The World Socialist Movement . . . (2003)

From the December 2003 issue of the Socialist Standard

The World Socialist Movement . . . 

. . . says that socialism will, and must, be a wageless, moneyless, worldwide society of common (not state) ownership and democratic control of the means of wealth production and distribution;

. . . says that socialism will be a sharp break with capitalism with no "transition period" or gradual implementation of socialism (although socialism will be a dynamic, changing society once it is established);

. . .  says that there can be no state in a socialist society;

. . .  says that there can be no classes in a socialist society;

. . .  promotes only socialism, and as an immediate goal;

. . .  says that only the vast majority, acting consciously in its own interests, for itself, by itself, can create socialism;

. . . opposes any vanguardist approach, minority-led movements, and leadership, as inherently undemocratic (among other negative things);

. . .  promotes a peaceful democratic revolution, achieved through force of numbers and understanding;

. . .  neither promotes, nor opposes, reforms to capitalism;

. . .  says that there is one working class, worldwide;

. . .  lays out the fundamentals of what a socialist society must be, but does not presume to tell the future socialist society how to go about its business;

. . .  promotes an historical materialist approach-real understanding;

. . . says that religion is a social, not personal, matter and that religion is incompatible with socialist understanding;

. . .  proposes electoral action by a socialist majority to facilitate the elimination of capitalism, not to govern capitalism;

. . .  says that Leninism is a distortion of Marxian analysis;

. . . opposes all war and says that socialism will inherently end war, including the "war" between classes;

. . .  noted, in 1918, that the Bolshevik Revolution was not socialist and that that Russia was not ready for a socialist revolution;

. . .  was the first to recognize that the former USSR, China, Cuba and other so-called "socialist countries" were not socialist, but instead, state capitalist.

(From the World Socialism website)