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Workers’ and Community Control of the Economy

By socialism we mean a society in which individuals will enjoy not only the abstract right to determine the course of their own lives, but also the economic means and the political liberty to do so. This means replacing capitalism with a system in which production is based on human needs and interests, for this and future generations. Society’s productive resources will be owned cooperatively, so decisions about what and how things are produced will have to be made democratically. The knowledge of modern science will not be limited to experts tied to profiteering but will be at the service of humanity. People, rather than economic forces, will decide the priorities of society.

How Would it Work?

Capitalism itself makes socialism possible. Spurred on by the industrial revolution and the automation of production, capitalism has generalised social production. New technology and social labour have made it possible to produce goods and services on a scale never before imagined. The productive resources that already exist can provide for the material needs of everyone and free people from spending the bulk of their time simply working to make a living. Capitalism also produced its own gravedigger: a collective work force that doesn’t need capitalists. The owners of industry have no function except to rob workers of the product of their labour. They call it private "enterprise". That’s nonsense: a factory can produce without capitalists but not without workers. Socialism will socialise the ownership and control of production, distribution and services. The wealth of society, and the means of producing it, will be owned in common by the whole society and managed democratically, instead of being monopolised by a small minority and hijacked for profits. Workers in each factory and office and local communities will have control over what they do with their resources, and will come together on a national scale to plan the economy. They would also coordinate internationally. Given the chance, no socially planned economy will choose to have unemployment, poverty and waste. Of course, mistakes may be made. Too much of some goods may be produced, but then we can give them away, begin producing more wanted things or reduce working hours. We won’t throw millions of people out of work, leave machinery idle or toss desperately needed food into the ocean.

Socialism Means Freedom

A socialist society won’t be constructed from a preconceived plan. Rather, it will be the next stage of social evolution. By freeing people from the alienating compulsion to labour 40 or more hours a week to make a living, it will unleash the creativity of billions of minds. Under capitalism, only a few have the time and wealth to enjoy great music, art, literature or theatre, or to learn more of the marvels of nature and science. It will be different when the advances of technology aren’t used to increase profits and unemployment, but to cut working hours without any loss in income. More and more people will have the time to be involved in fields that privileged specialists previously monopolised. Issues debated by small groups of intellectualsmusic, educational methods, scientific theories, artistic and literary trends-can become popular issues. Socialism provides people with the means to control their own lives. Socialism doesn’t guarantee what the future will be. It lets people decide that for themselves.

Socialism and Democracy

The first and primary objective of a socialist government in Australia will be the restructuring of political life: to establish a decision-making structure in which workers and communities participate on a completely democratic basis. For socialism, democracy is not a mere trimming, but a necessity. Socialism needs democracy because when profit no longer motivates production it must be people’s own needs and interests that do. The entire community and particular sections of it-workers, the aged, young people, indigenous people, artists, scientists, sportspeople-will have to decide what is produced and how. Socialism needs to extend democracy into all areas of life. When production must be decided democratically, working hours, prices and environmental safeguards must be as well. For capitalism, political participation means voting every few years, if that. Even then, capitalist politicians have to work hard to make sure people forget their previous promises. Unlike capitalism, socialism is about the right of all people to participate in determining the direction of society. Because capitalism has never developed any mechanisms to make that possible, socialism will have to be innovative. A socialist society will need administration. It would be impractical and pointless for the whole population to try to oversee the details of production and distribution at each factory and supermarket. But people with the responsibility of administration will have no special privileges or powers over the rest of society. There will be no life tenures and no untouchable authorities. Administrators will be subject to recall by the community if they don’t do their job or abuse their position.