Robert B. Livingston: October 2024

We are engaged in constant discussion with our readers, with our supporters. And the basic question which comes up in one or another way is: can't you offer a somewhat simpler path? Isn't there some simpler solution?

Well, the question which we would pose in response is, can you think of any serious solution to any of the problems which we confront without a vast transfer of wealth? From the heights of capitalist society, to the broad mass of people?

Can you conceive of a set of circumstances where the rich, the hyper-rich, the malignantly rich, are going to accept any restriction on the accumulation of their wealth? Where they will say to us, "you know, we've been thinking it over. You've got a point there. We should be more reasonable. We shouldn't be satisfied with billions. Why don't we accept a more reasonable income?"

No, they won't.

Classes don't make those sorts of decisions. And in any case it's not even a question of their individual desires.

It's a question of the functioning of an economic system.

Capitalism strives for domination.

Marx spoke a long time ago of the capitalist werewolf hunger for surplus value. The imperatives of the system drive the capitalist class toward exploitation. That is the metabolism, the economic metabolism of the system.

And we saw it very graphically expressed when the pandemic began. Here we were, the world was confronted with a global crisis. A deadly virus.

Now, public health knows how you deal with it. You have to stop the transmission of the virus. That requires the putting into place of definite modes of social behavior to cut off transmission.

And of course even the implementation of such measures for a month or six weeks would be immensely effective!

That was not possible because the cutting... that would mean cutting off the transfer of wealth, created by the working class, to the capitalist class. It would not be possible. So the decision was made to accept mass death, mass illness, and it continues to this day.

So, yes, it would be very nice if we could, in the interest of gaining votes, present to everyone a simple program (something which sounded very reasonable).

But if you want that, there are all sorts of organizations you can look to. The Greens. They have simple answers. The DSA has the simplest answer of all: "Support the Democratic Party."

We say "No."

You have to recognize that the answers to the great problems of our time depend upon the global organization of the working class (which is the revolutionary force in society).

And if that sounds like a challenge, yes it is!

But in our own history, our country has a history of two great revolutions.

The first revolution, which raised the question of human equality, however limited the conditions of the time allowed that to be truly realized. And the Civil War abolished a system which seemed to be impregnable. The slave system.

Very few people who were alive in 1855, 1856, could have imagined that within a decade, slavery would be abolished in the United States.

Now it didn't solve all the problems. What emerged then was a fully developed capitalist system with a new set of new forms of exploitation.

But we're at a point in history where it is possible to effect the most dramatic change in the history of mankind.

And that's why (as in every great period it's sort of "either-or"), either mankind advances, or it faces destruction.

If the social revolution is impossible, then it means the survival of mankind is impossible.

That is, the face of that future is already present in what we're observing: in Ukraine, what we're observing in Gaza.

There are no limits on the capitalist class. They will stop at nothing!

All talk of human rights has suddenly disappeared.

And so, the appeal which we're making to all of you is to think about this perspective seriously.

Read. Study. Follow the World Socialist Website, and make a decision to really conduct a serious political struggle!

Put aside the search for half measures, false solutions, easy paths (which don't require very much of anyone, except that you hope for the best even while you're expecting the worst).

That's why we appeal to you to become active in our campaign, and remember that our work doesn't stop on November 6th or November 7th.

What is the situation going to be in the aftermath of the election, presuming we even know who the winner is?

Do you see a situation where any of the problems we presently confront will simply dissolve and go away?

No, they won't.

So draw the necessary conclusions.

Become active in the work of the Socialist Equality Party, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality.

Commit yourself to a serious political struggle to change the world!

That's what we're proposing. That's the purpose of our election campaign.

And if, to the extent that we're able to make advances along those lines, we will view this election campaign as being an immense success!