Capitalism Must Be Abolished!

 "The law forbids any motivation for their actions, whether to assist workers, improve the environment, or help consumers save money. They can do these things with their own money, as private citizens. As corporate officials, however, stewards of other people’s money, they have no legal authority to pursue such goals as ends in themselves – only as means to serve the corporations own interests, which generally means to maximise the wealth of its shareholders. Corporate social responsibility is thus illegal – at least when its genuine."- Canadian law professor, Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation. 

The World Socialist Movement (WSM) possesses a long tradition of opposing the many deadly problems of capitalism from the daily exploitation and oppression of working people to the never-ending wars as well as the environmental crises. In the politics of socialist working-class solidarity and political consciousness in relation to the environmental emergencies we go beyond what too often remains at the level of personal habit, individual morality and lifestyle and expose the root cause. Further, we have been critical of some of the popular responses such as primitivism (a romantic return to a pre-industrial past) and anti-global localism as obstacles to the coordination and planning necessary to tackle the climate crisis democratically and in its planetary proportions.

With COP26, governments, reformist parties and NGOs seek the imposition of a more practical and “moderate” framework of tackling carbon emissions but this is matched by the determination of many outside the conference halls to maintain an effective lobby but as the jostle around for a voice and audience we should be aware that they are often on divergent trajectories. For their part, the capitalist media ensures that the only voices heard in public discussion  are from members of their own chorus, praising the virtues of the elite’s economic plans.

The World Socialist Movement view the international gathering as an opportunity to share information across borders, worldwide, building links from a common global pool of knowledge and strategies, all inter-linked in opposition to the corporations of  international capitalism, the agencies, institutions and governments that they control. Within such a context the WSM seeks to become a more effective force in local, regional and global struggles for a better world. It is definitely not  time to give up on the struggle for environmental justice. The ecology movement is  alive with radical ideas and revolutionary prospects, if it is way-laid into sidetracks and diversions. The most welcoming aspect is the trust placed in internationalism, muddying the concepts of national frontiers and borders.

In reporting the calamities inflicted upon our world we can offer only  small snap-shots from a huge collection of global disaster scenarios caused by a world political system forging ahead conscientiously to achieve its main objective - profit whatever the consequences.

Very few can deny that the world today is in upheaval, turmoil and conflict. The WSM has repeatedly demonstrated that the capitalist system that does not and cannot work in the interests of the majority. Against this insane capitalist system the WSM raises its voice in emphatic protest and unqualified condemnation. 

The World Socialist Movement calls upon all who understand the critical situation of our times, and who may be increasingly aware that a basic change in our society is needed, to place themselves squarely on working-class principles. Join us in this effort to put an end to the existing class conflict and all its malevolent results by placing the land and the instruments of social production in the hands of the people as a collective body in a cooperative socialist society. Help us build a world in which everyone will enjoy the free exercise and full benefit of their individual faculties, multiplied by all the technological and other factors of modern civilisation.