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What can we do?

What can we do to change society?

First of all, we can educate ourselves. Seek to understand economics, politics and the society around us. Read and learn about Marx, interpretations of Marx, other Marxists and socialists, as well as critiques of them. Keep up with current events and read socialist and capitalist perspectives. Read what the ruling class is saying, what public consciousness is, etc.

Become politically involved. If there is a socialist party with a chance at power, join it. Otherwise see if there is a main political party that could become a socialist party (does it have a socialist history, does it have links to the labour movement, is it a mass democratic party, etc). It probably won't be all that clear to people whether or not this is the case, but it's a matter of judgement and analysis, listen to the arguments either way. If there isn't any such political party, then find some alternative route to political involvement: is there a strong socialist movement or tendency? Are there local groups? Are there campaigns you can set to work in, demos you can participate in? Find the socialists and organise. It's easier if there is already a party or organisation to join, but if not then you need to associate with others and then build your own.

Get involved in industrial action. Join a union but don't stop there. Be active in your union, attend meetings, make interventions, stand for positions and put forward motions. Many unions are bureaucratic and will seek to dampen democracy and seek accommodation with capitalists rather than fight for workers' interests. The solution to this is to organise within the union and recruit, make the union a mass organisation with strong rank and file participation.

Build an alternative media. The mainstream media is monopolised by a handful of billionaires, with middle class professionals rising to the top. It works to prevent popular discontent at capitalism by using reactionary politics to divide the workers against each other (against migrants, protestors and trade unionists, minorities, women, people with disabilities) while providing cover for the crooks who run society. There is a lot of "left" media out there, from social liberals to social democrats to far left papers and magazines. Ideally an alternative media would be backed by trade unions and a socialist political party, would be written and read by the best of the working class and would make use of social media, press, television, radio etc. It would give people the news that the capitalist press doesn't give them, about ongoing struggles internationally and industrial and political struggles at home, an analysis of economic, political and social events and drawing it all into a coherent overall picture to use to steer the movement to revolutionary action.

Further to this we need to build an alternative culture. We need workers' educational organisations, social and leisure clubs, workers' art exhibitions, tours to other countries to learn from socialists internationally.

To summarise, the main tasks of socialists are:

- Educate yourself: learn the arguments and the arguments of your opponents, as well as how to analyse current conditions

- Become political: join the socialists; join, take over or build an appropriate political party and join or start the appropriate movements and campaigns

- Be a trade unionist: join, democratise and recruit the best layers of the working class into the trade unions

- Build an alternative media: It will need funding from the labour movement, and could make use of all media, educating and radicalising the working class

- Build an alternative working class culture: education, art, internationalism, leisure for our class

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