Canadian election: huge mistake

Updated: 21 May 2008, 23:20

Originally written: 18 January 2006


Capitalism’s Gravediggers
predicts election results

The results of the approaching 23 January 2006 federal election in Canada, are obvious. It will not be a minority government. It will be a huge landslide vote for capitalism. Every elected MP from any of the following parties will work hard to make capitalism work. That is what they will have been elected to do.

Canada’s Parties, registered for Capitalism Making capitalism work means aligning government with capital, and against workers. There is an unbridgeable gap — a difference of interests — between the capitalists and the workers. Capitalists strive for higher profits. Workers strive for higher wages. Capitalists, when paying fair wages, acquire the unpaid labour of workers. That unpaid labour is the source of the profit in the production of commodities. It is exploitation.

Yet again the working class has ignored its own interests and voted to approve capitalism’s inherent exploitation of workers.

This is nothing new. As soon as workers acquire the vote, they start voting for capitalism, and always elect governments which must ensure the exploitation of workers. Workers vote left, they vote right, they vote for the centre, and every time capitalism wins.

The political parties working for capitalism do not usually hate workers. Most of the members and MPs of those parties are members of the working class. However, there is no possible way to run capitalism in the interests of workers. The MPs are usually ignorant of that fact. They do their best — most of them, anyway — but they believe that some method of running capitalism is best for workers.

If you accept (knowingly or otherwise) the exploitation of workers which is inherent in capitalism, perhaps there is a way to run capitalism which is best for the workers. But capitalism must always exploit workers.

Socialist workers do not like being exploited. No matter how nice the exploitation may be, it is still exploitation. No matter how many times the apologists for capitalism tell us that there is no alternative (to which ever particular approach to administering capitalism they support), there is a real alternative.

That alternative is not the state capitalism of Russia or China or anywhere else. It is not the welfare state. It is not capitalism at all.

The only progressive alternative to capitalism is socialism.

Every workers’ vote for capitalism is a vote for that worker to be exploited and a vote for the stagnation of social progress.

There is, by the way, one party which deserves a worker’s vote: the Socialist Party of Canada. The Socialist Party of Canada is not running any candidates in this election, so you can write in, on your ballot, “World Socialism,” or “Socialist Party of Canada.” Vote for what you want! When you vote for something you do not want, you probably will not like the results.
 
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