Join the Worldwide Movement for Socialism!

By SocialistAlternative.org Capitalism is an international system in decay. Multinational corporations want to produce their products at the lowest possible costs. This overarching desire for short-term profit leads to low wages and crumbling benefits. On a world scale, the actions of the reckless massive energy companies and the waste of an ever-expanding global market have led to an environmental crisis of momentous proportions, resulting in the highest temperatures ever recorded, the melting of polar ice caps, and an increased intensity of storms. These global problems must be met with international solutions and a worldwide movement. Socialist Alternative stands in political solidarity with the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI) – an organization in over 40 countries fighting for fundamental change – in arguing for a socialist transformation of society. The crisis of capitalism is reaching a dramatic phase, with more and more people looking for solutions to poverty, racism, sexism, declining benefits, environmental destruction, and mass unemployment. The root of these problems is a system that thrives on low wages, slashed social programs, and divide-and-rule tactics to attack oppressed people. The capitalist system provides no way out of this devastation. The super-rich put the pain caused by this crisis onto the backs of workers and youth by laying people off and cutting education, health care, and pay while at the same time bailing out the banks. Still, the crisis continues and deepens as the super-rich globally sit on trillions of dollars that they refuse to invest, while hundreds of millions of people lack jobs and the basic necessities of life to survive. The CWI and Socialist Alternative propose democratic socialism as a means to alleviate this madness. Socialism isn't about dictatorships, one-party states, or a loss of basic rights. Democratic socialism is about using the resources of society for the good of the vast majority rather than just for the profits of a few. Through democratic control of the resources of the top corporations, we could decide to invest in clean energy rather than environmental devastation. We could put all the unemployed to work and use new technology to reduce the working week without loss of pay rather than as a further weapon in the hands of the bosses to speed up the workforce and boost profits. We could decide to use our human potential for education, health care, and housing rather than war, discrimination, and waste. We support and demand improvements in the lives of ordinary people immediately, but we also realize that it will take mass movements to win reforms. Socialists participate in movements to inspire others that an alternative world can be built and that by mobilizing the tens of millions who have an interest in fighting for a new and better society we can build more powerful and dynamic movements. We need democratic structures in our movements and we need bold socialist demands so we can speak to all those pushed down by the capitalist system. In every movement, we need to realize that the capitalists will take away any positive gains we can win as long as we leave their power and control intact. Likewise, the rich and powerful would aim to isolate any people or country that moves in a socialist direction. The capitalists have a global market, and they don’t want anyone setting a “bad example” by using the resources of their country for the benefit of the 99% rather the rich elite. This is one reason why the CWI organizes internationally, to provide solidarity and support for movements worldwide and also to learn lessons from the struggles in Greece, South Africa, England, Brazil, and elsewhere. Internationally and in the U.S., working-class power can be built out of movements to defend our rights and fight for a better world. Democratic, fighting unions, new political movements of the 99%, and our protests in the streets can be the building blocks of a struggle for a socialist society. This means movements need to be linked up with a clear program of demands, and activists must learn from historic and international struggles. Through movements and political education, we can raise consciousness. The CEOs and big shareholders want us to think that they create the jobs and that we can’t survive without them. In truth, working people produce everything, provide all the services, and distribute everything. All the super-rich do is control the profits and work on ways to further exploit and divide us. In short, bosses need workers and we don’t need bosses. Taking the economy into the hands of working people can be the basis for providing full employment, countering environmental destruction, and starting the process of ending discrimination. Socialists have as our aim an end to the dictatorship of big business and the beginnings of a society based on real democracy and an end to oppression. Join Socialist Alternative and help build the growing movement against capitalist misery worldwide.

Socialist candidate in the USA making big impact

In the US this autumn many will ask who should we vote for ? there is a clear need now fora new party, a party representing the interests of the 99% and the working class. As Socialist alternative in the USA we are running candidates where we can. Below is a interview with one of our candidates running against a democrat and exposing their role as a second capitalist big business party. Interview with Kshama Sawant in Seattle Socialist Alternative (CWI supporters in the US) Kshama Sawant, a Socialist Alternative candidate in Seattle, is challenging Democratic House Speaker Frank Chopp in the general election for Washington’s 43rd Legislative District. Sawant achieved unprecedented primary election results that had her winning second place in both Positions 1 and 2 of the district. She took some time out from campaigning to talk to Justice newspaper. Kshama Sawant Q: Why are you running as a socialist? I believe that if we’re going to effect change, we have to be bold. That means not hiding behind false labels. More and more people, when asked, will tell you that they prefer socialism over capitalism. And it is obvious why: Capitalism has failed the 99%, whereas socialism stands for genuine democracy and equality. A better world is possible! That better world starts with the working class, the 99%, realizing that we are powerful! I am running as a socialist to show that there are alternatives to the Republicans and Democrats, both of whom represent the interests of the giant corporations. I’m calling for independent candidates of the 99% to run against the corporate politicians in every race! This is just the first step for us in a process of building movements challenging the power of the 1%. Q: What does a socialist candidate offer that a Democratic Party candidate does not? I will be a voice for everyday people in Olympia. Unlike my Democratic opponent, I will put the interests of the 99% first. Look at the money. My campaign is completely funded by ordinary people; meanwhile, my opponent has received tens of thousands of dollars from corporations and the super wealthy. After seeing where his money comes from, it is no surprise that he has consistently voted to slash the budget for social programs like health care and education. I will not only fight to reinstate and expand programs such as Basic Health, but I will also make sure that true single-payer health care is on the agenda in Washington. I will fight to make a quality education available to all, not just to those who have the means to afford it. I will make expanding mass transit and green energy a priority. Unlike the Democrats, I will fight for taxes on corporations and the very wealthy in Washington, who currently benefit from the most regressive tax code in the country. With this revenue, all of these programs can be easily funded. Another difference between myself and the Democrats is that I strive to help build movements. As an Occupy Seattle activist I worked to do just that. History shows the only way real change has been achieved is when people work together to make it happen. The Democratic Party functions to stifle these movements. We’ve seen it time and time again, with the antiwar movement of the early 2000s to the labor union struggle in Wisconsin last year. Q: What do you say to those claiming you can’t change anything through corporate-dominated electoral systems? I don’t think history shows that to be correct. Look at how the Canadians won universal health care. Canadian workers began running independent candidates and eventually built the New Democratic Party. The party grew in popularity, threatening big business and Canada’s main political parties. It became clear that for the ruling class to retain their electoral power, they’d need to give some concessions, in this case universal health care. Ultimately, it’s mass movements that bring about fundamental change. During a presidential election year, many more people are paying attention to politics. Running in elections allows us to reach more people with our ideas and effectively build the movement, particularly when there is such anger with both the Democrats and the Republicans. Examples from history show that it is possible to build working-class parties that do not function as electoral machines like the two major corporate parties. Instead, they are parties that work for the interests of ordinary people, fighting for jobs that pay a living wage, for free, universal health care, for affordable housing, defending pensions and protecting the environment. We need a party of working people, and running candidates that challenge the corporate politicians is the first step toward building that party. Q: What is the most important message you want to give to others thinking of challenging the two main parties? Now is the time! There is increasing support for breaking from the two-party system. This anger at the Democrats, in particular, is evident in the strong showing for our candidate in the primary elections earlier this month. We won over 9% of the vote against a well-liked Democrat, Jamie Pederson, in position 1 and over 11% o f t he vote in position 2 as a write-in candidate against the more vulnerable Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp. These votes show how people are angry at the two corporate parties and are looking for an alternative to challenge the status quo in electoral politics. Winning both races, itself, has increased the media attention and the number of people wanting to get involved with the campaign. The unusual election result gave our campaign the opportunity to switch races and run against the second most powerful Democrat in Washngton State. Running against the House Speaker will provide our campaign with a larger platform from which we can inject our ideas into the stale debate on how to address the economic crisis gripping the state. When I’m out talking to people in the 43rd District I ’m hearing that working people, the unemployed, youth and the elderly are increasingly finding that capitalism isn’t working for them. After hearing me loudly proclaim, “Stop the budget cuts; elect a socialist candidate,” one guy told me, as he backtracked to our table, “Budget cuts are a ***! I NEED one of those [leaflets].” There is real openness to socialist ideas. Many youth and workers have said, “Socialism, YES!” when they meet us on the streets. So, it’s obvious that ordinary people are energized by a campaign that isn’t beholden to corporate America and is speaking out for the needs of the 99%. We need to build a mass movement, independent from both big business parties, as an initial step to break corporate control of U.S. politics and to start transforming the country and the world!

We will not pay for their crisis, join the fightback on N30

We now stand at 28 trade unions who have balloted and voted yes for strike action next wednesday the 30th of November. This could possibly be the biggest day of action since the first day of the 1926 general strike.

The titanic strike of 30 November in Britain will display the colossal power of the working class through the trade unions, to resist the savage cuts demanded by the capitalists and their political representatives, the Con-Dem austerity coalition.

It also presents a unique opportunity that must not be lost for the leaders and ranks of the trade unions to reach big audiences of working people.

Many will be involved in mass action for the first time and therefore can be receptive to discussion and debate about a real alternative to the future of unrelieved misery, 'planned poverty', promised by Osborne and Cameron with Clegg and Co in tow.

The PCS civil service union has already proposed an immediate alternative to Osborne's £81 billion worth of cuts over four years.

It demands the collection of the massive £120 billion unpaid tax of big business which, if implemented, would render the cuts completely unnecessary. The Socialist Party and the whole labour movement support this demand.

However, the speed and depth of the present crisis of capitalism and its devastating effect on the lives of millions of workers in Britain and worldwide poses sharply the issue, not just of immediate measures that offer some relief for working people, but of more profound solutions, of 'system change'. This means outlining and fighting for a democratic socialist alternative.

The powerful and inspirational mass movements of the Greek workers have heroically battered away at the foundations of rotten Greek capitalism.

Their counterparts in Spain, Portugal, Italy and here in Britain, in this decisive movement of 30 November, seek to emulate them.

It is also articulated in the tremendous 'Occupy' movement, which in the last months has swept through 1,000 cities worldwide and touched every continent.

Moreover, this first breeze of the class struggle - which foreshadows the storms and hurricanes to come - has even touched the summits of capitalism.

A founder of the far from radical Independent newspaper, Andreas Whitham Smith, recently stunned readers by telling them that the threat of "revolution" was stalking "Western capitalism".

However, this was not the deathbed repentance and repudiation of a former stalwart of capitalism but a warning to the capitalists themselves of the need for 'change' in the structure and organisation of their system in order to avoid such a 'nightmare'.

Not one of the leaders of the main political parties in Britain is proposing serious change. David Cameron, pressed on all sides by the increasing unpopularity of the venal system he presides over, poses as an alternative, mythical 'moral markets', a contradiction in terms.

Obscene bankers' bonuses, eye-watering and growing inequality, sky-rocketing poverty and unemployment are to be underpinned by the cement of a new capitalist 'morality'.

This represents an attempt by the apostles of capitalist slavery to reconcile us to the perpetuation of this failing system.

We can imagine Cameron's reply: "The talent and ability of bankers and the chief execs of top companies should receive their due rewards. Without them, we are doomed."

Ed Miliband, the New Labour leader, fares no better with his appeal for a "better capitalism", counterposing "productive" capitalism, which is 'good' to "predator" capitalism, which is 'bad'.

In reality, these are just different wings of the brutal profit system and are linked together in perpetuating the current deadly paralysis of society.

at least 200 million unemployed in the world who increasingly form a substratum of the poor, homeless and dispossessed.

Eighty-one million of this figure is composed of young people - who are condemned to a life of 'worklessness'. There is almost a 50% rate of unemployed young people in Spain and 40% in Greece.

Added to this are the seven million in Britain and 1.6 billion worldwide in part-time 'precarious' jobs.

They are a 'precariat', a modern manifestation of Marx's "reserve army of the unemployed". This is a pool of cheap, sometimes almost slave labour - including young people working as 'interns' for nothing.

They may be drawn into work when needed and then conveniently tossed aside like an old boot when the economic cycle of capitalism deems they are 'surplus to requirements'.




It is important we turn out in our numbers on the day and not just make this a nice day off work but a real show of solidarity across the working class. Bringing together public and private sector workers. Linking up teh occupations with teh construction workers and sparks who are facing struggles too.

We support a 'Robin Hood tax' on the transactions of big business. But history shows that the capitalists always find a million and one ways to circumvent any law which seeks to claw back some of the wealth and eats into their profits.

When the Labour government of Harold Wilson attempted to do something similar through a corporation tax in the 1970s, such was the opposition of big business it was completely watered-down and rendered largely ineffective.

The only way to prevent this is through the nationalisation of the banks and finance houses. Similarly, the 'dictatorship of the market', which is holding the whole of Europe to ransom, should be met with the cancellation of the debt to the bond parasites.

Nationalisation
This in turn could only succeed if nationalisation was carried through not just in one country but on a continental and world basis.

Inequality is intrinsic to capitalism. The exploitation of the working class - the capitalists garner what Marx called 'unpaid labour' in the form of profits - is the very foundation of the system.

From this flow all the inequalities and the class antagonisms which shape this society. The system can go ahead for a while as long as the surplus is invested in productive industry to create more factories and thereby the production of more goods and services.

But it stagnates and falls back when the restricted incomes of the working class - particularly marked in the last few decades - means they cannot buy back fully the goods and services they produce.

This results in 'overproduction', a glut of unsold goods and redundant workers and capital. This, in turn, can produce a 'death spiral' reflected in the paralysis of production evident throughout the world today.

Combine all this clear evidence of the wasteful character of the system with the extraordinary mass movements - Greece, Italy, Spain, Britain on 30 November, etc - and it is clear that capitalism faces one of its greatest threats in its long history.

In fact, a new social system is knocking at the door of history. This is the idea of a socialist democratically planned and organised economy and society. To usher it in requires a movement and the urgent building of a mass workers' party.

Ironically, this current threat to capitalism arises from its very triumph following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the downfall of Stalinism.

The consequent dismantling of the planned nationalised, economies and its replacement by 'wild capitalism' represented a big ideological victory for capitalism.

This in turn moved the leaders of parties such as the old Labour Party, at its base a 'workers' party', and the trade unions to the right, leading to the transformation of these parties largely into pro-capitalist formations.

This meant that the capitalists no longer needed to look over their shoulders at a threat posed by the working class.

There is no check on their actions as there had been previously. Capitalism was therefore unrestrained in pursuing the policies of financialisation which were already underway in the late 1970s and 1980s.

In this sense, it became its own gravedigger, manifested in the economic madness of debt-driven capitalism; financial bubbles on top of financial bubbles, which collapsed like a house of cards in 2007-2008.

The consequences of this are evident in the idle factories, workplaces and the tragedy of the millions of 'idle hands' which presently litter the economic landscape of world capitalism.

It is true support for a socialist alternative will not develop easily or automatically given the relentless anti-socialist, pro-capitalist propaganda of the last two decades.

It has to be argued for and explained, particularly when the working class is on the move, as it will be on 30 November.

But support in the polls for the 'Occupy' movements has demonstrated the broad support for a better world.

The '99%' does not yet have a full understanding, consciousness, of how to achieve that alternative. Even those involved in the 'Occupy' movement know what they don't want but do not have a clear alternative.

Yet their aims can only be realised through real 'system change', socialism. Brutal capitalism is demonstrating daily the blind alley which this system is in and is preparing the ground for millions to search for an alternative.

Capitalism is incapable of satisfying human requirements in today's world. Socialism is the idea which will dominate the 21st-century.



extracts taken from this excellent article by Peter Taaffe on the socialist party website bits of which he talked about in his speech at socialism 2011
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/13185/21-11-2011/capitalism-is-crisis-there-is-an-alternative-fight-for-socialism