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Ending War
From the April 1984 issue of the World Socialist The Parties within the World Socialist Movement stand uniquely against capitalism. We reject that system utterly and completely in whatever guise it appears: State capitalism, run by “communists”, “mixed-economy” capitalism, run by “socialists”, social-democrats or centrists; or the more openly vicious variety of unfettered “free” capitalism run…
Mark Twain’s ‘The War Prayer’
It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading…
The Materialist Conception Of History
For an easy to understand explanation of the Materialist Conception of History, read on. The socialist is politically opposed to the system in which he finds himself; this opposition arises from an analysis of capitalism, and the realization that socialism will solve the majority of the economic and social problems that exist today. We further claim…
A World to Share, A Planet to Spare, A World in Common
Editorial from the April 1984 issue of the World Socialist Across the entire face of the planet useful labour is held back and subject to domination by world capital. World Socialism will establish the freedom in which it can concentrate its energies solely on human needs. This will be world co-operation to produce more food;…
In Response to Reformism
We in the World Socialist Movement are often accused of being opposed to reforms, social legislation ostensibly designed to ameliorate some more or less intolerable situation such as the NHS or Social Security. However, to the contrary, the World Socialist Movement is NOT opposed to reforms per se, any more than it ADVOCATES them. Socialists should not support or agitate for reforms…
The State and its abolition
The State and its abolition From the Spring 1985 issue of the World Socialist (Part 1) Introduction The establishment of world socialism will involve the abolition of the state, but this must be achieved by first gaining control of the entire powers and machinery of governments, including the armed forces. The practical question involved in…
The WSM and the Guesdists
From the La Bataille socialiste blog When the Socialist Party of Great Britain was being founded in 1904, as a breakaway from the Social Democratic Federation which had pioneered Marx’s ideas in Britain, the main issue confronting the international Social Democratic movement was “Ministerialism”, or whether or not Socialists should participate in a “bourgeois government”. In 1899…
James Connolly and the Easter Rising
The Irish Citizens Army was was formed on 23rd November as a self-defence militia. It arose out of the Lockout of 1913 to protect the strikers from the Dublin police who had killed two and injured many hundreds with their brutality. Under the command of James Connolly the ICA evolved into military unit dedicated to the creating an Irish socialist republic. Alongside the nationalist Irish…
God and the WSM
The quest for the supernatural does not stem from an excessive imagination but from a limited one constrained by years of exploitation and oppression. Being opposed to religion is not the same as trying to prevent people from practising religion. We’re not interested in setting up an enlightened dictatorship. Socialists don’t want to police peoples…
The Most Dangerous Song in The World
A Rewrite From the September 2006 issue of the Industrial Worker, paper of the Industrial Workers of the World. The author of the piece, Len Wallace, is a IWW member and well known radical musician, as well as a long standing member of the Socialist Party of Canada, who became a supporter of the now defunct World in Common group. The International (originally L’Internationale) is…