Friday, February 21, 2020

Capitalism V Socialism

State ownership of the productive forces is not the solution... neither the conversion into joint-stock companies nor into state property deprives the productive forces of their character as capital... The workers remain wage-earners, proletarians. The capitalist relationship is not abolished; it is rather pushed to an extreme.  - Engels Anti-Dühring

The aim of the Socialist Party is the general liberation of mankind through the establishment of a class-free, state-free society, embracing the whole globe. The goal is world socialism: the abolition of classes, nations and states on a world scale. Socialism is not an “improved” or “more just” version of the system of wage labour, but a wholly new mode of production

Capitalism is a system of universalised commodity production, in which the individual producers do not possess any of the means of production, political issues arise when the definition is concretised. The political problem here is how to define capitalism in such a way as to give an adequate account of forms of commodity production, other than the traditional private firm. In particular, the state socialist and syndicalist deviations must be countered by showing the capitalist character of workers’ cooperatives and nationalised industries.

The basis of a socialist society must be the common ownership of the means of production and distribution. Machinery, transport, factories, warehouses, mills, mines, communication and the land must all be at the disposal of society. All these means of production must be under the control of society as a whole, and not as at present under the control of individual capitalists or capitalist corporations. What do we mean by society as a whole? We mean that ownership and control is not the privilege of a class but of all the persons who make up society. In these circumstances society will be transformed into a huge working organisation for cooperative production. There will then be no anarchy of production. In such a social order, production will be planned. No longer will one enterprise compete with another; the factories, workshops, mines, and other productive institutions will all be one worldwide workshop, which will embrace the entire global economy of production. If all the factories and workshops together with the whole of agricultural production are combined to form an immense cooperative enterprise, it is obvious that everything must be precisely calculated and allocated.

Socialism is the cooperative organisation of all the members of society that puts an end to exploitation, that it abolishes the division of society into classes. Socialist society frees people from oppression by others. The cooperative character of production is displayed in every detail of organisation. Products will be distributed in accordance to the needs. There will be no classes and if there will be no classes, this implies that there will likewise be no State. Previously, the State has been a class organisation of the rulers. The State is always directed by one class against the other. A capitalist State is directed against the working class . If there are no classes, then there is no class war, and there are no class organizations. Consequently the State has ceased to exist. Since there is no class war, the State has become superfluous. There is no one to be held in restraint, and there is no one to impose restraint. Who is going to work out the plans for social production? Who will distribute labour power? Who is going to supervise the whole affair? There will be no need for special ministers of State, for police and prisons, for laws and decrees - nothing of the sort. Just as in an orchestra all the performers watch the conductor's baton and act accordingly. The State, therefore, has ceased to exist. There are no groups and there is no class standing above all other classes. Moreover, the bureaucracy, the permanent officialdom and elite civil service, will disappear. The State will die out.

In socialist society, where production is not for profit but for use, a plan of production is possible.Socialism implies, in the economic field, ownership of the means of production by society as a whole leading to a rapid increase in the productive forces, planned production. The capitalist class is no longer fit to run society. Capitalism is the main obstacle preventing progress towards a new society in which there will be a good living standard and a rich political and cultural life for all working people and their families; the basic problem of present-day society can only be solved by a revolution by which the working class. The capitalist system is a parasite on society and is maintained entirely by the labour of working people. Capitalism has imposed great suffering upon working people. This can only happen because capitalists possess a monopoly ownership of the means of production, and their control is backed up by the powers of the State. The motive force of the capitalist system, independent of the wishes of individual capitalists, is the drive for profit, which can only be obtained by the exploitation of the working class.

The well-being of the whole of society will be the condition for the healthy development of its individual members. Capitalism, contrary to its claims, represses the potentialities of the great majority of people; these can only be developed under socialism.

The Socialist Party fights uncompromisingly for the interests of fellow-workers. Capitalism has nothing to offer the majority but uncertainty for tomorrow, unemployment, environmental disasters, poverty and war. The struggle between different and irreconcilable class interests dominates social life in all capitalist countries. Society is more and more divided into two camps, where the working class and the ruling class stand against one another. The struggle between these two classes is the most important contradiction in capitalist society. The working class is the only revolutionary class under capitalism. It is the historical task of the working class to put an end to capitalist exploitation and oppression. The most dangerous supporters of capitalism, are the various “worker’s parties” and “Marxists” that act as anti-capitalists and socialists. Reformism will always try to paralyse the workers’ struggle and lead it astray and towards reconciliation with the class enemy. Socialism is the power of the working class. Socialists reclaim the people’s property from the capitalists. The class-free society is the goal for the Socialist Party where the principle “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” is fully realised.

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