Capitalism today is riddled with crisis. Official death tolls place the global loss of life from Covid-19 at around 4 million, which is bound to be an underestimation. At the same time, the ongoing and deepening wildfires across Canada and elsewhere reveal starkly that, for all the talk of ‘greening’ capitalism, the climate crisis continues to ravage the world, while a small band of profiteers rake in their billions from it.
It will come as no surprise for Marxists then to see that 67% of people between the ages of 16 and 34 in Britain prefer socialism over capitalism. This news, found in a study commissioned by the ultra-neoliberal Institute for Economic Affairs and reported by the news-site politics.co.uk contains some striking figures:
- 75% agreed that “climate change is specifically a capitalist problem”.
- 78% agreed that capitalism is to blame for the ongoing housing crisis that has impacted on young people the hardest.
- 75% agreed that “socialism is a good idea, but has failed in the past because it has been badly done.”
Rather than believing the false propaganda peddled by the ruling class about capitalism, young people have been led by their daily experiences to draw these conclusions. Far from providing ‘freedom’ like we are told, this system provides only skyrocketing rents, low-paid and insecure work, and a capitalist elite that sows division and oppression to maintain its power.
Why you should join Socialist Alternative
Already, the impact of this change in attitudes towards socialism has been reflected in struggle on the streets. The past year under the pandemic has seen significant waves of protest – from last year’s BLM explosion, to the student rent strikes, to mass demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine, against gender-based violence and threats to the right to protest. We are members of International Socialist Alternative – fighting to build and link struggles from Columbia, to Myanmar and beyond, as part of the global fight against exploitation and oppression.
What has been dismissed as a ‘woke generation’ by the right is actually coming to see there is no alternative to struggle against this capitalist system. Fighting for our future requires it! But in these movements, what will be needed to guarantee further victories is real and solid organisation. We need an organisation that will, while taking part in all such battles, draw them together for a united opposition to capitalist rule, and fighting for the revolutionary change and socialist planning that is needed all around the world.
This is the kind of organisation that Socialist Alternative is fighting to build today. Join us to play your role in building a movement putting forward the only programme that will win real liberation for the working class and all the oppressed – for socialism.
Read more on what we stand for here
