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(d) THE WORKING CLASS'S PROGRESS ALONG THE ROAD TO SOCIALISM ... HOW FAR HAVE THEY COME?
Communists can have no objection in principle to the political institutions in Britain. Those institutions permit the working class to set about a peaceful transition to socialism. They are institutions which bend to allow whatever is the substance of the society to be expressed, to permit the development of social forces through conflict which is essential to the society's survival and development. The only condition which the political institutions and ideology place on this development and conflict is that it should be as conscious and rational as is possible, given the intransigence of those elements in the society which have become inessential. But it should be remembered that even the outworn and reactionary elements in British society are very conscious and rational indeed and have proved historically that they can recognise when 'the game is up' without plunging the society into anarchy.
If there has been no transition from capitalism to socialism the explanation certainly does not rest on the intransigence or reactionary nature of the British ruling class. Nor indeed does it rest with that ruling class's powers. For the power of the ruling class consists simply in their limited ability to ensure the stability of society - that production continues to flow smoothly and that conflict in the society does not go beyond the bounds necessary to develop society. It is an ability clearly limited by their inability to use force in the society (Britain has not had a standing army since the New Model Army of the Civil War) and their inability to use the law against an intransigeant section of society unless public opinion has sanctioned that use (the government could not keep the Poplar Council in Brixton Prison in the 30s; they could not prosecute J.R. Campbell, Daily Worker editor, for sedition in 1929; they have not been able to operate the Industrial Relations Act in 1972).
The conclusion that must be drawn from this historical analysis is that it is the working class itself which is responsible for the fact that there has been no transition (peaceful or otherwise) from capitalism to socialism. It is my contention that Marx was correct to show that the development of the productive forces under capitalism would prepare the ground for socialism, that the economic development of society would impel it towards socialism and that the working class was the only class capable of establishing socialism politically. Marx stated this because socialism as a way of organising production is more advanced than capitalism, it enables the society to develop more directly and efficiently, and the working class as the producers of wealth are the only social force necessary for socialism. Those Marx-critics who accuse him of determinism base their critique on his observations that the productive forces would through the logic of their development prepare the society for socialism. They state that his analysis must be incorrect since we still live in a capitalist world. It is my contention that the productive forces have impelled Britain to the point where the choice will soon be between socialism and anarchy: that socialism will be literally necessary for the continued survival and development of society. I also think that the British ruling class are well aware of this fact and are not only permitting but forcing the necessary institutions and ideology for socialism to develop within the society. This means forcing the working class to develop socialism or if it will not to face the real choice: anarchy.
The main reason for the continuing presence of capitalism is that under the system of private property the working class has participated as wholeheartedly as the bourgeoisie in the principle of to each according to his labour/merit shown through economic activity/political power. Their numerical strength and developing political consciousness of how to use the existing democratic institutions meant that the working class has been able to force a redistribution of their surplus value away from profits and into their own consumption. This has always been the main activity in the class struggle of the working class in Britain, it represents not only their acquiescence in the system of private property but their active participation in it on its own terms. The result has been that the society is now near breaking down, because there is not sufficient capital (profits) to guarantee its reproduction let alone development. The working class is not at present conscious of the fact that there is a limit to the right of private property: that a portion of one's labour must be foregone in order to ensure reproduction. The bourgeoisie have long been conscious of this fact and also of the fact that the working class have a greater ability to force redistribution of the product in their favour. Since the 19th century the consumption of the bourgeoisie has declined relative to the working class and will continue to decline. However, even in the 19th century, the puritan ethic of the bourgeoisie had the function of ensuring that adequate capital was available to the society for its reproduction.