Capitalism & CommunismCapitalism is based on a drive for profits. It is an economic system based on private ownership of production and uncontrolled market forces rather than a planned economy. In 160 years of industrial and scientific revolution it has developed massive productive capacity and created a global market. The world’s population has grown by five, the world economy by fifty over this time.Yet today we can increasingly see that capitalist society cannot meet people’s real needs. Its narrow pursuit of profit at the expense of everything else stops it from fully realising the potential it creates, and even sows the seeds of its own destruction. It has given us a century of wars, economic crises and now, impending global environmental disaster. It’s world is one of extremes of poverty and wealth, where an economic elite holds the global economy – and our lives – hostage. Our worst problems arise from the workings of capitalism. It cannot offer humanity a viable future. Never has it been so possible, so sensible and so necessary for society to turn its material, technological and social energies to the problems facing all of humanity, rather than to merely serving the profit of a few. Never before has the greed of the few looked so obvious, so destructive and so unnecessary. Humanity now confronts a choice of futures!One choice is barbarism – the future that capitalism itself is sliding towards, a future it cannot escape - social, economic and environmental collapse and dislocation, famine, disease and war. Its greed driven course, its need to continually intensify exploitation of humanity and nature, to secure “competitive” rates of profit and economic supremacy will drive it to the end. The other is communism, a future which is possible, but not inevitable. To begin with, communism - or its earliest phase, socialism – can only come about when the world’s working class, the global workforce, the great majority of humanity, consciously decides enough is enough. In various ways the people start to take control of global production out of the hands of the capitalist class. In other words, socialism comes out of resistance to the prevailing course of events. It works to carry out change in the interest of labour, not capital. Accordingly, it aims to abolish the present state of things as a step towards creating a sustaining and sustainable future for all humanity. A socialist system would give first priority to improving the living standards of the working people. While industries must be efficient and be able to balance the books, the benefits from increased production must be passed on to the working people who are doing the work. There are many ways in which this can be done – increased wages, holiday pay, bonus payments, retirement benefits, improved working conditions, a shorter working week, etc. Wages must keep up with prices and be improved as productivity increases. Socialism and democracy must go hand in hand. In addition to having the right to elect the government and to stand as a candidate in an election from time to time, it also means having social and economic responsibilities as well as rights. A socialist government would ensure that public enterprises became the dominant form of ownership even though some forms of private ownership would continue to exist for a long time. Public ownership is particularly important in the key areas of the economy such as natural resources, transport, steel and heavy machinery manufacturing, banking, communications, basic food supplies, etc. Private profit making would be limited to a level that prevented the making of excess profits. Movements for change in many parts of the world have already achieved significant results in the struggle for the liberation of the people. Capitalism is being challenged in many areas. Anti-globalisation struggles are developing into every corner of the earth. The struggle for peace has swept every continent. The Communist Alliance believes that the 21st Century will be the century of socialism, giving the peoples of the world the chance of living as a common humanity. This is the possibility communists seek to bring about!
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