Branch News (1964)

Party News from the July 1964 issue of the Socialist Standard

Lewisham Branch is continuing its propaganda activity in Bromley and the Branch has especially asked that as many comrades as possible would be welcome to support their Thursday evening meetings at the Market Place, Bromley (outside Dunn's). These meetings commence at 7.30 p.m.

Glasgow Branch held a Seven Days for Socialism (June 6th-June 14th). Comrade Gilmac went up for the week to assist the Branch and we will have a review of the events in next month's issue.

Three weeks in America. Comrade McClatchie (Gilmac) reports: “I recently spent three weeks in America, most of the time in Boston, but I spent three days in New York. In Boston some members occupy Monday nights at their Head Office doing the routine work—dealing with correspondence, sending out literature, attending to subscriptions, etc. On Friday evenings there is an economic class and on Sundays they hold their fortnightly Executive Committee meetings. In between times Rab, Morrison and Fenton (the latter is also General Secretary) are engaged in writing and going through articles for the “W.S.” As far as I remember, the meetings on Boston Common had not recommenced. They have had very bad weather.

I attended an N.A.C. meeting and the Economics Class the first week I was there. At the second meeting of the Economics Class I spoke on the Materialist Conception of History. There was no time for advertising this meeting but about 80 letters were sent out to possible attenders. As a result about 30 turned up, and there were a number of questions.

I noticed one welcome change from my previous visit. A number of young people are interested and some have joined the Party.

Whilst in Boston I stayed, very pleasantly, at the Rabs. One evening they had a party which enabled me to meet some of the young people who have joined, and some who are interested. I also spent some pleasant evenings in the homes of Comrades Morrison, Ellenborgen, Blake and Gloss. One lovely evening Com. Gloss took me to dinner at a restaurant by the sea. Although his bookshop was burnt down he is carrying on quite well. I stayed with Comrade Orner and met the New York comrades. One of these (Charley David) was mentioned in a paper on account of his weekly discussions in a Square there. Another (Jack Kilgore) I was told, drives over one hundred miles to attend their Branch meetings in New York! In New York I had some lengthy discussions with Comrades Davis and Coombs. Another Comrade was there part of the time. Sam Orner is as full of beans as ever and proposes attending our next Conference. Charley Davis expressed the same intention. Comrade Fenton of Boston also proposes making a visit and Rab has it in mind.

In conclusion, I must record my appreciation for the comradely welcome I received everywhere. In particular, the warm and friendly atmosphere in the two places where I stayed; the Rab’s home in Boston and the Orner’s home in New Jersey. They could not do too much for me and for my comfort. I must add that Comrade Rab took me for a delightful three day trip through the New England States, which, to me, had an advantage historically as well as the appreciation of beautiful scenery and houses, villages and towns containing shadows of time gone by."

West London Branch have planned a visit to Brighton on Sunday, July 5th. This visit has been arranged in conjunction with the Brighton Group. All are welcome—meeting place—West Pier, Brighton, noon, Sunday, July 5th.

Wood Green & Hornsey Branch will meet in future at 17, Dorset Road, N.22, on Fridays at 8.30, All enquiries and correspondence to E. L. McKone at that address.

Phyllis Howard

The working class Joe meets the boss (1986)

From issue 1 of the World Socialist Review

Let Them Eat Glasnost (1987)

Editorial from Issue 4 of the World Socialist Review

Everyone knows the old joke about Russia's top-down brand of state capitalism: capitalism is the exploitation of man by man, whereas communism is the opposite. In fact, of course, there are no socialist republics (socialism not being compatible with government), nor are any of the Soviet Union’s republics examples of socialism (which requires a classless, moneyless society functioning on a worldwide basis), nor are there even any soviets (councils acting as the workers' democratically elected delegates) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. What's in the name, then? An immense majority who go to the market everyday to sell their only commodity—their ability to do work—to a small minority who. . . . roll up their shirtsleeves and plunge into the "work” of supervising and directing the country’s capital investments so as to make them yield a profit (someone' s got to do it, after all!).

And now that the USSR’s workers, women and men alike, have glasnost, Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of ’’openness,” they will presumably become happier and more productive and, not least, more accessible to multinational penetration. For even the spectre of communism has at last been incorporated into the marketplace!

Common Ownership

It is no academic exercise to point out that the word ’’communism” means only common ownership of the means of producing wealth: the right to decide on the use of the mechanisms by which society recreates and reproduces itself. The state is designed, on the contrary, to enforce the will of a minority against the wishes of the majority (in modern times, perversely enough, through the use of "majority rule”). As "open” as the CPSU and its politburo may now be projecting themselves, all the glasnost in the world (though there isn’t that much of it floating around anyhow) will not make them communists.

Are We “Commies” ?

As communists (socialists) ourselves, our policy has often been confused with theirs. During the second world war, when the Allied Powers calculated it was to their advantage to court Russia’s ersatz ruling élite, a great deal of treacle and syrup poured forth from the US government about the heroic Soviet Union, led by that epic working-class genius, Joseph Stalin.

If you were too young during the days of world war II, or not yet born, there are books and articles readily available dealing with the cooperation and friendship between the bolshevik-style Communists on the one hand, and the professed champions of "democratic” capitalism on the other. (For starters, try The Pocket Book of the War, Quincy Howe, Ed., Pocket Books, Inc., Hew York, 1941.)

However, when the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain were wining, dining and dealing with Stalin in the Kremlin, the World Socialist Party and its Companion Parties in other countries were openly opposing the war as a carnage not worth the shedding of a single drop of working-class blood. When the secret police of the Soviet Union and the secret police of the United States (the forerunner of the present CIA) were acting in unison, we were speaking out and writing articles attacking the war.

When the Communist Party was recruiting for the war effort, selling Victory Bonds, waving the flag and singing the national anthem of America, as well as that of Russia, we of the World Socialist Party were speaking from the rostrum on Boston Common as our comrades in England spoke in Hyde Park; continuing to urge our fellow workers to organize for the abolition of capitalism everywhere—the basic cause of war.

Are They Communists?

Thus, we are not Communists in the popularly accepted meaning of that much-maligned word. We do not support or sympathize with Russian or Chinese or Cuban or any other state capitalism. We are communists, though, in the classical meaning of the term. We are scientific socialists who advocate the complete and immediate abolition of the buying and selling system in all its forms around the world and the immediate introduction of a system of production for use.

If the workers of the Soviet Union want an ’’opening” that is socially authentic, they would do well to press for the immediate elimination of the system that keeps them exploited in more or less the same way as it does everywhere else. Perhaps glasnost will inadvertently give them some space in which to think about organizing for a real socialist revolution.

Why you need a Socialist Party (1992)

From issue 9 of the World Socialist Review

Presently, everything we humans need to live is locked up tightly under the control of investors who accumulate capital (capitalists)—people who can deny everyone else access to “survival goods.” Because they have this power, they can force as many people as market conditions will allow to work for them, at rates they set low enough to allow them a profit on their investments. If the state does the investing and controls the capital, then the state is the capitalist; it all comes to the same thing. The owners and controllers of capital monopolize the production of virtually everything useful or enjoyable (wealth), which economists facelessly describe as “goods and services.”

This monopolization creates two classes of people—capitalists and workers. Anyone who works for a living—blue-collar, white-collar or professional—is a worker (whether this fits the currently fashionable image or not). Although not all workers produce wealth, the conditions prevailing in the factories, on the land, in transportation, set the standard for conditions elsewhere in the system. Workers alone produce wealth, and employment is just an evolved form of slavery.

Capitalists have to stay in business. This means they need to keep their costs down and their profit opportunities maximal. They must pay their employees the least amount they calculate will keep them alive; and their system allows the use of a "sliding scale" of valuation which gives them the right to pay employees as close to nothing as they can get away with, providing this is compatible with the maintenance of a profit-producing workforce.

Workers have to stay alive. This means they need to keep their earnings as high as they can and to maximize their purchasing power as consumers. If they don’t bother to draw their own conclusions about being forced into such a position, they will at least manage to respond to the initiatives taken by their employers; by organizing into unions, they can, when the economy is expanding, enforce the terms of their maintenance that capitalism normally requires in the abstract.

The attempt by employers to drive wages or salaries down below the survival minimum is part of a process we call “exploitation.” The driving mechanism of the process is the quest for profit, which requires producing the greatest possible surplus over workers’ needs at any given time. We say “producing” because it is in the sector of wealth production that the most direct and explicit form of exploitation occurs. But employment in general is exploitation, even where workers produce no direct wealth themselves.

The result of a system based on these two all-inclusive sets of conflicting needs is an unending and often vicious struggle between the two classes (the class struggle). All political conflicts, based on this premise, form part of the same evil tree— all of them ultimately generated by the exploitation of workers by capitalists. Ownership of the means of producing wealth requires no work, and work—in any sector of the economy—implies no control over the system in any of its parts.

What is the solution?

Obviously, this state of affairs could go on forever—conditions permitting, which is arguable all by itself—if workers (a) either tamely submitted to their enslavement or (b) actively "improved” its quality

by organizing against their employers. The only way out of the whole vicious cycle is to eliminate its basis, the use of capital.

How do you do that? Abstractly speaking, on the one hand, by transferring ownership and control of the means of wealth production to the community at large, so that all who ask for what they need can give it directly to themselves. (This implies a democratically controlled administration, naturally; see below.)

More concretely, enough workers to constitute a majority of the population remove the obligation of obtaining money for the things they need, based on the work they perform. They abolish the wages system. If everyone, as the community, disposes of a common ownership over the means of creating useful and/or enjoyable effects, no one can have power over others in that community.

Why the working class?

Because capitalism has triumphed worldwide, eliminating all competing systems of wealth production, it has consequently consolidated the struggles between exploiters and exploited into one between capitalists and workers. No other social classes are left anymore. Workers are almost all the people there are in the world. Businessmen constitute the remainder. By eliminating capital altogether—which rests squarely on the payment of wages, salaries and other types of payment for services rendered—workers in effect constitute a new form of society. Only they can do this; to their employers (and anyone using employer-logic) the whole idea sounds perfectly insane.

Getting there

The working class needs first of all—schematically speaking—to gain control of both the machinery of state and the world of work. A socialist party cannot help it do the latter, but— once workers realize the need to carry out this purpose—such a party is the best vehicle available for accomplishing the former.

Why gain control of the state? Because it is a command center for the economy, easily converted into a “war machine” for defeating working class initiatives aimed at wresting control from the capitalist class. It is a strategic line of retreat that can otherwise save the day for the capitalist class when all else seems lost. Capitalism is replete with instances of the military taking control of the state to tide over the system for indefinite “emergencies,” when workers get too close. Workers do, however, operate the system to a degree that has become virtually total. Economically they are already dominant within the capitalist system, but of course the capital-accumulating class denies them the political control that should go with that.

Workers need to pursue this goal very single-mindedly. Less than the system itself will not suffice: leaving “parts” of it intact will only force it to adapt itself to the change of rules imposed on it, largely at working class insistence. Basing an economy on payment for goods and services— specifically, on the payment of wages and salaries—itself must go, or we will never be rid of the beast.

Any organization failing to recognize this will never enjoy real or lasting success in seeking to promote goals it sees as opposed to the effects or the operations of capitalism. A socialist party cannot therefore allow itself to pursue other objectives than the replacement of restricted access to goods and services with the objective of free access, which means it can only seek the abolition of the wages system. It must oppose all other goals and those who espouse them; the logic of its very existence requires this.

Why a socialist party?

What people in different countries around the globe should seek to accomplish through their respective socialist parties, as an immediate goal, is to place everything related to the production of anything useful or enjoyable—wealth—in the hands of the community—not the state. This includes distribution from the places where wealth is created to the places where it is used, with the community being made up of everyone without distinction of race or sex: each person having the same right to decide and procure what he or she needs. This arrangement implies the lack of necessity for money or for any other sort of bartering device, and the consequent lack of a basis for the institutions related to exchange—banks, insurance companies, governments and states; of everything, including legislation, designed to force people to do things.

Making it happen

We live under a pernicious system that denies and punishes our best instincts as community animals. Either we can all wait until crisis conditions get so terrible that a confused collision (and possibly an explosively destructive one) between capitalism and reality forces everybody to recognize the benefits of common ownership; or we can do things as befits our human intelligence and organize to secure these benefits, restricting the pain of an enforced transition to our thought processes. We could all permit ourselves the luxury of betting on the luck of posterity, or we could make the change now ourselves while our chances of success remain optimal.

One cannot expect parties and groups committed to partial solutions (reforms) or indirect expedients (workers' states, minority led revolutions and the like) to know how to deal with the problem. As a socialist, you can work for an outcome that is a real possibility—although in the process you will find yourself opposed to these other promotions (and if you don’t realize it at the outset, the other parties and groups will waste no time in disabusing you).

Organizing for socialism—joining the World Socialist Party in this country—therefore implies your understanding of what socialism is and of what is required to achieve it, as well as a firm commitment to avoid embracing or endorsing any partial solutions to the crises of capitalism. While this is certainly not to everyone’s taste, adopting this rule is the only way to build a movement that really will have the eventual ability to act at the critical moment: when the working class, in a mood of historic revulsion, will finally move to end a system that only causes it pain, that trades it poverty for comfort, privileges for equality and slavery for freedom. 

Obituary: Len Fenton (1917-2006)

Len Fenton and Ann Rab

Obituary from issue number 21 of the World Socialist Review

Last October 26th, the World Socialist Party lost one of its most energetic and committed spokesmen—a "stalwart" in the old sense—Comrade Len Fenton. Surviving the death of his wife Ann Rab by four years, he retired gradually from party functions till his last remaining activity was keeping a monthly log of postal mail received.

Fenton's first contact with the organization was in 1936, during a lunch break on Boston Common, where the party speakers frequently and forcefully argued the case for socialism. He was soon deeply impressed; he joined the party in December 1936 and became an official speaker himself in 1938, joining Comrades Rab and Gloss on the stand at outdoor meetings.

Developing his talent for public speaking of all kinds, Fenton was Boston Local's most effective speaker over a long span of years. From 1947 through the 1970s, he frequently represented the WSP at debates with other organizations and at various colleges and universities in the Boston/Cambridge area.

He recruited several other members of his family into the movement. He served on the Editorial Committee of The Western Socialist (the predecessor of the World Socialist Review) from 1939 until its last issue in 1980. [1]

Although Fenton's forte was as a speaker and debater rather than as a writer, he was very active on the Circulation Committee of the WS, and in 1955 he initiated a campaign to get the journal into libraries, which succeeded in boosting its circulation significantly over the next few years (a period in which many radical journals were losing readership). He was also active on the National Administrative Committee, occasionally serving as National Secretary or Treasurer.

Len combined a lucky gene with financial acumen to rise to the status of "cockroach capitalist," a term applied to members who went into business and did well. This phenomenon has sometimes caused critics to wonder how a party of the working class, committed to abolishing capital and wages, can harbor members of the capitalist class in its ranks. But just a little reflection will show that a socialist revolution aims to abolish the function of capital and the necessity of working for a living; the capitalists themselves only personify their capital.

His business allowed him the opportunity to travel abroad, and from 1965 on he and Ann made several trips to England, where they were hosted by comrades in the SPGB. Often they reciprocated the hospitality when some of these comrades would cross the Atlantic and stop in Boston. They formed lifelong friendships with SPGBers like Gilbert McClatchie (Gilmac), Cyril May, Jim D'Arcy and many others. In that bigger, less connected world, mutual contacts among socialists scattered widely across the globe had an intensity borne of a common sense of purpose.

Len Fenton never lost sight of the big picture. All through his long involvement in the world socialist movement, he maintained a contagious upbeat philosophy. Any success the party has in organizing for socialism will rest partly on the foundations he laid. In that sense, he is with us still. 

[1] In 1939 the Socialist Party of Canada, dodging the wartime censors, asked the WSP to take over its publication for the time being as a joint venture — a relationship that ended after 1968, when the SPC launched an independent journal.

Obituary: Len Feinzig (2006)

Obituary from the December 2006 issue of the Socialist Standard

Len Feinzig (also known in the party as Lenny Fenton) died in October. Born in 1917, he joined the World Socialist Party of the US in 1936 and was an active member of Boston Local until there was no more local to be active in. He was part of the core group who continued monthly meetings to mail out the Socialist Standards and keep the bare bones of a socialist movement alive during the 1980s. After the renaissance that the WSP began to experience in 1987, he continued to take part in every activity except those requiring computer skills. Lenny’s greatest contribution to the organization was as a speaker, both on the soapbox and indoors. He was arguably the best debater in the WSP, frequently impressing large audiences in debates with groups from Harvard, MIT and Brandies. He also spoke on Local Boston’s radio program during the late 1960s and early 70s. He visited Britain on a number of occasions, the last time being 2003. Comrade Feinting served for many years on both the NAC and the Editorial Committee of the Western Socialist, the journal of the American and Canadian parties. He also made it his personal project to increase the circulation of the Western Socialist dramatically during the 1950s (not at all an easy task in that period of history!) by instituting a successful nation-wide Library Campaign. His life was long and productive. He will be long remembered.

Readers in the United States (1933)

Notice from the April 1933 issue of the Socialist Standard

Readers of the Socialist Standard in the U.S.A. are invited to get into touch with the Workers' Socialist

Party at the following addresses:—

Headquarters, 138, East 28rd Street, New York City.

Local Bolton, Mass., Fred Jacobs, Secretary, 118c, Warren Street, Roxbury, Mass.

Local Detroit, Mich., Nils Akervall, Secretary, 70, Ferry W., Detroit, Mich.

Local Los Angeles, Calif., Helen Dyer, Secretary, 8011, Tillie Street, Los Angeles, Calif.

Party News Briefs (1950)

Party News from the February 1950 issue of the Socialist Standard

Hackney Branch has received short notice to vacate its present meeting place at the Co-op Hall in Mare Street, Hackney, owing to a scheme for re-building. Future branch meetings will be held at the Bethnal Green Town Hall on Friday evenings until further notice. The Mile End Baths have been booked for a debate with the Conservative Party candidate for the Mile End (Stepney) Division, on Monday, February 13th, at 8 p.m. Application has also been made for a further booking of the same hall to hold a Social and Dance sometime early in March.

The Manifesto of the S.P. of Ireland is at the printers. We are expecting copies to be available before the next issue of this paper.

The W.S.P. of U.S. has moved its National Headquarters from Boston to Detroit. The address is now World Socialist Party of the United States, 3000 Grand River, Detroit 1, Michigan, U.S.A. The previous headquarters at 27 Dock Square, Boston, Mass., will remain the centre for publication of The Western Socialist, and all matters concerning that journal should be addressed there. All matters for the National Executive Council should be sent to Room 307 at the first-mentioned address.

The Report of the 45th Executive Committee to the 46th Annual Conference (1950) is now in the hands of the branches. The Conference will be held at the Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, W.C.l, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 7th, 8th and 9th of April. The report is a very detailed one covering 22 foolscap pages. From it we learn that membership figures are still slowly increasing. At 31st December, 1949, we had 1,071 members. The Executive Committee, acting on a 1949 Conference resolution, agreed on a procedure for enabling members of our Central Branch (comprising those members who reside in an area where no branch of our Party is established) to vote at Annual Conferences. The procedure is being implemented. The Central Organiser reports on a series of meetings held in the provinces at Derby, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Bristol, and says: —

“ At the. moment it is difficult to assess the value of these meetings, but they must contribute to the ultimate formation of branches in the areas mentioned. In 1950 attempts will be made to hold meetings in other parts of the Provinces and it is hoped that our increased speaking strength will make this a practical possibility."

Since the increase in the size of the Socialist Standard from its war-time 12 pages to its present 16 pages, our Head Office has suffered a loss with the publication. Figures are given in the report which show that the normal monthly deficit is approximately £18 10s. 0d. and this does not take into account the expenditure connected with posting and packing of library copies, free issues, etc. Objection is raised to any increase in the price of our paper to offset this deficit. It is suggested that increased sales are the remedy. A 1949 Delegate Meeting resolution recommended that the cover design of the Socialist Standard be changed. This matter, together with proposals for a new lay-out, is receiving attention.

Detailed statistics of the year’s propaganda meetings are included in the report. The total number of outdoor meetings reported to Head Office during 1949 was 950. Other figures are as follows: Indoor meetings, 108; Debates, 14; Addresses to other organisations, 21. Total for all meetings, 1,093. Not included in the report, but for readers who are interested, we give comparative figures for the past few years. These are for meetings that have been reported to Head Office. It has been estimated that approximately 33 per cent, are not reported.

Under the heading “Education” the Executive Committee makes a statement in reference to a 1949 Conference resolution calling for the setting up of machinery “ . . . to more effectively utilise the energies of those members who have passed through the tutorial classes at Head Office.”

“The view of the Executive Committee is that it should be borne in mind that the production of speakers, writers and tutors is not simply a matter of attendance at classes. These kinds of Party work, like others, produce themselves, as always, by doing work and keeping on with it and this would happen, better or worse, if there were no classes. What the classes do provide (in addition to a general survey of Party theory) is a more systematic training and encouragement They also help to sort out Party members leanings, and provide refresher experience for older hands, and their existence as a permanent part of organisation helps to maintain the general level of Party work in various fields.”

The report then reviews the work of the Introductory Class, the Speakers' Class, the Writers’ Class and Special Classes together with the arrangements for an Advanced Economics Class.

The difficulties experienced by the Committee that was to inaugurate the Research Bureau are reported. It had been hoped to publish a regular publication composed of the material produced by the Research Committee, at least once a quarter and possibly once a month. Unfortunately plans did not materialise, not because the response by branches was lacking or that the matter was insufficient, but mainly because the members of the Committee, for reasons of employment and pressure of other work, could not continue the job. Under “Electoral Activity” we are informed of the nomination of G. McClatchie as prospective Parliamentary candidate for North Paddington by the Paddington Branch and of H. Young for East Ham South by the West Ham Branch. Following a Delegate Meeting resolution calling for a new procedure in the manner of appointing Parliamentary candidates, the Executive rescinded the two previous candidate appointments. The new nominations from the two branches concerned were approved (C. Groves being unable to stand for health reasons and W. Waters expressing a desire to withdraw).

It is not possible to deal with all the matters covered by the report. It must be sufficient to say that it is a clear statement of the condition of our organisation, containing no false encouragement, but a plain explanation of what has been done, what has been left undone, what it has not been possible to do and what it is intended to do in the future. Altogether it is good reading and gives one a feeling of satisfaction with the progress made.

The Publicity Committee reports that the Star has declined to accept an advertisement for the Socialist Standard. No reason given.

W. Waters

Obituary: Ron Elbert (2024)

Ron and Karla Rab.

Obituary from the February 2024 issue of the Socialist Standard

We are saddened to have to report the death in November of our comrade Ron Elbert of the World Socialist Party of the United States. He joined the WSP in the 1980s and became a regular writer for their journal The Western Socialist and its successors as well as contributing to the Socialist Standard. For a period he served as the party’s Secretary General, an administrative post in our parties. Our condolences go to his family and friends.

Sara Ellenbogen writes:

As Ron Elbert’s stepdaughter, I am deeply saddened to report his passing last July. Besides being a wonderful stepfather, Ron was a long-time dedicated member of the World Socialist Party and became one of its vital organizers along with my mother, the late Karla Rab, whom he met through the Party.

He was a gifted and passionate advocate for socialism. He lectured in public forums such as Community Church of Boston and when I taught a course on business ethics and asked him to present an evaluation of a passage in the textbook to the effect that capitalism was the most rational system, his analysis was brilliant. As a Masters student in history at the University of Massachusetts/Boston, he wrote a thesis on the history of the Socialist Party of Canada which he planned to publish, traveling to British Columbia to interview members. He could always be found at local progressive gatherings, such as the Bread and Roses festival, sitting behind a table laden with World Socialist Party literature, engaging passers-by in conversation about the movement.

Ron cared as much he did about social justice because he cared so much about people. Social change was what he wanted to dedicate his life to. I remember one time I asked him to look at a cover letter I’d written for a job in a homeless center. He added one sentence to it. He wrote ‘The poor are often only able to get services at the expense of their dignity. Our community is greatly in need of people to provide them services in a way that respects their dignity’. That was the way he treated people.

Ron always ended his email messages with a quote from the socialist writer William Morris below his signature. I think he might have liked me to conclude with that quote.

‘We who were once fools and dreamers then shall be the brave and wise

There amidst the world new builded shall our earthly deeds abide

Though our names be all forgotten and the tale of how we died.’

Socialist Principles: An Overview (1989)

From issue 6 of the World Socialist Review

Membership in the World Socialist Party of the United States requires an understanding of and agreement with what we consider to be the basics of scientific socialism. We have always been convinced that a worldwide system based upon production for use, rather than for sale on a market, requires that a majority of the population be socialist in attitude. Events since the establishment of the World Socialist Movement have, we maintain, proved the validity of this judgment. In our opinion, if you agree, generally, with the following statements, you are a socialist and belong with us.

1. Capitalism, even with reforms, cannot function in the interests of the working class. Capitalism, by its very nature, requires continual “reforms”; yet reforms cannot alter the basic relationship of wage-labor and capital and would not be considered, to begin with, if their legislation would lead to disturbing this relationship. Reforms, in other words, are designed to make capitalism more palatable to the working class by holding out the false hope of an improvement in their condition. To whatever extent they afford improvement, reforms benefit the capitalist class, not the working class.

2. To establish socialism the working class must must gain control of the powers of government through their political organization. It is by virtue of its control of state power that the capitalist class is able to perpetuate its system. State power gives control of the main avenues of education and propaganda—either directly or indirectly—and of the armed forces that frequently and efficiently crush ill-conceived working class attempts at violent opposition. The one way it is possible in a highly developed capitalism to oust the capitalist class from its ownership and control over the means of production and distribution is to first strip it of its control over the state. Once this is accomplished the state will be converted from a government over people to administration of the affairs of man. The World Socialist Party of the United States advocates the ballot, and no other method, as a means of abolishing capitalism.

3. Members of the World Socialist Party do not support—either directly or indirectly—members of any other political party. It is always possible, even if difficult in some instances, to vote for world socialism by writing in the name of the Party and a member for a particular legislative office. Our main task, however, is to make socialists and not to advocate use of the ballot for anything short of socialism.

4. The World Socialist Party rejects the theory of leadership. Neither individual “great” personalities nor “revolutionary vanguards” can bring the world one day closer to socialism. The emancipation of the working class “must be the work of the working class itself.” Educators to explain socialism, yes! Administrators to carry out the will of the majority of the membership, yes! But leaders or ‘Vanguards,” never!

5. There is an irreconcilable conflict between scientific socialism and religion. Socialists reject religion for two main reasons: (a) Religion divides the universe into spiritual and physical realms and all religions offer their adherents relief from their earthly problems through some form of appeal to the spiritual. Socialists see the cause of the problems that wrack mankind as material and political. We see the solution as one involving material and political, not spiritual, means, (b) Religions ally themselves with the institutions of class society. Particular religious organizations and leaders may, and frequently do, rebel against what they deem injustice, even suffering imprisonment and worse for their efforts. But they seek their solutions within the framework of the system socialists aim to abolish. One cannot understand the development of social evolution by resorting to religious ideas.

6. The system of society in Russia, China and in all of the other so-called socialist or communist countries is state capitalism. Goods and services, in those countries, as in avowedly capitalist lands, are produced for sale on a market with a view to profit and not, primarily, for use. The placing of industry under the control of the state in no way alters the basic relationships of wage labor and capital. The working class remains a class of wage slaves. The class that controls the state remains a parasitical, surplus-value eating class.

7. Trade unionism is the means by which wage workers organize to “bargain collectively” in order that they might sell their labor power at the best possible price, and to try to improve working conditions. The unorganized have no economic weapon with which to resist the attempts of capital to beat down their standards. But unions must work within the framework of capitalism. They are useful, then, to but a limited extent. They can do nothing toward lessening unemployment for example. In fact, they encourage employers to introduce more efficient methods in order to overcome added costs of higher wages and thereby hasten and increase unemployment. More and more the tendency of industry is toward a greater mass of production with fewer employees. Unions must by their very nature, encourage such development although they are also known, occasionally, to resist this natural trend through what employers like to call “featherbedding.” As Marx put it: instead of the conservative motto, “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work,” the workers ought to inscribe upon their banner “abolition of the wages system.” 

Socialist Scholars Conference (1989)

From issue 6 of the World Socialist Review

Held at the City University of New York at the beginning of April (which this writer attended), it was impressive enough in terms of the range of subjects it covered, the number of persons attending it and the breadth of representation of the sponsors and participants. The closest thing to it I can think of (and which I have never been to) is an annual event in France sponsored by the Trotskyist Lutte Ouvridro (Workers’Struggle), in which everyone who’s anyone on the left shows up.

It was, on the face of it, a welcome opportunity to discuss ideas and events in a relatively open atmosphere, though in practice, it frequently turned into a war of fixed positions between competing points of view. It also represented an occasion for networking (establishing contacts with other organizations) and generally a pretty good place to find source materials.

Organized by the CUNY Democratic Socialists’ Club and centered nominally on the theme, “Two Centuries of Revolution: 1789-1989," the Conference was used regularly and methodically by the DSs to get in some Marx-bashing; I couldn't be sure how well attended those workshops were, since they were all the same dreary variations on the topic, "Isn’t Marxism dead yet?" which did not help them to seem any more interesting.

Two panels which I did attend—one called “Is Capitalism Entering a New Stage?” sponsored by Monthly Review, featuring Paul Sweezy, Samir Amin and Beatrix Campbell, and the other on “Black Workers and Class Consciousness"—were at least on more provocative subjects. (Sweezy believes the answer to the question is "no”: capitalism is locked on a course of continued stagnation.) The panel on class consciousness among black workers brought forth the usual round of analyses and ended by leaving the impression that black workers are neither more nor less class conscious than any other sectors of the working class in the United States—though racism and systematic underemployment can generate extra obstacles to socialist understanding for blacks.

Had we (the Boston group) made inquiries early enough, we could at least have had adequate time to decide whether or not we wanted to pay for and man a literature booth at the Conference. We should definitely set up a booth there next year; it would give some very good exposure to socialist ideas. If we can demonstrate expertise in some field, it is even possible we could sponsor a panel or workshop of our own at future conferences, assuming there is a show of interest in it from comrades.

Ron Elbert

Party News Briefs (1957)

Party News from the October 1957 issue of the Socialist Standard

Bradford Branch report a most successful outdoor meeting last month by Comrade Baldwin, at which two dozen S.S. were sold and some pamphlets. They express the hope of a repeat visit by Comrade Baldwin.

Comrade Gilmac in America. Comrade Gilmac has sent his first brief report from America, where he attended the Annual Conference of the W.S.P. in Boston. He reports that our comrades out there have been experiencing rather a thin time, but that this year’s Conference is the best they have had. The members are full of enthusiasm, and their hospitality to him has been overwhelming.

The Socialist Party of Ireland. Socialists in large cities such as London, Glasgow, Sydney or Boston—where there are often quite a number of Socialists—know how difficult it is to get workers to listen to, and accept, the Socialist case. But for Socialists where there are only small groups or even single individuals, it is much more difficult—particularly in countries like Austria or Ireland, where the Catholic Church is very powerful.

Our comrades in Dublin and Belfast have an extremely difficult task, but putting the Socialist case in Co. Kerry is almost impossible.

During August two members of Fulham Branch, Comrades Newell and Garnham, visited Ireland, and whilst there visited our only comrade in Co. Kerry, Comrade Tim O’Sullivan, of Coolcorcoron, a tiny village about two miles out of Killarney. Comrade O’Sullivan told our comrades that the only politically conscious people in the whole of Co. Kerry are the Sinn Feiners; and they are fanatical nationalists, living mainly in the past! But still our S.P.I. comrades, such as O’Sullivan and others in Ireland, are able to get something across. Besides their tongues they are armed with The Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Ireland, and copies of a free leaflet, Introducing the Socialist Party of Ireland.

The “Daily Herald” and the S.P.G.B. In reply to a letter previously published from a Labour Party reader, who enquired why it was that the Labour Party did not call itself the Socialist Party, the Daily Herald printed the following letter from a reader in Margate:

“It would be confusing and dangerous to re-name the Labour Party the Socialist Party, as this is the usual way in which people refer to a body already in existence —the Socialist Party of Great Britain.”

To which the Daily Herald thought it fit to add the following explanatory comment:

The S.P.G.B., which broke away from the Social Democratic Federation in 1904, has a membership of 1,100. It is sometimes called the Small Party of Good Boys. It stands for “uncompromising opposition to all forms of capitalism, including that in the Soviet Union.”

Phyllis Howard

Blogger's Note:

There is fuller report of 'Comrade Gilmac's' visit to North America in the November 1957 issue of the Socialist Standard.

The Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Ireland is available at the following link.

Parties of Socialism. (1932)

From the October 1932 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Workers' Socialist Party (U.S.A.)

Readers in U.S.A. are invited to communicate with the Workers' Socialist Party at 132, East 23rd Street, New York City (Room 7), where the Socialist Standard is obtainable.

* * * *

The Socialist Party of Canada

Readers in Canada are invited to communicate with the Socialist Party of Canada at 204, Bannatyne. Avenue, Winnipeg, where the Socialist Standard is obtainable.

* * * *

The Socialist Party of New Zealand

Readers in New Zealand are invited to communicate with the Socialist Party of New Zealand at 8, Whitehall Buildings, Upper Queen Street, Auckland, where the Socialist Standard is obtainable.

* * * *

The Socialist Party of Australia

Readers in Australia are invited to communicate with the S.P. of Australia at Box, 1440 P.O., Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, where the Socialist Standard is obtainable.

Lectures every Sunday night at 8 p.m. 122 Bourke Street, City. All welcome. Questions and discussions.

Greetings from the U.S.A. (1954)

From the September 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard

Just as we are going to press we can record a visit by two comrades from the World Socialist Party of America, comrades Rab and Gloss. This visit has shown how closely associated in principles and policy our two parties are. They addressed a number of outdoor meetings in London and the Provinces and the policy they expressed was undistinquishable from that expressed by our own speakers.

This welcome illustration of the fundamental unity of our two parties, although thousands of miles away from each other, augurs well for the progress of the Socialist movement. They take back with them memories of the warmth of their reception, and we hope it is the beginning of an international exchange of delegates.

It is fitting that this should have happened when we are celebrating our fiftieth anniversary.

We hope the day is not far distant when we can also welcome delegates from the Socialist Party of Canada and the Socialist Party of Australia and of New Zealand.

Obituary: Ennis “Cheerio” Clarke (1971)

Obituary from issue number 1 (1971) of The Western Socialist

Ennis “Cheerio” Clarke was born in Walmsley, England, about 1895. His parents moved the family to the Boston, Massachusetts, area sometime prior to the World War I period where Ennis remained until the late Thirties when he settled in the town of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. He made his living for many years as a professional photographer and, in a small way, as a dealer in philatelic stamps.

“Cheerio.” as he was known to just about all who knew him to any extent, met members of the World Socialist Party during his Boston days and found our political philosophy conformed with his own. He remained a member of the WSP and a convinced socialist until his death on Nov. 9, 1970. at the Veterans Home in Bristol. Rhode Island. As a draftee in World War I, where he was stationed for the duration in a training camp in So. Carolina, “Cheerio” was entitled to Veteran benefits. He was in and out of the V.A. Hospital in Providence, R. I. for a number of years before his death, the victim of cancer. He had never married.

“Cheerio” was also an accomplished amateur musician and performed creditably on the banjo, guitar and mandolin. He was well-known and liked in E. Greenwich as the following excerpt from a letter to this writer from one of his close friends, Don Rice, will attest. Our correspondent, who now lives in Ohio and edits a Quarterly “Journal of American Opinion” — SCHISM — writes:

“Trips back east won't seem the same now, without being able to stop by his studio-apartment for a visit. More than any other person, he was responsible for opening my eyes to the possibilities of alternatives. There were many in East Greenwich who were influenced by his youthful readiness to challenge old fogies one-fourth his age. He went on the wagon once for years; we kids got him drinking beer again, going out to bars or just sitting up in his studio playing guitar and singing. It never seemed odd to us at nineteen and twenty and twenty-one to have as a member of our crowd a man in his sixties. Though “Cheerio” didn't neglect those his own age. It was always great fun to sit on the courthouse wall listening to him argue with two of his regular cronies; a part-time policeman and a Jehovah's Witness. He was considered a harmless crank by many in town, but those of us who knew him well, knew that he was a good man deeply concerned with correcting social injustice and the inequities of modern life."

Which we, his comrades, would only amend by pointing out that “Cheerio’' went beyond a desire to correct “social injustice,” something that most people would profess to favor provided it could be done within the framework of capitalist society. “Cheerio” was a revolutionist in the most meaningful sense of the term, even organizing propaganda trips to E. Greenwich by his Boston comrades in order that those in E. Greenwich who cared to listen could hear and debate the case for a brand new way of life with others than himself. There were, over the years, a few such trips when at least two carloads of WSPers made the 65-mile trip from Boston.

In his final days, “Cheerio” was able to have visits from a number of his comrades, including Gilbert McClatchle of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, who was in our area last September. He was also enabled to see consummated his wish that his possessions should go to the World Socialist Party. Several of us made the trip to E. Greenwich where we removed many items, including a valuable stamp collection and a number of musical instruments, all of which are adding much-needed funds to aid socialist work.

Those of us who knew him, including this writer who visited him on a number of occasions over the last few years, will miss him. I can attest, as one who has examined much of the voluminous correspondence accumulated by Comrade Clarke — in the capacity of a sort of literary executor — that he has done his part in spreading the case for socialism. He has made his mark in the World Socialist Movement.

Harry Morrison

Party News Briefs (1958)

Party News from the August 1958 issue of the Socialist Standard

Visit to America tad Canada. Plans are being made by our Comrades in the West for an extensive tour for Comrade D’Arcy when he flies to America at the end of August, where he will be a delegate from our Party to the Annual Conference of the World Socialist Party at Boston. Without doubt he will have a very interesting trip if Comrade Gilmac’s experiences last year are anything to go by. It is hoped that Comrade D’Arcy will be able to send an interim report for inclusion in the September Socialist Standard.

* * *

Wickford Branch is in future to be known as Basildon Branch—full details are given in the Directory on the back page.

* * *

Mitcham Discussion Group has now been established and is holding regular meetings on the fourth Thursday in each month. In addition, lectures are being held on August 14th and September 11th—details elsewhere in this issue.

* * * .

Bloomsbury Branch is arranging to hold discussions on the first Thursday in each month at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, W.C.l. The first, on September 4th, at 8.30 p.m., is on Crises. Comrade Hardy will open the discussion.

Phyllis Howard

Another milestone . . . and in prime time color (1973)

WSPUS News from issue number 3 (1973) of The Western Socialist

Television channel 44 (UHF. Boston) is presenting a one-half hour show exclusively on the World Socialist Party and featuring four members. It will be colorcast on Tuesday. June 12. 1973, at 8:30 p m. on the regular “Catch 44“ program.

Obituary: Sam Orner (1973)

Obituary from issue number 6 (1973) of The Western Socialist

Our comrade Sam Orner died on Sunday, September 2, at the Englewood (NJ.) Hospital as the Conference sessions of the World Socialist Party of the U.S. were being held In Boston. He was 79 years of age.

Since his youth Sam was active In the working class movements having belonged to such groups as the old Socialist Party of America, circa World War I and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). In 1934 he was deeply involved in the New York taxi strike and was, in fact, the prototype of the character "Lefty" In the Clifford Odets play dealing with that strike, "Waiting for Lefty.”

It is his measure as a socialist, however, that the World Socialist Party and The Western Socialist wishes to take, for to us the struggle for a sane system of society is the most important activity one can ever be engaged in. And Sam certainly measures tall in the Socialist Movement. He left his mark especially for his contemporaries but also for posterity in the articles he contributed to The Western Socialist and, occasionally, to The Socialist Standard (SPBG). He was one who had something to say and those who have had the experience of hearing him on indoor or outdoor platforms, expounding the case for socialism in his Brooklynese accent, will long remember him, in fact, will never forget him. It should be noted that comrades in Canada. Great Britain and Australia—as well as many throughout the UJS.A. have had the experience of knowing him and of hearing him in action.

Sam was, it should be mentioned, a highly controversial and emotional type, a hard antagonist in argument. But he was, above all, concerned for the Movement and gave generously, over the years, in both time and money for the advancement of its ideas. On numerous occasions he drove the long miles between his summer camp in the Catskill Mountains of New York to New York City in order to attend Party meetings or to service stores with socialist literature. A great many members, from near and far, have enjoyed his outgoing hospitality — along with Ida’s, his wife and constant companion — both at Roscoe in the mountains and at their permanent home in Tenafly, New Jersey. Along with his other accomplishments, Sam was a raconteur of anecdotes, a skilled fisherman and an experienced flapjack flipper as those who partook of his specialty breakfasts can attest. He will be missed.

A Boston Comrade

More on Harry Morrison . . .

As mentioned in the previous post Harry Morrison ('Harmo') was the principal writer of the WSPUS radio show scripts that made up the Special 300th issue of The Western Socialist. 

As he is currently in my thoughts, I thought I'd repost an obituary for Harry Morrison that originally appeared on the old World Socialist Party of the United States website. It appears that when the current World Socialist Party of United States website was relaunched or revamped a few years back, many articles and reviews from the old website weren't transferred over. That, sadly, includes this obituary for Comrade Morrison. I only happen to have a copy of the obituary because I posted it on my personal blog at the time.

There is a shorter obituary for him that appeared in the July 2004 issue of the Socialist Standard which can be read here, but I'm sure readers of the blog will appreciate this longer obituary that goes into greater detail on his background, and on his contribution to both the WSPUS and to the wider World Socialist Movement. 

I'll have to see if I can get a copy of his books, in order that I can scan them in and upload them onto the internet.

Harry Morrison (1912 - 2004)

Born in 1912, Harry Morrison became convinced of the case for socialism as a young man, having been influenced by an older brother who had heard the case for socialism in Toronto, Ontario. Morrison first visited Boston around 1937 but soon traveled west to California.

He returned to Boston in 1939 where he met his future wife Sally Kligman at the Boston Local Headquarters. The couple married in the fall of 1939 and lived in Boston for a couple of years. In 1941 they moved to Los Angeles and made contact with the comrades there. They had a daughter, Anita, in 1942. The family moved back to Boston in 1947, and both Harry and Sally were active members of Boston Local from then on.

Morrison wrote voluminously for the organization, sometimes anonymously but usually under the pen name 'Harmo.' He was a very frequent contributor to The Western Socialist, and, as a member of the WS's Editorial Committee, he also edited many articles submitted by others. He had a real gift for articulating the socialist analysis.

He enjoyed debating, and was a frequent member of the WSP group who engaged in debates with various local university debaters. He was a fine outdoor speaker as well. He was a soap box orator on Boston Common during the 1940s and 50s, and even after the WSP stopped soap boxing as an organization, Morrison continued to speak less formally to small groups along the paths near the Tremont Street side of the Common; he continued this into the 1960s, putting the case for socialism tirelessly and articulately.

For about 10 years during the 1960s and 70s, the WSP had a radio program on WCRB Boston. Morrison was among the comrades who wrote scripts for this program, He also was one of the on air readers. When the Party decided, in 1974, to publish a pamphlet in commemoration of the 300th consecutive issue of The Western Socialist, thirty or so of Morrison's radio essays became The Perspective for World Socialism -- a pamphlet which is still being distributed today. Also during this period he was a guest on another AM radio show hosted by the late Haywood Vincent and on the Adam Burak show on an FM station as well.

Morrison served for many years on the NAC, as well as on the Editorial Committee. It would be hard to overestimate his contribution to the socialist movement.

Harry Morrison developed heart problems when he was in late middle age, and, at the suggestion of his doctor, 'retired' from active work in the WSP. After this, he used his time to write three books, The Socialism of Bernard Shaw (published by McFarland & Co. in 1989 and which we still distribute), and two others for which he was unable to find a publisher, one about Jack London and the other about the Soviet Union. Sally Morrison died in 1987. Harry continued to live in his apartment but no longer participated in Party activities during this period, concentrating, instead, on research for his books and on enjoying his family which now included two grandchildren. He would always accept an invitation to a social gathering, however, and liked to visit with comrades visiting the area, most recently with SPGB Comrades Vic Vanni and Tony McNeil who spent some time in Boston in 2002.

After another heart attack in December of 2002 Cde Morrison moved to a nursing home. A socialist to the end, he gave several talks on Marxism to his fellow residents, which Cdes Fenton and Elbert as well as members of Morrison's family also attended. His death on May 13, 2004 is a great loss to the World Socialist Movement.

He will be long remembered and sorely missed.

The Special 300th issue of The Western Socialist

That's the the Special 300th issue of The Western Socialist now published in its entirety on the blog. An excellent issue and, for something originally published in 1974, it really hasn't dated as much as I thought it might have when I originally started scanning it in. I also have a higher opinion of Harry Morrison as a writer after reading it. I'd previously thought he was a bit too dry a writer for my tastes. I was wrong.

Hopefully this issue will eventually find its way onto the World Socialist Movement website or the World Socialist Party of the United States website but, for now, here's a list of the contents of the issue with added links.

• "The source of capitalist (national) power . . ."
• Editorial: Once over lightly
• Introduction
• Foreward

1. The Magic Checkbook
2. Canned profits
3. Incentive and initiative
4. In the meantime
5. The Labors of Sisyphos
6. You must like it
7. Who needs enemies?
8. The Mathematics of Race
9. Smashing Capitalism
10. Religion
11. The Gall of Charity
12. What class are you?
13. How to spot a phoney socialist
14. International Socialism
15. What’s a revolutionary?
16. Brains and money
17. Does peace justify violence?
18. Dedication to wasted effort
19. The supermarket
20. Why “World” Socialists?
21. America’s “Radical” Presidents
22. Women’s Liberation
23. Are we “Commies”?
24. Urban renewal
25. Are we Utopians?
26. The Provocateur
27. Impeach Capitalism
28. Shelley
29. Christmas
30. Human Nature and Behavior
31. Words, handle with care
32. A World Without Money
33. Is food produced to eat?
34. Togetherness
35. To market, to market
36. The profits of addiction
37. Who’s on welfare?
38. The blind spot

• Supplement: The object and declaration of principles