SEP publishes program: “The Breakdown of Capitalism and the Fight for Socialism in the US”

30 September 2010

The Socialist Equality Party (US) today announces the publication of a printed version of its program, “The Breakdown of Capitalism and the Fight for Socialism in the United States,” adopted at its First National Congress in August. The 56-page booklet includes graphs and photographs documenting the crisis of capitalism, growing inequality, and the emerging struggles of the working class. The WSWS urges all readers to purchase your copy today.

The program of the SEP is a fighting program for the working class. It presents a series of basic rights that must be guaranteed to all—including the right to a job, to a livable income, to education, housing and health care—and explains how these rights can be won: through the independent political organization of the working class in the fight for socialism.

Everywhere the working class is under attack. After handing out trillions to the banks, the ruling class—led by the Obama administration—is demanding austerity. The entire political establishment is moving to the right. Regardless of the outcome of the November midterm elections, the government is planning devastating attacks on social programs, mirroring similar measures adopted internationally.

As the social crisis deepens, the Obama administration is also expanding its wars abroad and launching unprecedented attacks on democratic rights—including in the recent FBI raids of antiwar activists and political opponents of US policy.

The working class in the United States is beginning to fight back. The determined resistance of workers in Indianapolis—and the formation of a rank-and-file committee to oppose the demands of the corporations and the UAW—is an initial sign. Opposition will grow, expanding throughout the country and linking up with struggles throughout the world.

The question is: What political program can lead the working class to victory? Such a program will not come form the Democratic or Republican Parties, both equally determined to defend the interests of the financial aristocracy. It will not come from the trade unions, which for several decades have collaborated in the corporate-driven attack on workers. It will not come from the various middle class organizations, tied with a million threads—political and financial—to the Democratic Party and the trade union apparatus.

The program of the Socialist Equality Party is imbued with immense confidence in the revolutionary role of the American working class. It is a declaration of war against the capitalist system, against the domination of the giant banks and corporations, against a new aristocracy that is expanding its own wealth on the backs of the impoverishment of the vast majority.

This program will get a mass following. It will be distributed at factories, offices, workplaces and schools throughout the country. It will form the political basis for a new upsurge of the American working class, as part of the struggle of the international working class against the capitalist system.

We urge all readers of the WSWS and supporters of the SEP to purchase a copy of the program today. Multiple copies can be purchased at a discount to distribute to your coworkers. Contact us with comments and questions. Study the program and make the decision to join the Socialist Equality Party.