Is there a future for socialism?
In order for one to look ahead to the future, the past must be addressed. The political programme of modern day socialists was borne out of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) post-1890. Pre-1890, the stout socialist’s revolutionaries of German society were persecuted under Bismarcks Anti-Socialists Laws – these laws prohibited any meetings of more than one socialists in any room and all their socialist paraphernalia. In order to get around these new decrees, socialists scampered for Parliament where free speech was promised to all. Moreover, in this Parliament, the German socialist was able to procure universal suffrage and crucial legal preservation of unions, which had been deeply mistrusted and vilified by the Bismarckian government. Furthermore, because of the Social Democrat party in Germany basing their ideas on the industrial proletariat of society, there was an emergence of interest from the working class of German society. This was a key moment in German political history, as the working class finally had a party in which their legal, financial and political agendas were listened to and put forward with gusto into parliament. However, this utopian idealistic party did not last long after the Anti-Socialist laws were repealed. As a result of this, socialism was more widely accepted and the SPD were not the only purveyors of socialism within Germany. In an attempt to make themselves stand out from the supposed dilution of socialism, the Erfurt Programme( insert ) was born.
The Erfurt Programme entailed revolutionary goals – most notably of which, destroying the capitalist mode of production- this was all to be achieved via very strict reforms, reforms which the SPD were unable to act on as promised. However, Engels viewed this as a charade, mere filibuster, because, as he rightly points out, these goals were just ideas with no real means of attaining them. Engels stated “If all ten demands were granted we… have a … diverse means of achieving our political aim, but the aim itself would in no wise have been achieved.” ( insert) The programme proved ineffective as most had imagined since the SPD were forcibly stuck on ageing political views, that they themselves began to attempt and appeal to the bourgeoisie of German society, something the fondly upon by the everyday socialist. As a result of their new policies such as the patriarchal families and patriotism, there main groups of voters were eliminated – the Ruhr mine workers and the women working in textile mills. Post these events, workers all united against the SPD government, sick and tired of being pushed aside for the bourgeoisie and began uniting under a new mantra, Communism.
The dawn of the 20 century issued forth a cascade of socialism into the, then, undeveloped world. Countries such as Russia and China were now playing catch up – and some could argue they still are – with the developed capitalist “west”. However, this was a behemoth task considering the plethora of centuries the west took in order to a mature their means of production and the labour used to drive it. Marx referred to this process it Capital as “primitive accumulation” ( insert ) . Marx brought to light the conflicting nature of advanced technology to which the workforce was subject to. Furthermore, Marx states that machines are the capitalist retort to the struggles of the working class in their “working day”, driving for a surplus in their product and disengaging the labourers from their labour. Socialist society’s attempted to reach the insurmountable heights of development set by the west on a nationwide scale, within five years. One example of this is Stalin’s many five year plans which, short-term worked very well, however, long term not so well. The process of rapid primitive accumulation brought with it violence on a huge scale. Workers were subjugated under the sick regime of Taylorism in order for the pace to not slow in these five-year plans. The telling marks of all these socialist societies were the despicable and bloodthirsty dictators that they had. As soon as the projected development did not go according to plan, these dictators would bring about measures such as the gulags and put claims upon people that they are not working hard enough for the motherland, they are western spies seeking to destroy the socialist way. During the bloody period of socialist history, most socialist thinkers at the time often overlooked the harsh treatment of peoples, stating that post the bloodshed, their desired development would be achieved and so all is for the greater good.
Despite all the supposed development in these countries, there was still an unbridled pull towards capitalism and its unrestrained free market economy. There came and abandonment of workers as the centre of the socialist regime. The workers and the influence that they now had, was the main reason that these one party states held their power. However, this working class majority was lost always swapped for bureaucracy. Marx’s and Lenin themselves proclaimed that under their new found socialism, the workers should hold all the power and not the state, however, because Lenin concentrated all his power into a few close friends and comrades, the greater development of their supposed working class was stunted. Capitalism is what brought about development as a broad tool for advancing one’s state. The enlightenment is a key factor of the developmental ethos which was merged with the mode of production. Developmentalism provided the bourgeoisie with an extra energy source within the cities which they could exploit. Industrial production and technology are key factors in socialist future. Socialism and progress post-1920 has nearly destroyed socialism that was set up via the SPD. However, the majority of thinkers believe that socialism culminated to a point in the Enlightenment of the French revolution. Socialists believed that the enlightenment was just another facet of slavery, except with a prettier name. The revolution of the peoples of France could almost be inspired by that of their own colonists in Haiti. In 1791, The Haiti plantation workers emancipated themselves from the oppressive rulers of France donning the red and blue, adorned by the Sans Culottes less than a decade later.
The future according to Marx was mass unemployment. Marxist ideas over the future have brought all the development in the developed world into question. Henwood points out that recent economic recovery has been the weakest by far, and the 60-year cycle of capitalists downfall is nearly reaching its las years before another big crash. There has been a change as the recession of capitalism has failed to bring back jobs that were once there pre the recession. Capitalsm especially has finished evolving now, the supposed tool that was consistently supposed to be innovating and bringing about new modes of development and market has been stagnating for the last decade. Moreover, the dot com marvel has given the impression that capitalism was being fresh and dynamic again however Henwood points out that “Our most recent bubble built a lot of subdivisions in exurban las Vegas, with no payoff either in the productive or phantasmic realms” ( Insert). Furthermore, China is a great example of neo-capitalism which has a very uncertain and tricky path ahead. There has been a huge wage rise in China’s Foxconn factories, the main reason for this as Forbes demonstrates is not that, Apple, for example, are attempting to create a better and more egalitarian working environment, but however “it’s not the calls for everyone to be nicer that are raising wages, it’s that there no reserve army of unemployment left” ( insert). Wages in china has been increasingly on the rise, workers cost have increased by 100% between 2002 – 2008. Furthermore, until the financial crash in 2008, everything was heading on an upwards curve in China, unemployment was on the down, wages rising. However, post 2008 over 20 million workers were laid off (insert) . These workers had nowhere to go in the city so all moved back to the countryside. The industrial revolution has almost been reversed with the recent crash and so has urbanisation.
The new socialism of the 21st century will need to be revolutionary and very appealing if it wants to overthrow the already existing capitalist classes. These new socialists movements, however, will not be easy as they require the majority of the public to agree with them. They also must throw aside the Marxist and Leninist ways of achieving a worker state, the revolutionary methods are outdated and will not be stood for in today’s modern society. The democracy of the workers must be at the heart of all modern day socialism. Furthermore these new parties need to have some radical democratic ideal’s which need to appeal not only to their key demographic, the proletariat, but also the other classes of capitalist society. However, the main facets and actors of these changes will not be politicians, and should not be politicians, the workers need to seize power with their own hands. Their emancipation can and will only be achieved through direct effort of the oppressed. if one harkens back to all oppressed peoples in history, it was people oppressed who made changes not those sympathetic to the cause. This new democracy of the workers will need to control the economic lifeblood of the state in order to gain any traction. Workers councils and workers in parliaments and assemblies will be key to sustaining a and ascertaining a workers democracy in the future. This would require huge efforts in protecting individual rights and pluralism, race, gender, class and all classic socialists and communist gripes with the capitalist society of today will all need to be completely eradicated if there is to be a complete and unbridled socialist society in todays day and age.
The contemporary crisis that socialism is suffering at this time will undoubtably be for some time. It is how socialism will be able to weather the storm is the key to their future. Furthermore, capitalisms own faults are not so great now that a socialists evolution needs to take place. Many analysts believe that before socialism can tae precedents over society of the world, capitalism must first fall down. This however will not happen for some time. Socialism does have a future since normal working class people can cooperate and like working together, if this is done then a society can be created in which the “free development of each is the condition for free development of all” (insert)