Author: alanjjohnstone
Capitalism Co-opts Co-ops
A sign of insanity they say is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results so why is it that many progressives ignore the informed opinion from over 150 years ago of the Chartist leader, Ernest Jones who back then observed: “I contend that co-operation as now developed, must result in failure to…
UBI: Redistributing Poverty
Many understand that one of the damaging effects upon the incomes of working people are frequently schemes to alleviate the economic pain felt by the poor and lower-paid workers. If Universal Basic Income is such a good idea, why has nobody implemented it before now? Universal (or Unconditional) Basic Income is an idea whose adherents…
WSM Principles 3/3
We state below some of the principles on which, from our point of view, a genuine socialist party must be based and we hope a useful contribution to discussions. We have divided the article into four parts: A SocialismB The Path to SocialismC Futility of ReformismD A Model of Socialist Society A. Socialism 1) A socialist party must first be clear…
WSM Principles 2/3
In elections people talk incessantly about “The System”, “The System has failed”, “The System must be changed”, “Vote for us, because we are going to end The System”. What system, exactly? Democracy under capitalism is reduced to people voting for competing groups of professional politicians, to giving the thumbs-up or the thumbs-down to the governing or opposition party (or parties)….
WSM Principles 1/3
A Principled Stand “The word Revolution, which we Socialists are so often forced to use, has a terrible sound in most people’s ears, even when we have explained to them that it does not necessarily mean a change accompanied by riot and all kinds of violence, and cannot mean a change made mechanically and in…
Cómo se crearon los dioses
(Un estudio en el materialismo histórico) Introducción Cuando entré en contacto con el Partido Socialista de América, en la primavera de 1910, escuché a algunos de sus miembros hablar sobre la Concepción Materialista de la Historia. Nunca había escuchado el término antes y tenía curiosidad por saber qué significaba. Al acercarme a esos miembros, les…
From the archives of the WSP (India) 3/3
Capitalism and Revolution Capitalist “Capital is a collective product. … Capital is, therefore, not a personal, it is a social power.” – Marx and Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, Moscow, 1977, p. 51 Marx discerned that capital “presents itself as an independent substance” – www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch04.htm “Capital, also, is a social relation of production. It…
From the archives of the WSP (India) 2/3
Marx’s Alternative “It is true that Marx did not believe in drawing up recipes for the cookshops of the future, but he did describe the basis of the society he thought was going to replace capitalism: “an association of free men, working with the means of production held in common” (chapter 1 of Capital); “a…
UN MUNDO SIN GUERRA
Entramos en otro nuevo año y, como en años anteriores, el nuevo año está bajo la perspectiva inminente de una guerra. Los trabajadores pueden ser llamados una vez más a participar en otra matanza donde hombres, mujeres y niños sufrirán. Es fácil culpar a los individuos por iniciar guerras, y algunos son ciertamente culpables, pero…
From the archives of the WSP (India) 1/3
ASCENDANCE/DECADENCE OF CAPITALISM Capitalism was progressive during its ascendance i.e., in its formative stage. During this phase, all its necessary formations and reformations were progressive, even though it emerged having been drenched in sweat and blood. Consequently, both the capitalist and working classes were sprouting at their decisive point in time. They were growing –…