Election
Manifesto
WHY WE
ARE HERE
The three
candidates of the Socialist Party of Great Britain are entering this election
with a viewpoint that is completely opposed to those of the other parties
taking part—that viewpoint is one of working-class interests. You may consider
that the Labour Party, or even some other party, is concerned with
working-class interests, but a brief look at the facts shows that this is not
so.
For all
its talk of "democracy" and "equality of opportunity," what
has the Labour Party ever done for you or for the working-class generally? Did
it solve the housing problem? Did you become substantially better-off between
1945 and 1951? Did the threat of war recede? The answer to all these questions
must be an emphatic NO! Of course, the record of the Tories is no better.
Why is
this so? The answer is a very simple one. Neither of these parties sets out to
solve your problems or to make you better off—what they set out to do, in fact,
is to run this social system called capitalism in the only way that it can be
run; that is in the interests of your bosses, employers, ruling class, call
them what you will.
What then
is the basis of this social system? Capitalism means a social organisation
where all the means of producing wealth (mines, land, factories, transport and
so on) are owned by a small section of the people. That leaves us, the working
class, with nothing except our ability to work. And work we must, or else we
starve. From the employer's point of view, it is a simple proposition—more for
you means less for them, and so they do all that they can to prevent any
raising of your living standards. The fraud of inflation carries out this job
well, so that wage increases are often nullified by a corresponding rise in the
cost of living.
But this
isn't our only objection to capitalism. Our bosses are always squabbling with
the ruling classes of other countries over the distribution of the loot,
resulting in continual international crises and minor wars, leading sooner or
later to major ones.
THE
ALTERNATIVE
We say
that there is an alternative to this state of affairs—the alternative of
Socialism. Socialism means a world where the things of life will be produced
solely to satisfy the needs of mankind, instead of for the purpose of realising
a profit for your bosses; a world where the whole of humanity will own and
control the means of living and where wars and international tension cannot
exist: a world where people will no longer be subject to the threat of
unemployment and to the perpetual struggle to make ends meet—in short, a world
where everyone will freely and equally associate and enjoy all the fruits of
their labour. It may be objected that these are hardly matters which concern
local electors, but in fact the problems of local government are the same as
those of the national government, only at a lower level. The measures affecting
rates, rents, housing, education, etc., are no more than the carrying out of
government policy, which means capitalist policy.
HOUSING
One of
the most pressing questions of local government is the housing problem, and
although the Labour and Tory parties talk glibly of the numbers of flats and
houses built, the fact remains that to-day's housing problem is as bad as it ever
was. At root, the lack of decent accommodation for working people is a part of
the working-class poverty problem. If you happen to be well-off, there is no
lack of fine houses and flats—at an appropriate price. In other words, workers
live in poor houses and flats because they cannot afford anything better, and
never will be able to afford anything better as long as they remain members of
the working-class.
EDUCATION
Education
too, under capitalism means the fitting of our children for the tasks required
by the social system; in other words, the production of the engineers, clerks,
miners and all the other kinds of worker that are essential to capitalism. The
present-day bias towards technical education is but a reflection of industry's
needs for more and more technical workers. Nothing wrong with that, you might
think. But the trouble is that capitalism has no regard for the realisation of
a child's potentialities or for education in the sense of equipping children
for full and happy lives.
RATES AND
TAXES
The
problem of rates is another that is much discussed in the council chamber, but
basically it is not one that really concerns workers. The whole principle of
taxation, national or local, is the levying of a share of the profits for the
State, in order that it might efficiently carry out the task of keeping
capitalism going. Your wages, generally speaking, are no more than sufficient
to keep you and your family going from one pay-day to the next, and this is
affected little, if at all, by the raising or lowering of the level of
taxation.
We say
that all these problems are capitalist problems, which means that they are
inseparable from the nature of the society under which we live. All the efforts
of the reformers over the years have not altered your basic position one bit.
What is required is something far more drastic—a revolutionary change in the
nature of society.
WHAT CAN
BE DONE?
Our
proposition is a simple one. We and people like us (the working-class) not only
produce all the wealth but also carry out all the necessary functions to keep
society going. The tragedy is that we keep it going for the benefit of a
privileged minority. What we suggest is that workers throw off the domination
of the ruling class and organise and run society in their own interests instead
of in the interests of their bosses. Then and only then will we see an end to
the problems that have beset the working class for so long.
This is a
proposition well worth struggling for, hence our participation in this
election. Our candidates are here as a protest against capitalism, and to give
working people an opportunity of registering their support for the only
constructive alternative to capitalism and for the only effective solution to
their problems. Every one who joins us in the struggle against this pernicious
social system is helping to make the life of capitalism shorter and helping to
bring about a sane and rational social order.
Do not
think that because there are only three of our candidates in this election,
there is no point in supporting us. At least, three socialists in the Town Hall
would mean a lot of useful propaganda for socialism and would ensure that there
were a least some members of the council who really did represent the working
class. In any event, the need for socialism becomes ever more pressing in a
world riddled with frightening problems, and a start must be made in wresting
power from the ruling class. Every socialist vote means another step towards a
freer, better world.
The only
Socialist candidates are: — A. IVIMEY, J. L. READ, F. IVIMEY
(Socialist
Standard, May 1959)
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