and the millions which are spent in parliamentary contests should show to the thinking man or woman the immense importance the ruling class attaches to this matter. An explanation is thus demanded from those who claim to represent the interests of the class that is ruled — the working class— as to why they also are in the political field and are fighting for the control of this machinery.

The term “Political Machinery” means all those methods and arrangements which the dominant class has found it necessary to collectively control in extending and maintaining their domination over the rest of society. The national or parliamentary section is, of course, the most important. The capitalist class are able to safeguard and preserve their position only by virtue of their control of the political machinery. They thus make and administer the laws, direct the police and judicial officers, and, above all, control the armed forces in the country to keep the workers under control and to guard the capitalists' property. In other words, the capitalist class know, or are conscious of, their position and interests, while the workers in the main are far from having clearly grasped the situation as it affects them. The first thing requisite on the workers’ behalf is a clear recognition of the deep gulf existing between the robbed working class and the robber capitalist class. The workers must wrest the political machinery from the hands of the capitalist class. The task of clearing the confusion created by bogus “socialist” and “labour” parties is truly Herculean, but the class antagonism can no longer be masked and fellow wage-slaves are being forced to recognise that they only meet their old enemy capitalist exploitation in a new guise. The fact is being brought home to the workers that to-day municipalisation or nationalisation is not socialism, but that on the contrary, the workers have to reckon with their must powerful enemy, the capitalist class united. There is the determination of the ruling class that the workers shall not be any the less exploited because they happen to be employed by the State or by the local council, instruments of fearful economic tyranny when used by the capitalist class for its own ends. The workers, therefore, must beware of those who would lure them from the path of emancipation with the red herring of nationalisation or municipalisation. State capitalism cannot ease the workers of their oppressive burden. To improve their lot they must organise with their fellow-workers for the control of industry. And the workers cannot gain control of industry unless they first wrest political power from the hands of the master class.

These facts explain the extensive and untiring efforts of the capitalist class to retain control of the political machinery. The capitalist class is untiring in their efforts to retain supreme political power because their continued existence absolutely depends upon their control of that power. The candidates of the Socialist Party, therefore, whilst quite prepared to use the limited powers for such small temporary benefits as may be forced from the capitalists' hands for the workers, nevertheless do not seek votes for this, which can only be a secondary business of the political party of the workers.  Fully realising, and pointing out to the workers, the strict limitations of their power and making no promises that are beyond our power to fulfil, we ask the members of our class, when (but not before) they have studied these facts and realised their correctness, to cast their votes for the candidates of the Socialist Party. In those constituencies, however, where there are no Socialist Party candidates on the ballot, the workers are asked to spoil their ballot paper since any votes cast for non-socialists can only assist the enemies of the working class.