The Folly of War

The horrors of war and the burdens of the preparations for war have now reached new heights. The world is drifting towards more war and all over the world people's efforts and energy have been directed towards reducing the threats of war. We see to-day the love of peace and the danger of war growing side by side. Nevertheless, advocating peace does not necessarily further the cause of peace. Being anti-war cannot be based on mere pacifism. 

The Socialist Party have always claimed that at the root of all modern wars there is an economic cause. This claim is substantiated by a careful study of the causes and results of past military conflicts. But today, with nationalistic and religious preaching playing right into the hands of the powers-that-be, it is easier than ever to obscure and cloak the economic causes. Religion and nationalism are the best of cloaks for the intrigues and machinations of presidents and ayatollahs. 

The Socialist Party has always stated that it is impossible to prevent wars without abolishing the capitalist system which breeds war. Public opinion may possibly delay a war for a while, but eventually it is impossible to prevent wars while this system and its conflicts of rival nations, remains. Fundamentally wars are caused by the efforts of all of the capitalist powers to expand into other fields, and the only way they can get them is by taking them away from some other power, because the whole world has been divided up among a small group of competing nations. That is what leads to war, regardless of the will of the people. We do not maintain that the ruling class really seeks and desires war. What we have stated many times is that they would gladly avoid it; but they could not both avoid it and maintain the capitalist system in their country at the same time. In contrast to the sloganeering rhetoric of many anti-war activists, a political party aiming at a social transformation of society, which is possible only by the consent and support of the majority, while still in a a minority, cannot defy the decisions of the majority, by sabotage and inciting mutiny to stop a war. Such a party would absolutely discredit itself and destroy its possibilities of convincing people of its greater aspirations, besides being utterly ineffective so far as accomplishing anything. If we are not strong enough to overthrow the capitalist class which is driving us on to war, the very outbreak of war testifies that we are far less able to do anything against it when the people are united in a war-frenzy of patriotism.

We do not put any confidence in any ruling class. We do not give them any support because we do not think they can or will solve the fundamental social problems which must be solved in order to save civilisation from shipwreck. We believe that the necessary social transition from the present system of capitalism to the far more efficient order of socialism, can only be brought by the workers. The workers must organise themselves independently of the capitalist political parties. They must organise a great working class party of their own, develop an independent socialist party of their own, and oppose the policy of the capitalist parties.