Support socialism - Vote socialist

The experience of most people is that the outcome of past presidential elections has meant little in affecting their lives in any positive and basic way. This is one of the main reasons why participation in the elections has dropped steadily. Millions of people will not vote for any presidential candidate, as they know from the past that none of parties today have any fundamental differences. The media circus is in full flow  and it appears the aim is to keep the public’s eyes as far away from reality and the real issues as possible. There are issues that should be engaging the media circus, placing them squarely in front of the electorate and all the candidates. But they aren’t and they won’t be because the mass media supports the status quo.

Workers know they have to fight for what they need. Capitalism can’t provide what’s needed and that’s why we must go on to fight for the workers’ society that can. In Britain, the Labour Party, particularly its left-wing, claims to stand for the workers’ interests and for socialism. Labour claims that socialism can be introduced gradually through a series of reforms using parliamentary means. In the early years of the Labour Party, many workers voted for Labour, believing that they could vote in socialism, but the experience of various Labour governments has brought disillusionment. Today no-one believes that Labour will establish a new and better political and economic system. Even Labour politicians themselves ask for votes with the claim that they can make capitalism work better than the Tories. 

The Labour Party represents the interests of the capitalist class and no other class. Many members of the working–class no longer hold any illusion that the Labour Party represents its interests or will bring about any real change in the system. At best, the Labour Party is seen as a “lesser evil” than the Conservative Party. Sincere honest socialists know that Labour is a capitalist party. If they support Labour in elections, even as a “lesser evil”, they are betraying the working class. Even with all sorts of caveats and qualifications for such support amounts to an attempt to promote workers’ illusions about a capitalist party and advance mistaken ideas that if only Labour was more “left-wing” possessing a “left” leadership things would be different. No party, no matter how “left” leaning it may be, can effect fundamental change to the capitalist system. The Socialist Party presents a clear alternative to the capitalist parties.

We aren’t arguing that the Labour Party and the Conservatives are exactly the same, that they are identical but just that Labour is no answer to the Tories. Both parties are inextricably tied to the capitalist system and must defend it at home and abroad but in different ways: good cop and bad cop. Corbyn's The Democrats softer, liberal approach is to pretend Labour is  on the side of beleaguered workers and the exploited and to make some concessions. These are meant to contain and detour workers, not at all to meet their increasingly desperate needs. Capitalism has not escaped a fundamental world economic crisis and so the system can no longer so easily offer sops.

The working class needs to capture the State machine and in order to achieve this end, the working class must break from capitalist parties. The working class should not vote for any pro-capitalist party. This non-support for any of the capitalist candidates will be a clear sign of rejection of their policies.  But encouraging a vote for one of the candidates as the lesser evil, given their similarity, will only weaken the working class’ efforts to develop its own force. This is why all working people should cast no vote for any of the candidates of business.

There can be no escape nor substantial relief for people from the economic and political domination of the greedy vested interests of which they are now the victims, except through the working people, organized as a powerful political force challenging the oligarchy now in control. Without such a party all political achievement of the workers is inadequate and ineffective, and true social progress utterly impossible. The Socialist Party is ready and willing to merge its political functions in a genuinely independent political party of socialist workers and will certainly continue to put forth its best efforts to that end. For the time being, we raise high our unsullied banner, and with principles inviolate and ideals undimmed, we stand as the Socialist Party, appealing to the producing class to join us in building up the party of their class — the party standing staunchly and uncompromisingly for their aspirations. Nothing frightens the ruling class more than the prospect of a truly independent revolutionary working-class movement.

For those who genuinely care about the future of all life on the planet: Just how much time do you think we have?

The Socialist Party is contesting  three seats:

Islington North (Bill Martin)

Battersea (Danny Lambert)

Swansea West (Brian Johnson)