What is
Socialism?!
The German socialist Karl Marx was once asked what his favorite maxim was. He replied with a line by the Roman playwright Terence:
"I am a man, and nothing that concerns a
man, is a matter of indifference to me."
If for the moment we ignore the use of sexist language in this ancient
quotation, we get a feel for the
profoundly humanitarian spirit of Marx and socialists since him. Indeed, socialists are very concerned
about the injustice and social ills in the world today—hunger, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, disease,
war, the exploitation of workers, the oppression of nations, races, women, and gays, the destruction of the
environment, and the threat of nuclear annihilation.
Socialists obviously don't have a monopoly on compassion, however. What
distinguishes socialists from
other socially concerned people is that we do not view these problems as normal, natural, eternal, or an
inherent feature of the human condition. We believe that these problems are historically and socially created
and that they can be solved by human beings through
conscious, organized political struggle and change.
Socialist Action argues that the wealth and other advances produced by
industry, technology, and science
have made it possible to eliminate these problems but that these problems continue because of the dominant
economic and political interests and values of society. We assert that capitalism is ultimately the main source
of these problems in
the
Capitalism and the exploitation of workers
Under capitalism, the chief means of production—the factories, the railroads,
the mines, the banks, the public utilities,
the offices, and all of the related technology—are privately owned by a super-rich minority, the capitalist class.
The capitalists then compete with each other in the marketplace and run production on the basis of what will bring
them the biggest
profit.
This drive to successfully compete and to maximize profit leads big business to
exploit workers, to pay their employees
as little as possible, a mere fraction of the actual value that they produce. It also leads big business to resist the efforts
of workers to unionize
and to obtain increased pay, reduced working hours, and improved working
conditions.
This exploitation of workers results in a gross concentration of wealth, to the
benefit of the capitalists and at the expense
of working people.
Even in the
highest living standards, there is nonetheless a gross concentration of wealth. According to the Federal Reserve Survey of
Consumer Finances, the top 1% of American
families (834,000 households) own more than the bottom 90% (84 million
households).
This social inequality is aggravated by mass unemployment, which is endemic to
capitalism. Because the means of production
is divided up among the individual capitalists competing with each other, there is no overall coordination or planning of the
economy and consequently
no consideration to provide jobs to everybody who is able and willing to work.
This anarchy of production for private profit also fuels the erratic
boom-and-bust cycle of the capitalist economy.
Periodically, the economy experiences crises of overproduction when the capitalists inadvertently glut the market with
products that they cannot sell at a profit. The result is recessions and massive layoffs of workers, which ruin lives, idle factories,
and deprive society of
the benefits of production.
The basic irrationality of capitalism is highlighted by the glaring gap between
unmet human needs on one hand and the untapped
potential of the existing human and material resources to fulfill these needs on the other. For example, when inventors or scientists
or technicians develop new, advanced labor-saving technology, this should be a cause for celebration for workers because it means
that the work week could be cut with no cut in weekly pay. Workers could enjoy greater leisure time without a drop in income.
Instead, the capitalists use labor-saving technology to lay off workers because, of course, it only makes good sense from the business
point of view to cut
labor costs in order to increase profits.
In the
There is also a great need to repair the nation's deteriorating infrastructure, including its roads, bridges, mass transit, and water systems.
The capital, raw materials, and labor for such development exists, but the corporate rich do not invest in such projects because
they correctly judge that it would not be profitable for them to do so. The potential, overwhelmingly working-class consumers
of such services
simply would not be able to afford the prices that big business would have to
charge in order to make a profit.
Nor does the capitalist government finance such a massive expansion as part of
a public works program, for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it would raise the public's expectation, which is basically at odds with capitalist ideology, that society should be responsible
to provide for its members. And secondly, it would raise the possibility that the public would force the government to tax the rich to
fund such an expensive
program.
The oppression of African-Americans and Hispanics
In addition to exploiting workers, capitalism contributes to the oppression of
other groups in society.
White racism and the oppression of
African-Americans arose with the European slave trade, but they have been
perpetuated under capitalism.
After the slaves were freed during the Civil War, the capitalists used racism
to justify paying less to Black employees.
The capitalists also used racism to pit white workers against Black workers in order to divide the working class and weaken
the organized labor movement. Despite the gains of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, white racist discrimination
in employment and in
other areas of life persists.
Furthermore, the second-class status of African-Americans has been deepened by
color-blind free market forces,
specifically by the recent movement of industry out of the cities, where the Black community is concentrated. The resulting
loss of decent-paying working-class jobs has increased Black poverty and devastated Black neighborhoods and families,
fueling crime, drug
addiction, and hopelessness.
The oppression of Hispanics in the
racist discrimination, combined with a decline in the number of available decent-paying jobs. The Anglo suppression of various aspects
of Latin culture and
identity worsens the plight of Hispanics in this country.
The oppression of women and gays
While the oppression of women predated the establishment of capitalism, the
private profit system has perpetuated their subordination to men.
The main basis of women's oppression in capitalist society is the segregation of women in lower paying jobs in the labor market and the
relegation of women to
unequally shared child care and housework in the family.
These two spheres of women's oppression—the labor market and the family—are
mutually reinforcing. So long as women are unduly
burdened by child care and housework, they will not be able to gain equality with men in employment. So long as women bring home
a smaller paycheck,
they will not be able to get their male partners to share domestic
responsibilities equally.
These unequal labor relations between men and women sustain the sexist ideology
that justifies different and unequal gender roles
and the rigid,
polarized norms for males and females in all aspects of life.
The oppression of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals is largely derived from this
sexist ideology. Gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are
stigmatized because they defy the norm of exclusive heterosexuality and because they do not conform to conventional
standards of
masculinity and femininity.
Imperialism and
On an international level, capitalism has led to the development of
imperialism. Since the nineteenth century, the corporate rich of the
advanced
industrialized capitalist nations of
labor and natural resources
in the colonial world of
The economic domination of the imperialist nations has distorted the
development of the
of their populations to poverty and misery. The rivalry between the imperialist nations has also led to military conflicts, including two world
wars, as they competed for new world markets and carved up the world. Since the Second World War, the imperialist nations have been
forced to grant most
of their former colonies formal political independence, but their economic
domination continues.
Since its victory in World War II, the
the
the fascist
dictatorship of General Francisco Franco in
dictatorship of the
The
have also overthrown
democratically elected reform governments that encroached on
Additionally, the
and going the route of
socialist revolution.
The socialist solution
Socialist Action argues that the problems of exploitation and oppression in the
world today can ultimately be solved by
first replacing the capitalist system with a socialist system. The chief means of production should be socialized, that is, taken
out of the private
hands of the capitalists and put under public ownership, that is, government
ownership.
The economy should then be run by councils of democratically elected
representatives of workers and consumers at all levels
of the economy. Instead of being run on the basis of what will maximize profit for a super-rich minority, the economy should
be planned to meet the needs of the people—in employment, education, nutrition, health care, housing, transportation, leisure,
and cultural
development.
A socialist government could raise the minimum wage to union levels, cut the
work week with no cut in weekly pay, and
spread around the newly available work to the unemployed. A public works program, such as the one mentioned earlier, could
be launched to provide yet more jobs and offer sorely needed social services. The government could provide free health care,
from cradle to grave,
and free education, from nursery school to graduate school.
A socialist government could also address the special needs and interests of
the oppressed. Existing anti-discrimination legislation
in employment could be strongly enforced, and pay equity and affirmative action for women and racial minorities could be expanded.
Blacks and Hispanics could be granted community control of their respective communities. The racist, class-biased death penalty
could be abolished.
The establishment of flexible working hours, paid parental leave, and
child-care facilities, as well as the defense of safe, legal and
accessible abortion, would provide women with alternatives to sacrificing work for the sake of their children and because of unwanted
pregnancies, respectively. Same-sex marriage could be legalized, and a massive program, like the space program or the Manhattan Project,
could be financed to
find a vaccine and a cure for AIDS.
Money currently spent on the military could be spent instead on cleaning up the
country's air and waterways and developing
environmentally safe technology.
A socialist government of the
of those countries to
follow suit and make their own socialist revolutions.
The socialist system that Socialist Action advocates would be a multiparty
system, with all of the democratic rights won and enjoyed
in the most democratic capitalist nations, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of assembly,
and freedom of religion. A genuinely socialist system would be far more democratic than the most democratic capitalist system because in a
socialist economy the common working people would democratically decide what should be produced and how it should be produced.
Social democracy and Stalinism
Many people often ask Socialist Action if we support the model of socialism
offered by the social democratic parties and government
administrations in
Western European nations. We say "no."
In those countries, the Labour, Social Democratic,
and Socialist parties have helped their working-class constituencies to win
important progressive reforms, such as universal suffrage, the eight-hour day, old-age pensions, free health care and education,
and social services
more extensive than those here in the
them have secured these reforms within the capitalist framework, which they have never fundamentally challenged or sought to replace
with socialism.
Therefore, the capitalists' rule of the economy, their exploitation of the
working class, and the resulting concentration of wealth continue.
People also ask us if the so-called Communist countries of the former Soviet
bloc represented the model of socialism that we support.
Again, as with the Social Democrats, our answer
is "no."
In the former Soviet bloc, the capitalist class was expropriated, and the
economies were socialized. These socialized economies made
possible great progress in raising the living standards of the masses of workers and peasants in the areas of employment, health care,
education, and nutrition, and in upgrading the status of women. However, these countries were ruled through the Communist parties
by privileged bureaucratic elites that denied socialist democracy and imposed repressive, totalitarian political systems on the people.
These dictatorial governments not only violated basic democratic and human rights but mismanaged the planned economies, being
responsible for
inefficiency, waste, corruption, and stagnation.
The origins of these dictatorial bureaucratic regimes lie with the degeneration
of the Russian Revolution in the 1920s and 1930s.
One of the two leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution, Leon Trotsky, argued that the Bolshevik model of socialist democracy was never
fully implemented and then was completely destroyed under the Stalin dictatorship because of a combination of factors. These factors
included the failure
of the socialist revolutions to triumph in
the military attacks on the young Soviet republic by the imperialist nations, the devastation caused by the First World War and the Civil War
that followed the
revolution, the lack of democratic traditions in czarist
of workers and
peasants.
Currently, in the former Soviet bloc nations, the ruling Stalinist
bureaucracies, allied with the Western imperialists and native capitalist
"wannabes,"
are trying to restore capitalism. So far, the introduction of the free market into the Soviet bloc has resulted in a gigantic drop in productivity
and in the living standards
of common working people, with increasing unemployment, poverty, and social
inequality.
This right-wing attempt to restore capitalism and the corresponding attacks on
social services and entitlements, such as free health care and
full employment, in
the former Soviet bloc have also made it easier for the capitalist governments
of
reforms and social
services that the labor movements and social democratic parties of those
countries have won over the past decades.
Socialist Action hailed the collapse of the repressive Communist Party regimes
of the Soviet bloc, but we oppose the restoration of capitalism there.
Instead, we call for a defense of the
socialized economies and for the workers and their allies to overthrow the
ruling Stalinist bureaucracies and establish socialist democracy in their
place.
Socialism and human nature
Many critics say that socialism is a great idea in theory but that it is
completely unrealistic and utopian because it goes against basic human nature.
The critics claim that human beings are just
too selfish, too greedy, too competitive, and too aggressive to create and
sustain a cooperative and egalitarian society.
Socialists recognize that individual self-interest has always existed and will
always exist in human beings. We also acknowledge that
there will never be a
perfect harmony between the individual and society.
But we argue that individual self-interest need not be the ruling principle of
society. History and cross-cultural research suggest that
basic human nature consists of many different, divergent, but co-existing capacities, and that human personality and behavior
are largely shaped by
the social institutions, practices, and ruling ideology of the given society.
The critics of socialism correctly perceive the hyper-individualism of people
in capitalist society, but then they incorrectly generalize
this historically specific characteristic to human beings across time and place. They cannot imagine or understand that a reorganization
of society along
socialist lines would elicit, facilitate, and reinforce the basic human
capacities for cooperation and solidarity.
The revolutionary potential of the workers and the oppressed
Still, the point about self-interest as a motivating factor for human behavior
is an important one. Socialists believe that many people
of conscience from different classes and backgrounds can be won to a socialist perspective through appeals to reason, morality,
and political idealism. However, we believe that the main impetus for a socialist movement to sustain itself and successfully transform
society must be
collective self-interest and power.
We believe that the working class is the only social force that has both the
necessary self-interest and power to lead the struggle for socialism.
Socialism is in the interests of the working class because it will allow the workers to reclaim the wealth that they produced but which the capitalists
appropriated from them through exploitation. The working class also has the power to overturn capitalism because of its strategic location at the
point of production and its corresponding ability to shut down production by simply withdrawing its labor. Thus, a mass socialist movement can
only grow out of a
revitalized and radicalized labor movement, based on the trade unions and other
organizations of the working class.
Similarly, we believe that only the oppressed possess sufficient self-interest
to lead the struggles for their own liberation. Therefore,
we support the autonomous movements of the oppressed--the Black movement, the Hispanic movement, the women's movement,
and the gay and
lesbian movement--to insure that their respective needs and demands are met.
However, we do not believe that the oppressed by themselves possess sufficient
power to fully achieve their liberation since their oppression
is at least partly rooted in the capitalist system. Because only the organized working class possesses sufficient power to abolish capitalism and
its concomitant forms of oppression, the oppressed must win the organized working class to support their respective struggles, as well as
ultimately ally
themselves with the working class in the struggle for socialism.
Independent mass action
Socialist Action does not believe that socialism can be voted into power
through free elections. History has repeatedly shown that when
workers and their allies try to use the existing democratic process to advance their interests and replace capitalism with a socialist system,
the capitalist class
and the armed forces of the capitalist state will smash democracy to save
capitalism, as happened, for example, in
twenty-five years ago
this month.
Socialist Action points out that progressive social change has been made in
this country through mass action, not by voting in certain politicians
or by working within
the system.
American independence from
farmers. The abolition of slavery and the extension of suffrage to Black men was accomplished through a second revolution, the Civil War.
Women won the vote through the women's suffrage
movement.
The labor movement won the twelve-hour day, then the eight-hour day, the right
to strike, the right to form unions and bargain collectively,
the minimum wage,
unemployment compensation, worker's disability. Social
Security, welfare, and increased wages and benefits for union members.
The civil rights movement overthrew the segregationist "Jim Crow"
laws of the South and forced the government to outlaw racist discrimination in
employment and housing and to implement affirmative action.
The anti-war movement helped force the
The feminist movement won anti-discrimination legislation, affirmative action,
pay equity in some public institutions, and the legalization of abortion.
The gay and lesbian movement, too, has secured anti-discrimination legislation
and greater funding of AIDS research and patient care.
Additionally, the environmental and consumer protection movements have won
important reforms that moderate
big business's
destruction of the planet and manufacture of unsafe commodities in its relentless
pursuit of profits.
Socialist Action advocates the independent political action of the workers and
the oppressed to bring about further progressive change. We call for and build
mass demonstrations, rallies, pickets, and strikes.
We counterpose such mass action to reliance on the
American two-party system, electoral campaigns, and behind-the scenes lobbying
of
capitalist politicians. The logic of working within the two-party system of the capitalist political establishment is to subordinate the needs, demands,
and priorities of the
workers and the oppressed to what is acceptable to the rulers of this country.
The inevitable result is the demobilization and cooptation of the struggle for
change.
We point out that the impetus for progressive social change has never come from
the Democratic and Republican parties but that they can be
forced by mass action to implement progressive policies and reforms, at least up to certain limits. However, we argue that socialism can only be
achieved by a
revolutionary culmination of mass action of the workers and their allies in
opposition to the capitalist state and capitalist political parties.
Socialist Action aspires to play a leading role in building a popular mass
socialist movement in this country. Our members have participated in
the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the women's movement, the gay and lesbian movement, the
environmental
movement, the
The above essay was written by Gordon Schulz.