How Will Socialism Come?

[Dahut]

How do we unite the working classes and the left, galvanise support for a revolution and bring the proletariat to class consciousness, especially in conservative societies? How will this come about?

[IndependentCitizen]

Class consciousness hits peak during times of economic "crisis" - Generally around times of savage cuts, and austerity in which the working class begins to take action to defend their jobs, services and what have you. However, people will turn to the opposition party if real leftists don't intervene, begin offering support, calling for public meetings surrounding particular issues to draw in the working class and promote the idea of socialism. It's not going to happen in a few months, it can take years to prepare the working class since the ruling parties will do everything they can in order to switch off the class consciousness.

[red cat]

How do we unite the working classes and the left, galvanise support for a revolution and bring the proletariat to class consciousness, especially in conservative societies? How will this come about?

We generally start by organizing the poorest sections of the working class around real-life struggles.

[Dahut]

Class consciousness hits peak during times of economic "crisis" - Generally around times of savage cuts, and austerity in which the working class begins to take action to defend their jobs, services and what have you. However, people will turn to the opposition party if real leftists don't intervene, begin offering support, calling for public meetings surrounding particular issues to draw in the working class and promote the idea of socialism. It's not going to happen in a few months, it can take years to prepare the working class since the ruling parties will do everything they can in order to switch off the class consciousness.

Sounds like the UK at the moment. Economic crisis, savage cuts, austerity, big job cuts, tax hikes, welfare cuts and we're heading towards privatisation of health and education (partly). Some people are turning to Labour but they haven't got a solution, they would only do the same. There are quite a few public meetings on things. But this society seems to be quite right wing, many support the cuts. So where is the left?

[Dahut]

We generally start by organizing the poorest sections of the working class around real-life struggles.

How do we do this? Trade unions? They haven't got much power in the UK, Thatcher took it all away. :(

[robbo203]

How do we unite the working classes and the left, galvanise support for a revolution and bring the proletariat to class consciousness, especially in conservative societies? How will this come about?

By not regarding the "proletariat" as something to be manipulated and socially engineered into agreeing with us and by recognising that we ourselves are simply workers and not some vanguard which has to take it upon itself to emancipate the rest of our class

[Dahut]

By not regarding the "proletariat" as something to be manipulated and socially engineered into agreeing with us and by recognising that we ourselves are simply workers and not some vanguard which has to take it upon itself to emancipate the rest of our class

So our role is just advance the cause of socialism within the working classes?

[taka því rólega]

Without sounding pessimistic I think things will have to get worse before class consciousness is a serious issue - even the vast cuts and public health "reforms" touted in the UK at the moment aren't enough to mobilise a majority of workers or provoke widespread dissent.

That being said, in a strange way I hope that things get worse under the Coalition as unemployment rises, public services are destroyed etc. I think as these issues become actually revealed to people and the cuts take effect the working classes in particular will become more conscious of the effect the government has had on them.

Another contentious point is that our society is not yet at the highest stage of capitalism, as it were - we do not have a totally free market and in a way it seems as if capitalism will have to develop further and overcome the restraints currently imposed on it in order to provoke a revolution of sorts.

In the meantime all we can do is raise awareness, so many people just do not know of an alternative.

[robbo203]

So our role is just advance the cause of socialism within the working classes?


If you mean by "our" those of us who are revolutionary socialists then yes it is our role to put across the case for socialism openly and honestly and not try to engineer our fellow workers into joining with through the advocacy of so called "transitional demands" and the like. Whether that is our only role is another matter. As workers we have to organise with our fellow workers in the day to day industrial struggle against capital but that in itself does not necessarily requite one to be a socialist. Most trade unionists are not socialists

[Tommy4ever]

I have no idea how we are going to bring about socialism. No one here does. We just have to try to help build class counsciousness, support unity in the left and groups that can help organise the working class. In the end that is all we can do. We have to present a strong alternative to the failing capitalist system that the working class recognises as legitimate - in most countries around the world we have been failing to do so.

[Arlekino]

Working class divided and is sad news. Even left wingers are divided.

[Impulse97]

Well, it certainly won't come without class consciousness. Once we achieve that on a widespread basis I think it will just happen naturally. Perhaps, with a little bit of a nudge from the CP of that nation. What do people do If they see an alternative that they agree with? They try to go to that alternative. Hence, if we have an aware proletariat, it should just happen as people seek something other than Capitalism.

[miltonwasfried...man]

Democracy has the potential to bring about socialism and equality. In countries where there is universal sufferage the proletariat have the voice and ability to vote in a left leaning party. Albeit corporate propagada attempts to suppress this voice and maintain the status quo. Nevertheless socialism can and has occured peacefully through the vote.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Nevertheless socialism can and has occured peacefully through the vote.

In what dream-world did this happen? :laugh:

[Thirsty Crow]

So our role is just advance the cause of socialism within the working classes?
Here, you are reproducing the division between the "vanguard" composed of those who think and offer ideas to other workers and workers themselves.
What I'm getting at is specifically what robbo corrrectly noticed - that we are workers, and our role is not only to act as a revolutionary think tank, but also as those who can organize their workplace and engage in struggles that do not easily transcend the immediate economic issues.

In yet other words (am I being clear? :confused:), our role is also to fight, as workers, at the workplace, for better conditions for the class in its sectoral manifestations (sector strikes, for instance), and for the class in its whole (cross-sectoral industrial action). As communists, we may tke up the role of active intervention into existing class struggle.

If I were to be quite pretentious and quasi-poetic, I'd say that proletarians whi identify themselves as communists are beings incorporating two souls :D

[Ingraham Effingham]

The media, in america especially, serves to polarize opinions about everything from abortion to fashion to relgion, so we are too distracted to draw lines where they should be, between haves and have-nots.

The oil/war/media/banking machine divides the people by race, religion, nationality, lib vs con, dem vs rep, left vs right, country vs rock and roll, football vs, soccer, etc and highlights these (actually small) differences to keep people apart and fighting.

Education is key, get people to turn of the TV, and stop treating serious political issues like an episode of Real World, and maybe the wage-slaves can present a united front (what the elites don't want) so food-riots aren't needed for change.

That's the problem with idealistic change: a revolution would generate scorn and detractors causing failure in the long run, but gradual enlightenment requires more faith in humanity than most of us have....