Review
Limited imagination, but a useful start
Imagine - a socialist vision for the 21st century, by Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes, Rebel Inc, £7.99 Reviewed by Greg Tucker
Preparing for the general election and marking a stage in the development of the Scottish Socialist Party, its two leading figures, Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes have written Imagine .
Its purpose they say is "to argue the intellectual and moral case for socialism and also to inspire people to get involved in the day-to-day fight to improve the lives of their families and communities."
Unashamedly this is a book about Scotland for Scottish people. But it will also be a useful read beyond the borders of Scotland. Written in easy open way, at times you can hear the words being spoken in village halls and community centres to public meetings.
The book also contains a wealth of information, outlining how Scotland today is organised - at the expense of the many in the interests of a few. The authors show how multinationals make massive profits on the backs of Scottish workers, linked in to the global system of exploitation.
The book however centres not on what we are fighting against but what we are fighting for. It puts forward a vision of a socialist society run democratically, meeting the needs of working people, realising the full potential of our class.
We are constantly told by bourgeois politicians and the capitalist media that the "market" is supreme. We cannot change our society - we just have to learn how to live within it more effectively.
The best government can do, they tell us, is ameliorate some of the worst effects of global forces. When car plants close, don't expect action to keep them open - but we will help you individually look for other jobs... as long as you are prepared to be retrained to work at McDonalds!
This book shows how things can be different. A different society is possible. If in its "utopian" vision it inspires working people to get involved in political activity it will have fulfilled a valuable function.
For Sheridan and McCombes "The key question is this: Which side are you on? ... Capitalism or socialism?" But they also recognise that their ideas will provoke a wide-ranging ideological debate.
The book does have one central weakness. Because it concentrates on its vision of a changed society it does not set out a blueprint for making these changes. So it leaves open the question of what strategy is required.
Imagine is clear that a central step will be independence for Scotland. This has been attacked on two grounds - that independence would weaken the overall UK struggle, and that it is impossible to build socialism in one country.
The Socialist Party have argued that Sheridan says he would support an SNP government. This is clearly an exaggeration.
Sheridan and McCombes argue that "socialists should be prepared to support (independence for Scotland) even on a non-socialist basis as promoted by the SNP."
But they are clear that this is not subordinate to the struggle for socialism - rather it is a part of the process of destroying "the illusion that Scotland's problems could be solved simply by swapping the Union flag for the St Andrew's flag".
As to weakening the UK working class only by establishing free relations can true unity of the working class be built.
It is ironic, however, that in recognising that nationalism is a contradictory phenomena with some positive elements they still ignore the question of the British relation to Ireland talking positively only of the struggle in "Scotland, Wales and the Basque country".
More importantly, whilst radical, their demands for Scotland are contradictory. On the one hand they do situate them in the context of a world-wide battle for socialism with the likelihood of similar victories taking place simultaneously elsewhere.
But they paint a picture which is often in the framework of "normal" capitalist relations existing outside their borders.
So they have little to say about how they would relate to the actual struggle internationally, in particular how English and Scottish workers should work together.
They also limit some of their economic demands on the basis that multinationals will simply withdraw their capital if threatened.
They seem to believe that the British state will be powerless to stop the will of the Scottish people. This leads to more fundamental problems with their approach.
They highlight the way that the capitalists will use every means to undermine the fight for social change and correctly recognise that "the battle to transform society will only be victorious with the active involvement of millions of ordinary people."
But arguing that "if we can't convince people to vote for change, neither will we be able to convince them to struggle for change" at times it does seem that voting, and getting SSP comrades elected, comes first and the struggle later.
Whilst the crudities of the old Militant staged process of change have been lost, the idea that a socialist government takes power with the role of the working class only then to put into place the necessary popular democratic defence committees still permeates their thinking.
Time and again they refer to what their government would do as if they will be given a free hand - to change the nature of the police the army etc.
Change will not come about through voting in a socialist government. The SSP needs to develop a clear understanding of what needs to be done now in building working class struggle in a way that encourages working people to fight to take control of the whole of society.
This will require the building in time of organs of popular power as well as a dedicated cadre of socialist activists.
It will mean confronting difficult questions about how to organise to deal with the repressive forces which will be used against us by the capitalists.
These questions are only partially dealt with in this book. For some this is indicative of the reformism" of the authors. The practice of the SSP has, however, not been that bleak. There is no indication that the SSP is limited to the "visionary" format of this book.
Despite its limitations Imagine is a useful starting point in opening up a debate. Our task is to ensure that the debate continues taking in the broader strategic questions necessary if the vision of Imagine is to be realised.