The World Socialist Movement sends its profound sympathy to the countless victims of the war, to the Russian and Ukrainian people, to the persecuted millions of human beings who are tormented by boundless sufferings and who have had to bear untold horrors.
The World Socialist Movement vows to carry on the task of awakening the revolutionary spirit in the workers of the world, uniting them in the struggle against the fratricidal war and against capitalist society. The workers have nothing to gain from this war. Capitalists and capitalist politicians are divided into two types, good and bad, according as they are ‘non-appeasers’ and ‘appeasers’. Capitalism is no longer the breeder of wars; the war now resulted from ‘fascist’ aggression, be it NATO/Ukrainian or Putin/Russian. If the West wants to expand, Russia is equally determined not to let it do so, and we should be still more determined not to let the people’s blood be shed for the aggrandisement of the governing class of either side.
In order to successfully understand war and the lies, it is necessary to know the causes and nature of war. War is an inevitable result of the capitalist system which is based on competition and exploitation, on private rather than social ownership of the means of production. Competition among the Great Powers for markets, natural resources and territory gives- rise to inter-capitalist wars. Since war is inseparable from capitalism it follows that the “abolition” of war is possible only through the overthrow of capitalism, the building of socialism and the elimination of classes and class exploitation.
In order to build a genuine anti-war movement it is our task to expose the pie-in-the-sky Utopias of many idealistic pacifists. Pacifism is powerless against war since it is not based on a clear analysis of the causes of war. In practice, it aids war: by spreading illusions about the nature of war and the fight against it; by shifting the opponents of the war to a fictitious fight against it; by sugar-coating the realities of capitalist society and thus making them – including war – more palatable
Capitalism without war is impossible. Those people who believe in miracles, who nourish hope and trust in illusions, think the consequences may in some way be avoided, that peace may be maintained and armed conflicts avoided, without destroying the social system which breeds it. The real struggle against war is inseparable from the struggle against capitalism. Sentimental attitudes against war divert from the struggle against the basic cause of war, capitalism. War is not the cause of the troubles of society. The opposite is true. War is a symptom and result, of the irreconcilable troubles and conflicts of the present form of society, that is to say, of capitalism. The only possible struggle AGAINST war is the struggle FOR socialism.
The Socialist Party is absolutely clear on this point. There is no “separate” or “special” struggle against war. The struggle against war cannot be divorced from the class war. No party can uphold capitalism and fight against war, because capitalism means war. Only a revolutionary socialist can fight against war because only a revolutionist takes the road to the overthrow of capitalism. It is the business of the Marxist, upon the outbreak of war, to work to turn that war into a class war, a war for the overthrow of the capitalist states.
The Socialist Party is the Anti-War Party. The Socialist Party stands for something different and better than capitalist enslavement. The socialist revolution can and will eliminate war because, by overthrowing the capitalist economy and supplanting capitalism with a cooperative commonwealth, it will remove the causes of war. With socialism, there will no longer exist basic contradictions that lead to war. The expansion of the means of production, under the ownership and control of society as a whole, will proceed in accordance with a rational plan adjusted to the needs of the members of society.
What type of society do we want to live in? A society in which we face constant fear, insecurity and hardship – capitalism? Or a society in which we can live in harmony with other human beings – socialism?
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