WELCOME TO OUR SITE The West Lothian Socialist Discussion Group started in July 1999. It is open to anyone who wants to come along whether it is to question, reflect, discuss, debate or merely listen and get a cup of coffee and biscuit at the same time. We meet every Wednesday, 7.45 to 9.15 approx, at The Lanthorn Centre, Dedridge in Livingston. Ask at reception what room we meet in (not always the same room). See you there!

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We are an organization of men and women,who share our combined knowledge, experience, strengths and aspirations with each other in order that we can survive living within Capitalism by participation in it's abolition and, as a consequence, all of it's ills from the face of the planet...The only requirement for membership is the desire for the knowledge of how to bring that about. We have no leaders and are opposed to the concept of leadership. We affirm that our task is educative,to enable people to set themselves free by their own conscious efforts. We are not allied, and are opposed, to any political party which seeks power to govern in any guise of Capitalism. We see them as an entrenched part of the problem, and not as part of the solution. No political party can lead people without becoming tainted by the power that they wield. Nor are we allied to, and indeed are opposed to, any sects or religious bodies or institutions with negative views of human behavior - thus we seek MATERIAL SOLUTIONS TO MATERIAL PROBLEMS.

REAL SOCIALISM

And what is real socialism, then? In 1904 The Socialist Party of Great Britain (now usually referred to as The Socialist Party) was founded and it declared as it's OBJECT : The establishment of a system of society based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means of the means and instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in the interests of the whole community. This is real socialism: a world that is co-operatively owned and run by all of us for all of us!

If you've read the preamble above you might be thinking,"thought you had nothing to do with political parties" . Fair enough, however reading on you will notice the phrase "which seeks to govern in any guise of Capitalism" We are quite unique among political parties in that we do not seek to reform capitalism, but to replace it. And once having replaced it there is no further need for any party to exist, ourselves included.That is what emancipation means - an end to politics and a start to really looking after ourselves and our fellow human beings.

We see that as being a revolutionary goal, but one that can best achieved through informed and co-operative action on the part of workers. We see the avenue as being parliamentary. A lot of people who seek change see parliament as a talking shop full of ambitious and greedy opportunist politicians, all of whom dance to the tune of capitalism whether they wish to or not.

That is fairly true, but if voters elect these people in to parliament in the first place then it can hardly be filled with any thing else. If people on the other hand decide they want their own needs (as opposed to that of the politician and his parent party) realised through the parliamentary process, then parliament can change.If you want socialism then start voting in socialists to start the journey towards a real socialist society.

The democracy that exists at the moment is a capitalist democracy. It is not a pinnacle but rather the second rung on the democratic ladder of evolution (a step up from dictatorship). Currently politicians promise what they think people will vote for, and hope the people return them to power (where the promises tend to turn out to be different than promised as politicians both have their own agendas and find they cannot control the vagaries of capitalism despite all the pretence that they can)

A more real form of democracy is where people themselves decide what their needs are, and actually pick and vote for representatives who wholly agree. In other words the representative isn't a leader with their own agenda, but a representative who is actually charged with following the agenda people have set out for him, or her. And wholly accountable to them.

The latter principle is why The Socialist Party is the most democratic party in the world. The party has no leaders, through conscious choice. Its not a loss, by the way, but an improvement.

Our critics sometimes say that we are armchair socialists who only theorise or intellectualise, but they miss a crucial point.As it is we are kept busy now trying to share our unique viewpoint with fellow workers Real socialism can only be gained when people know what it is and want it. Until they do, there won't be much hope of getting it. So, the first stage to socialism is making socialists, or to put it another way - giving people the information to make themselves socialists. Once that is achieved on a significant scale there will be more than enough action and activity to go round!

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