Pessimism can never be a tool for liberation, even though such gloom and doom can the sordid character of capitalist exploitation and oppression. Rather, the Socialist Party case is a heartfelt plea to unify and inspire a divided world. We each have the power to make our class stronger, and nationalism and racism weaker, by reaching out and seeing one another as one people. Though that may seem simple and naive, we have to constantly breathe the spirit of revolutionary optimism. We hold no reason to be disheartened. The apparent political indifference can not continue forever. And, when change comes, the Socialist Party will be in place to achieve its objective. The fact is the left parties have failed to overthrow capitalist imperialism nor do they promote progress towards socialism. Workers recognising their self-interest will see the absolute need for the unity of their class in order to overthrow the capitalist class.
The Socialist Party advocates world socialism. That is to say the destruction of the present class society, which consists of one class who live by owning property and therefore need not work if they so desire, and of another that has no property and therefore must work in order that they may live.
Socialism insists that this system of society, which is the modern form of slavery, should be changed to a system of society which would give every man and woman an opportunity of doing useful work. Labour would be employed in co-operation, and the struggle of man against man for bare subsistence would be supplanted by harmonious combination for the production of common wealth and mutual services without the waste of labour or material. Everyone's needs would be satisfied from this common stock, but no person would be allowed to own anything which he or she could not use, or abuse by employing it as an instrument for forcing others to labour . Thus the land, machinery, and means of transport would cease to be private property. Thus men and women would be free because they would no longer be dependent on property-owners for subsistence; thus they would be brothers and sisters, for the cause of strife, the struggle for subsistence at other people's expense, would have come to an end. Thus they would be equal, for if all people were doing useful work. Thus the motto of Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality, which is but an empty boast in a society that upholds the monopoly of the means of production, would at last be realised.
The aim of the Socialist Party is to replace world capitalist economy with world socialism. Socialist society is mankind’s only way out, for it alone can abolish the contradictions of the capitalist system which threaten to destroy humanity. A socialist society will abolish the class division of society, and simultaneously the abolition of anarchy in production. It will abolish all forms of exploitation and oppression of man by man. Society will no longer consist of antagonistic classes in conflict with each other, but will be a united commonwealth. For the first time in its history mankind will take its fate into its own hands. Instead of destroying innumerable human lives and incalculable wealth in struggles between classes and nations, mankind will devote all its energy to the development and strengthening of mankind itself.
After abolishing private ownership of the means of production and converting these means into social property, the world socialism will replace the elemental forces of the world market, competitive and blind processes of social production, by consciously organised and planned production for the purpose of satisfying rapidly growing social needs. With the abolition of competition and anarchy in production, devastating crises and still more devastating wars will disappear. Instead of colossal waste of productive forces and spasmodic development of society-there will be a planned utilisation of all material resources and a painless economic development on the basis of unrestricted, smooth and rapid development of productive forces.
The abolition of private property and the disappearance of classes will do away with the exploitation of man by man. Work will cease to be toiling for the benefit of a class enemy: instead of being merely a means of livelihood it will become a necessity of life: want and economic inequality, the misery of enslaved classes, and a wretched standard of life generally will disappear; the hierarchy created in the division of labour system will be abolished together with the antagonism between mental and manual labour; and the last vestige of the social inequality of the sexes will be removed. At the same time, the organs of class domination, and the State in the first place, will disappear also. The State, being the embodiment of class domination, will die out in so far as classes die out, and with it all measures of coercion will expire.
With the disappearance of classes a great field will be opened for the harmonious development of all the talents inherent in humanity.
In socialism no social restrictions will be imposed upon the growth of the forces of production. Private ownership in the means of production, the selfish lust for profits, the artificial retention of the people in a state of ignorance, poverty will have no place in a socialist society. The most expedient and sustainable utilisation of the forces of nature and of the natural conditions of production in the various parts of the world, the removal of the antagonism between town and country, that under capitalism results from the low technical level of agriculture and its systematic lagging behind industry; the closest possible co-operation between science and technique, the utmost encouragement of research work and the practical application of its results on the widest possible social scale; planned organisation of scientific work; the application of the most perfect methods of statistical accounting and, planned regulation of economy; the rapid growth of social needs, which-is the most powerful internal driving force of the whole system-all these will secure the maximum productivity of social labour, which in turn will release human energy for the powerful development of science and art.
The development of the productive forces of world socialism will make it possible to raise the well-being of the whole of humanity and to reduce to a minimum the time devoted to material production and, consequently, will enable culture to flourish as never before in history. This new culture of a humanity that is united for the first time in history, and has abolished all State boundaries, will, unlike capitalist culture, be based upon clear and transparent human relationships. Hence, it will bury forever all mysticism, religion, prejudice and superstition and will give a powerful impetus to the development of all-conquering, scientific knowledge.
With the enormous growth of social productive forces which has accompanied the development of mankind, humanity will inscribed on its banner: “From each according to abilities to each according to needs!"
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