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The British Road to Socialism

The Communist, No.55, Nov 1972

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The place of the ruling class in British history

How the working class overthrows a democratic ruling class

(a) How to translate "the workers' will" into Socialism ?

(b) The working class is forced by history and a democratic ruling class to develop

(c) The working class get the vote: a direct majority voice in political power

(d) The working class's progress along the road to Socialism ... how far have they come? 

Waiting for 'society' (the working class) to act


The question of the transition from capitalism to socialism has never been faced by British Communists from the standpoint of dialectical materialism. That is to say they have never taken the possibility of a transition from capitalism to socialism seriously. Their starting point has remained that of the working class reacting to history. In these situations Communists have acted to organise the working class so that its force was given effective political voice and co-ordination. Communists could appear as the vanguard of the class because they were its leaders. But the limits of this position have been clear for nearly a century to any observer of history to see.

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