Sarah Sachs-Eldridge, Socialist Party national organiser
It’s only March and already 2017 has been dominated by protests. Millions of people have taken to the streets against the establishment and the status quo.
That includes the millions-strong international ‘women’s marches’, the magnificent 4 March NHS demonstration, the protests against Trump’s Muslim ban, the demos in solidarity with refugees and the movements against repressive austerity governments from Romania to South Korea.
Eight billionaires own more wealth than the poorest 50% of the world’s population – that is a summary of the inequality and injustice of the capitalist system. The marches show that millions of people want to see change.
The Socialist Party has been mobilising for and participating in the protests. We put forward a way to build the burgeoning resistance movements.
We emphasise the need for uniting all those suffering under austerity and capitalist crisis. We fight for every possible improvement in the lives of working people, putting forward what measures are needed to win these gains.
We point to the potential power of the working class – as can be glimpsed when tube workers strike and London is brought to a standstill. And we are proud to raise the idea of a socialist alternative – the democratic running of society to meet the needs of all.
In Britain, when Jeremy Corbyn stood as an alternative to the Tory and Tory-lite politics of the Conservatives and the Blairites there was a mass response. But the right wing that dominates the Parliamentary Labour Party has been trying to get rid of him from the start.
The Socialist Party puts forward ideas that help the anti-austerity Corbynistas fight for a party in the interests of the 99% – not the 1% as the Blairites want – including deselection of right-wingers and extending Jeremy’s programme to include more socialist measures.
Socialism is about taking the wealth and resources of the world, currently concentrated in the hands of the numerically tiny capitalist class – not even the 1% – and using them to provide for what the 99% want and need as opposed to what makes the most profit. This includes measures to safeguard the environment.
Taking the banks and the largest companies into public ownership, with compensation on the basis of proven need, will allow us to democratically decide and plan how to run society.