The United States has the largest arable landmass of any country in the world and is the 177th-most densely populated. The birth rate has been below the rate needed to sustain the population since 1971 and has just hit an all-time low. In a world of more fluid borders, too, where workers were empowered to leave countries and regions where conditions were poor, it would be easier to organize around improving global labor standards. Institutions of the labor left, such as the Industrial Workers of the World, have a long history of supporting free migration on ideological grounds, as a natural component of global worker solidarity and empowerment.
Immigration is not a problem: The hoarding of resources by the rich and greedy, in the U.S. and around the world, is the problem. We should seek to abolish the components of a system that is designed to police and punish the poor and working class, and focus our energies on our real enemy - the capitalist class and their political cronies.
We have not forgotten what Biden said during remarks at the Brookings Institute . "I don't think 500 billionaires are the reason we're in trouble. The folks at the top aren't bad guys." The wealthiest people in our society don’t appear to be improving any lives but their own, and they don’t seem to have special qualities or skills that explain why they’re being rewarded so much more extravagantly than the rest of us. Deep down we all know this system is not working. However, what are we asked to choose between? One side is predominantly drawn to promise of an imaginary past, the other offering a re-modelled version of the future but essentially based on today’s structures. Capitalism is incapable of meaningful reform. Even when gains for the masses are wrought, they’ll be reversed if need be in short order.
The World Socialist Party of the United States (WSPUS) certainly have their work cut out in trying to explain what is meant by socialism. After decades of deliberate and purposeful distortion, American politicians continue to maliciously misinterpret what socialism is.
Logos are omnipresent in our society today, mainly to invite support and loyalty to an organization. Thus sports teams, non-governmental organizations and especially businesses, large and small, use logos constantly in the hope of establishing product identification in the consumer’s mind. All are competing for your attention. So what about our logo?
The “One World, One People” globe logo of the WSPUS embodies many of our beliefs and seeks to put our case before you. “One World” means that we see the world as one co-operative entity rather than the world that is divided into competing countries and corporations. The World Socialist Party see the world without boundaries, where co-operation and mutual aid will take place between autonomous and largely self-sufficient regions. As there will be no money or trade, there will be nothing to go to war for. If one region is deficient in one resource, for example, it need only request the amount needed from an area that can supply it.
By contrast, the various rivalries in the present world have arbitrary boundaries drawn on a map by vying capitalists to mark their control of a particular region. They continually seek to expand and extend their influence to include other regions and trade routes. Protecting these spheres of influence inevitably leads to conflict, a constant state in capitalism.
“One World” would mean a world administration, elected democratically from all the various parts of the world to solve global problems, equipped with the knowledge and tools to do the job properly. The petty squabbles over usual monetary and budgetary constraints responsible for today’s tragic lack of action on urgent pressing problems as hunger, poverty, homelessness, and environmental degradation would not exist. In socialism, if something needs doing to be done, it will be done. We need only the will to do so.
The “One People” part of our logo refers to the fact that we are all members of one race — the human race — and we share the same planet. We all have similar needs—food and water, housing, health, education, etc. The capitalist production and distribution of wealth means that all must compete to grab as much for themselves as possible, to the detriment of others who become the losers in the system. Socialists hold that the planet’s resources if managed properly, can provide much more than the essential needs for a full and productive life for everyone. Further, after abolishing the capitalist economic and class system, there will no longer exist hierarchies of social privilege or class divisions.
Will we, then, be all the same? Of course not! There will still be different cultures, languages, food, literature, and arts that will continue to flourish and enrich the lives of all. They’ll just be able to develop better without the constant barrage of the McDonald Golden Arches and KFC Colonel Sanders logos we are subjected to today.
Availing ourselves of these cultural riches will benefit all.
This is what socialism can and will achieve. When it will happen is up to you. The capitalist system is a time-bomb. Mankind is in a race with catastrophe. The threat is growing ever closer. Let us choose freedom, socialism, and survival while we can.
No comments:
Post a Comment