On 20th September our fellow workers across Canada will be called upon to register their vote in the Federal general election. The SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA sadly is unable to contest any seats. But it will be active in making known what it seeks working people to do – to lodge a protest vote against capitalism and its apologists in all the other political parties.
Working people are striving to eke out a bare existence trying to save a little money to have something in reserve to offer what they believe to be security. There is no security under capitalism. There never has been nor will there ever be any. Many of us have faced this harsh reality from bitter experiences. Most of the electorate vote will vote for the purpose of improving their lot in this society. But they will only be petitioning for promises. The evidence shows that the effort has been nearly useless. After well over a century of reform activity, and the sincere efforts of a multitude of reformers, the world is in a greater mess than ever it was. In spite of the welfare state, numerous social services departments, poverty and insecurity alongside fabulous wealth and enormous productive potential, remain widespread across the world.
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA does not advance a wish-list of reforms and palliatives to make your life a little bit better. It, instead, advances an alternative way of life where we can all enjoy the good things in life. We seek your support for socialism for a fundamental change in your lives.
This is a national election, but capitalism is worldwide. Our interests are identical with all the exploited of the world with our problems basically being the same. Unfortunately, this system divides the planet into different countries, which are themselves often divided again into provinces or states. Barriers are erected between peoples, language and ethnic groups, by capitalist power sections of the world, both east and west, as a casual look at an atlas of the world alone will testify. The problems of working people are universal, so they form world socialist parties to contest elections that are national or provincial, as our companion parties have done and will be doing to build a new world fit for humans by dismantling the old institutions of capitalism and set up new administrative organizations to serve society. There is abundance at hand that can be made available to all when the socialist program is achieved.
Socialism is not state ownership nor government control, such as existed in Russia and supposedly in Cuba and China. Under state ownership, all the evils of capitalism still prevail. It is just the same old system with another label.
The SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA understands socialism to mean that production and distribution would be owned in common and democratically administrated. In other words, everything that is in and on the earth would be shared by all mankind. There would be no privilege of any description. Everyone would be on equal footing, and the principle of from each according to ability, to each according to needs, would operate. In such a system all the people of the world would work together in a cooperative commonwealth. There would be no buying and selling, no markets, no money, no state and no frontiers. World socialism is not a dream. This is a world where goods and services can be made available in almost unlimited quantities. Is it practical to organize distribution on the basis where all people shall have free access to the necessities of life?
Is such a world possible? We say it is.
The task of the SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA is to promote socialism and convince our fellow workers of our case. Socialism cannot come until working people understand what it is, want it and will work for it. No type of leadership can bring it about. We do not trust in leaders, because we know that people are not sheep. We believe in the democratic way of decision-making. Changing society must be the work of the people themselves. All the political parties that seek your support, stand for the continuation of the present system, in one form or another. Anything less than genuine socialism is inadequate and insufficient.
We, of the SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA, attach a very definite meaning to the word “socialism.” We have a declared objective and clear principles. These are consistently outlined on our website and literature. We say capitalism produces the major social problems of today. To solve these problems, we need a new system, based on the social ownership of wealth production, as distinct from the present private property order of today. While capitalism remains, so will the basic problems remain. We say that capitalism has no permanent solutions to these problems. Our case is that socialism is the only rational alternative — a society where production is for use to serve peoples needs, not for the benefit of a small minority.
The SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA is an integral part of the World Socialist Movement. We are a political party with a determined goal. Our record in producing socialist education to our workers is one in which we need not feel ashamed.
Shed your scepticism, apathy and cynicism.
Support socialism.
Support the SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA today. Tomorrow may be too late
