Many of these groups of the loony left see violent revolt against the state as the only solution to workers’ problems. They fail to consider that if workers cannot be persuaded to vote for socialism, they are hardly likely to fight for it. Moreover, these groups believe that with the right leadership workers can be led to socialism; conveniently overlooking the need for a conscious majority to bring about a post-capitalist world society. The notion of a cooperative socialist world society has been confused, distorted and discredited much more by the left-wing supporters of authoritarian state capitalist regimes than by the right wings supporters of laisez-faire capitalism.

The WSM throughout the 20th century pointed repeatedly to the failure of the market system to address the major problems of war, crime and poverty everywhere. They have been berated by the loony left for not supporting the wars fought in the interests of the capitalists in various countries. The confused left-wing protested against the excesses of western governments but conveniently ignored the oppression of workers by governments in China and the Soviet Union because they supported them.

The major battle of the WSM throughout the last century was to undo the confusion and damage caused by the apologists for the Lenin/Stalin/ Mao/Trotskyist propaganda in the west.

In the trade unions, the battle was to overcome the political machinery of the various social democratic labour parties which were formed by the trade unions in the first place – and supported by them financially. The social democratic governments repay their dues by doing what they must always do – trying to patch up the unacceptable face of capitalism, and keep tightening the screws on the workers.

The success of the WSM has been to remain in existence in spite of the enormous damage doe to the socialist cause by the loony left. The WSM has consistently exposed the deficiencies of the various reforms of capitalism, and the failure of governments everywhere to operate in the interests of the majority. The WSM declared the importance of the emancipation of all workers regardless of race or sex long before it was taken up by the modern reformers of capitalism.

The WSM has had many successes in the political education of ordinary working people. As an organisation, the companion parties of the WSM have always operated in a democratic, open and egalitarian fashion. Compare this with the authoritarian, secretive and hierarchical structure of the major left-wing groups calling themselves ‘socialist’.

The case fore socialism has been misrepresented by those who have no faith in the ability of ordinary people to organise society democratically in the interest of the vast majority of the world’s population. An enormous waste of human energy and resources must be attributed to those left-wing organisations who want to destroy capitalism, but fail to understand its nature, or the society it is to be replaced with.