As wage and salary earners, the vast majority of us have
endless economic problems to worry about -- wages and prices, rents and
mortgages, sickness, unemployment, old age. Even more worrisome can seem the
large and perhaps overwhelming problems facing us as human beings: war, poverty
and the compulsive destruction of our own planet by those who seek to persuade
us they can do our thinking for us. There are numerous other problems, like
racism or sexism, which distort human judgment and reinforce a system that
thrives on human misery. Many people look to leaders to solve these intractable
problems, sometimes through union action, more often by demanding social,
political and economic reforms.
Come election time, all the parties suddenly grow excited, urgently
recommending laws they will introduce if they gain control of the government.
But they don't regard it as their business to deal with the basis of any of
those problems, where the cause actually lies. Neither Right, Left nor Center
has any intention of tackling and dealing with the core of our troubles: the
system of employment, known traditionally as wage labor, and the associated use
of capital to produce all of the wealth we depend on. This system, we maintain,
generates massive artificial scarcities in a society with the technological
means to afford us abundance.
We, in the World Socialist Movement, hold that the social
system needs to be changed fundamentally: we advocate the abolition of social
classes through production based solely on meeting people's needs, democratically
administered. This goes much deeper than a mere change in government, but it
also assumes widespread understanding of what needs to be done. We are members
of the working class, which includes everyone around the world who must sell
his or her working abilities to some employer to stay alive, not just people
whose collars are blue. We understand capitalism has gone as far as it can go;
the time has come to put it behind us and start with a system of society that
really works for everyone.
If you agree generally with arousing the rest of the world's
workers to an understanding of how easily within our grasp it is to achieve a
world of abundance and peace -- and a world we can pass on intact to the coming
generations, join us.
Those of us in the World Socialist Movement seek a world without:
Poverty; War; Sexism, racism, nationalism, and other forms
of hatred; Environmental devastation; Bosses and politicians telling everyone
else what to do
Socialism is for anybody who thinks the world would be a
better place if:
Democracy meant more than an election every few years; Freedom
meant real freedom, and respect, for everybody; People cooperated to satisfy
human needs
Socialism is for anybody who wants real solutions, not
repeated failures. The Left, Centre, and Right haven't solved anything that
counts - and they can't.
Real solutions may take a while, but that's better than
never. Real solutions require rational thought, not hype. Real solutions
require people to work for them
We reject the idea that socialism has been tried in
countries sometimes referred to as socialist. Look below at our definition of
socialism and ask yourself if this in any way describes the state capitalist,
police states of modern China and Cuba or the old regimes in Russia and eastern
Europe, or the past and present "social-democratic" governments in
many countries.
We reject the idea of socialism in one country. National
socialism equals non-socialism. The capitalist system is global and so must the
system which will replace it.
We reject the idea that people can be led into socialism.
Socialism will not be established by good leaders or battling armies, but by
thinking men, women and children. There can be no socialism without socialists.
The WSM:
1. claims that socialism will, and must, be a wageless,
moneyless, worldwide society of common (not state) ownership and democratic
control of the means of wealth production and distribution
2. claims that socialism will be a sharp break with capitalism
with no "transition period" or gradual implementation of socialism
(although socialism will be a dynamic, changing society once it is established)
3. claims that there can be no state in a socialist society
4. claims that there can be no classes in a socialist society
5. promotes only socialism, and as an immediate goal
6. claims that only the vast majority, acting consciously in
its own interests, for itself, by itself, can create socialism
7. opposes any vanguardist approach, minority-led movements,
and leadership, as inherently undemocratic (among other negative things)
8. promotes a peaceful democratic revolution, achieved through
force of numbers and understanding
9. neither promotes, nor opposes, reforms to capitalism
10. claims that there is one working class, worldwide
11. lays out the fundamentals of what a socialist society must
be, but does not presume to tell the future socialist society how to go about
its business
12. promotes an historical materialist approach - real
understanding
13. claims that religion is a social, not personal, matter and
that religion is incompatible with socialist understanding
14. seeks election to facilitate the elimination of capitalism
by the vast majority of socialists, not to govern capitalism
15. claims that Leninism is a distortion of Marxian analysis
16. opposes all war and claims that socialism will inherently
end war, including the "war" between classes.
17. noted, in 1918, that the Bolshevik Revolution was not
socialist. Had earlier, long noted that Russia was not ready for a socialist
revolution and was the first to recognize that the former USSR, China, Cuba
and other so-called "socialist countries" were not socialist, but
instead, state capitalist
18. claims a very accurate, consistent analysis since 1904 when
our United Kingdom companion party was formed
World socialism can only be brought about democratically. Socialism
means a global system of social organization based on:
Common Ownership: All the productive wealth of the world
will belong to all the people of the world. No more transnational corporations
or small businesses and therefore nobody will own the world. It will be
possessed by all of its inhabitants.
Democratic Control By All: Who will run socialist society?
We all will. There will be no more government and governed. People will make
decisions freely in their communities, in regions and globally. With the
existing means of information technology and mass communication this is all
possible.
Production For Use: Instead of producing goods and services
for sale and profit, the sole reason for production will be to satisfy needs
and desires.
Free Access: A society in which everyone owns everything,
decides everything and only produces anything because it is useful will be one
in which all will have free access to what is produced. Money will cease to
have any function. People will not work for wages or salaries, but to give what
they can and take what they need.
The World Socialist Movement (WSM) consists of ordinary people who have
organised themselves democratically with one objective; to bring about a
complete change in world society. Although small, we are made up of members in
several countries.
Democracy
Everybody in the WSM has equal value and equal power. Real
democracy is fundamental to socialists. The revolutionary transformation of
society must be brought about by the will of the great majority of the people
if it is to succeed. We have no leaders. Every member can take part in making
decisions. Our democracy works both locally and party-wide. All our meetings
are open to the public.
The Task
All the necessary conditions of production and communication
now exist for establishing a world socialist society. What is lacking is the
understanding and will among those men and women who would most benefit from
it. The task for socialists is to spread the necessary information as widely
and thoroughly as possible. This often involves correcting a great deal of
misinformation put out by those who want society to remain as it is, with all
its poverty, oppression, and war. We have a thorough analysis of the workings
of present society, how it is developing, and what needs to be done to make
changes that would be beneficial for the human race. Discussion and debate are
essential to the progress of the movement. We welcome them. Everyone is
encouraged to put their point of view.
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