Socialism: the Goal,
the Paths and the Compass

[Presentation of “El Socialismo no Cae del Cielo: Un Neuvo Comienzo” at the 2010 Havana Book Fair, 18 February 2010.]

Michael A. Lebowitz

There’s an old saying that if you don’t know where you want to go, any road will take you there. As I’ve said on many occasions, this saying is mistaken. If you don’t know where you want to go, no road will take you there. In other words, you need an understanding of the goal. You need a vision for the future.

Marx had a very clear vision. It was a vision of a society which would permit the full development of human beings – a society which allowed everyone to develop their potential. And, that would occur not because of gifts from above but, rather, as a result of the activity of human beings. This was his concept of revolutionary practice – the simultaneous changing of circumstances and human activity or self change. Human development and practice – this “key link” in Marx reminds us that there are always two products as the result of our activity, the change in circumstances and the change in people themselves. It reminds us that what Marx called rich human beings, socialist human beings, produce themselves only through their own activity. More…

Public meetings called by the WSWS and the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) in Sydney and Melbourne last week exposed the real agenda behind emissions trading schemes and the official climate change “debate”.

“Marxism, socialism and climate change” is a report delivered by Nick Beams on 22 December 2009.

“Against the backdrop of the national conflicts and rivalries dominating the Copenhagen climate change conference, the reports demonstrated that only the socialist re-organisation of economic life on an international scale could harness the immense resources and technology needed to avert the developing ecological and social catastrophe.”

This report can be read on the World Socialist Web Site here:

http://wsws.org/articles/2009/dec2009/etnb-d22.shtml

2009 in review

Far from the “change” promised by President Obama and his new administration, 2009 reinforced capitalism’s status quo. It was a year of suffering for workers and poor people.

The greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression rocked the working class, as banks and corporations fell. But the banks had an advantage―the capitalists and their government managers engineered the largest bailout in human history: $11 trillion and counting!

Because 2009 was a year where the capitalists heightened their attack on workers, it was a year of fightback for the Party for Socialism and Liberation. More…

Capitalism Is A Crime!

Saturday, Oct. 24, 9am-4pm

African American Art & Culture Complex, 3rd floor (Accessible)
762 Fulton St. at Webster St., San Francisco
near MUNI 5, 21, 22, 47, 49, 16AX/BX and Civic Center BART

For more information, click here.