Monday, April 15, 2019

If We Wanted (2014)

From the May 2014 issue of the Socialist Standard

In the world today, we have the resources, technology and ability to feed, clothe and house every man, woman and child on Earth. Enough for everyone to live in comfort.

So, why are so many people these days wasting their breath and time arguing about nations and borders?

The vast majority of people in this country don’t own it. We just live and work here. It’s the same in other countries. Working people everywhere already run society from top to bottom, but we run it for the people who own it, rather than for ourselves.

The government, the police, courts and army exist to defend the people who own the world.

That depends on us complying but, if we wanted, we could choose to run the world for ourselves.

If we want, we can use our votes to take control to end this. If we wanted, we

could organise in our workplaces and communities to abolish poverty and inequality.

If we wanted, we could plan to abolish poverty and inequality as our priority, instead of the profits of the wealthy.

If we owned the world, in common, we could provide plenty, for everyone. There’d be no more need for buying and selling, just sharing and free access. Instead of spending our time fighting over scraps, we could work together to make life better for everyone. No more unemployment. No more working for an employer.

If we wanted we could bring about a society where people not markets matter, where goods are produced for need not profit and where we all share on an equal basis in the fruits of our common efforts.

No comments: