From the first glimpses of primitive communism in Stone Age family groupings to the growth of feudalism and the emergence of capitalism into imperialism , now in terminal decline, humankind has passed through a number of historical epochs. Today a new stage of development is underway in certain countries to build socialism which will in turn make the qualitative advance to communism.
Change is very necessary. Everywhere we look in the imperialist world we see crisis. Its symptoms are economic stagnation, industrial decline, inflationary pressures, job losses and stock market volatility. Workers with falling standards of living are being made to carry the burden of its failure.
Full socialism means the public ownership of of the means of production, transport, financial institutions and the land. All would be owned and utilised by the people for the people. Then, as full masters of their own destiny, their work and creativity would be employed for the common good. The greed, speculation, exploitation and corruption of the bourgeoisie would be relegated to the history books.
Monopoly capitalism, the final phase of capitalist failure, is no longer competitive. Increasingly it adopts economic warfare and physical threats to maintain its hegemony. It is a system based upon exploitation of the masses while the rich become more wealthy every day. According to the Office of National Statistics the top one per cent of families, with an average wealth of £3.6m own over 230 times, that of the poorest 10 per cent.
Following the Second World War many people thought that socialism was just round the corner. Inspired by the achievements of the Soviet Union, under Joseph Stalin's leadership they were no longer prepared to put up with the conditions that had existed in the 1930s. The mood was for change. A Labour government, led by Clement Attlee was elected in 1945. Basic industries and public transport were nationalised, the NHS established and a full programme of social care initiated. The slums were replaced with magnificent new council houses; homes for the people.
One may well ask what has gone so badly wrong and what can be done about it. Looking back we can see that the socialist programme did not go far enough. Those industries and utilities taken over were in a poor financial position and required heavy investment. Profitable companies should have been added to the list to provide funds. The NHS should have been allowed to make its own drugs and equipment. The banks and financial institutions were left untouched. On balance the steps taken were half hearted social-democratic measures that left bourgeois state power unchallenged.
Over the following years the Tories sold off and privatised everything they could lay their hands on. Industry, utilities, council houses and local authority care homes were all sold off. Brainwashed by the mass media, people were conditioned to accept these moves. And Labour, firmly in the hands of the right wing, did almost nothing about it. Now, of course, they have all gone and we are left to pay through the nose for falling standards of service. The Labour Party had again betrayed the working class allowing those early gains to be lost.
This betrayal was not the only one that set back the first stages of building socialism in Britain. The political line of the Communist Party of Great Britain, at a time when it should have been adopting a vanguard role to inspire the masses, degenerated into a revisionist party replacing real socialist objectives with a social democratic approach. In relation to the world class struggle they also abandoned proletarian internationalism.
Setbacks within the UK were matched by the collapse of revisionism in the Soviet Union which led to its fall and along with it the hopes and aspirations of millions of workers worldwide. One of the basic causes of the breakdown of the socialist system in the Soviet Union was the failure to appreciate the importance of moral incentives, as opposed to personal gain, as the fundamental lever for building socialism in human society. Another was the widespread belief that once socialism was achieved it was irreversible. This led to complacency and a failure to address important issues. Since 1955 Stalin, who had played a major role in building and defending the Soviet Union, was never mentioned in text books. Thus his warnings in relation to the market and private property were ignored.
For the sake of peace, justice, equality and a sustainable future we need socialism and we need it now. A vanguard party equipped with a Marxist-Leninist understanding is an essential feature for this to be achieved. Lenin said that for a revolutionary situation to be transferred in to a full revolution the following factors are necessary:
First: an acute crisis situation with widespread discontent with the ruling class being unable to manage in the old way.
Second: when the suffering of the oppressed classes have grown acute.
Third: when there is a considerable increase in the awareness and activity of the masses.
The first two conditions exist in Britain today. It is the task of communists to explain what is wrong and show that it is the bourgeoisie who are the villains. Not poor immigrants.
Today socialism in various forms, suited to specific local conditions, is again on the march. The social progress and economic might of People's China has been amazing. Measured in terms of what I would call 'Real GDP' (the real value of goods and services without such American features as exorbitant medical fees, high rents and legal costs) is on a par with the USA. Its mixed economy does have certain risks but it is a cardinal task for the Communist Party of China to ensure that no one is left behind. A prosperous society is being created for everyone to enjoy.
The other socialist countries are in the face of threats and harsh sanctions are all making excellent progress. Cuba has endured a blockade by the USA for over 60 years and Democratic Korea, Laos and Vietnam, who took on and defeated the might of American imperialism in their fight for freedom, have all recovered from almost total destruction.
As socialism rises to become communism everyone’s needs will be fully met. Money, the lifeblood of capitalism and its mechanism for exploitation, will disappear. Under capitalism, income dominates people's existence. When communism arrives in Britain it will transform society. Socialism, the first stage of advancement, implements the principle 'from each according to his ability to each according to his work'. Communism, the higher phase of socialist development, adopts the greater principle, ‘from each according to his ability to each according to his needs'.
Anxiety and fear will be replaced with harmony and mutual cooperation. Everyone will have an equal chance of opportunity to develop to their full potential. Human civilisation will flourish as never before.
If we want a better tomorrow within a new and beautiful society we have to struggle for it. With communism class and race discrimination, bigotry and sects will disappear. Women will be able to play a full role in society. Communists, socialists and all progressive people need to come together for an essential class struggle.
The Labour Party continues to betray the working class as do other so called communists who are in reality a fake left. We need to be on our guard. We need to build the New Communist Party of Britain, a party that has stuck to it's principles, as a vanguard party for true social and economic progress.
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