Poverty, mass youth unemployment, environ-mental destruction, war and conflict – this iswhat capitalism has to offer humanity in the 21st

century.

Despite talk of an economic recovery, capitalist govern-ments like the ConDems at Westminster and the Stor-mont Executive continue to demand that workers andyoung people pay the price for the bail-outs of thebankers through austerity – job losses, cuts to servicesand privatisation.

In Northern Ireland, Oxfam have said that poverty hasreached levels comparable to the Great Depression ofthe 1930s. Meanwhile, corporate profits are boomingand bankers continue to rake in obscene profits.

While 300 million young people languish in unemploy-ment, the super-rich have over £13 trillion hoarded intheir bank accounts. £750 billion sits uninvested in thecoffers of major corporations in Britain.

Brought together, this wealth – created by the labourof working people – and the skills of the army of joblesscould wipe out unemployment and provide goods andservices which could improve society for everyone. Yetthis is impossible on the basis of capitalism – a systemrun in the interests of a tiny elite interested only inshort-term profit.

QUB Socialist SocietyTel: 07821058319 e-mail: socialistsociety@hotmail.com www.socialistpartyni.net

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CAPITALISM IN CRISIS

FIGHT FOR A

SOCIALISTFUTURE

CAPTALISM PUTS PROFIT BEFORE PLANETAs recent extreme weather patterns have shown, we face an envi-ronmental catastrophe if we do not urgently address the threat ofglobal warming. Yet the major world powers have singularly failedto address this looming disaster. Even the modest Kyoto targetsfor reduction of carbon emissions were missed and a successor tothat protocol has not yet been agreed.

Instead of tackling corporate polluters and investing massively inrenewable energy and sustainable production, capitalist govern-ments are aggressively promoting dangerous new practices like hy-draulic fracturing (fracking) – threatened to be introduced acrossIreland – in order to access more fossil fuels. Profit is being put be-fore our planet.

NO TO WAR & DIVISIONThis system of inequality and scarcity breeds di-vision – sexism, racism, homophobia and so on.These prejudices are used by the bosses andpoliticians to divide and rule. Demonisation andscapegoating of immigrants and LGBT peoplehas been used to distract from the attacks onworkers and young people.

Women are super-exploited within this system.Even in the West, economic equality is not withinreach. In the media and popular culture, womencontinue to be objectified and treated as sex ob-jects. This leads to rape culture and sexual vio-lence. Meanwhile, the archaic laws which denywomen abortion rights in Ireland, North andSouth, have had tragic consequences.

War is an inherent part of the capitalist systemas different ruling elites vie for control of mar-kets and influence. More than ten years on fromthe invasion of Iraq, the Middle East is a tinder-box ready to ignite because of the conflict be-tween imperialist powers, regional elites andsectarian groups.

RESISTANCE SWEEPS THE GLOBEWorkers and young people have not passively accepted their fate.The Arab Spring has swept decades-old dictatorships from power.Massive general strikes have rocked much of Europe and the polit-ical establishment is in disarray. The Occupy movement signalledthe awakening of the US working-class. New mass movements areerupting across the globe.

None of these movements, however, have been successful in fun-damentally transforming society in the interests of ordinary people.That is because they have lacked a clear political programme aimedat mobilising the power of the working-class to do away with thebankrupt capitalist system and establish a socialist society.

SOCIALISM an idea to change the world

Socialism would mean taking the major corpora-tions and key sectors of the economy into publicownership under the democratic control of ordi-nary people and using society’s wealth in aplanned way to provide decent jobs, homes, ed-ucation and healthcare for all while investing ingreen technologies to tackle the environmentalcrisis. We need to build parties to fight for theseideas in the workplaces, universities, schools andcommunities. If you agree, join the Socialist Soci-ety today!

If you agree, join the Socialist Society today!

Who are we?The Socialist Society is the radical, anti-sectarian, anti-capitalist organisation for QUB students. We organise regular meetingsto discuss the ideas necessary to change the world. We campaign on a wide range of issues, both on and off campus, and in-volve students in the fight for a socialist future. We are the student wing of the Socialist Party, the Irish section of the Com-mittee for a Workers’ International, which unites socialists in over 40 countries across the globe.

FOR WORKERS’ UNITYAGAINST SECTARIANISMIn Northern Ireland, sectarian division remains deeply ingrained.The number of ‘peace walls’ has doubled since the signing of theGood Friday Agreement. While they happily work together to closeschools and hospital units, cut pensions and give themselves a£5,000 pay rise, the nationalist and unionist politicians whip up sec-tarian tensions when it suits their interests, as has been graphicallydemonstrated over the last year.

The sectarian parties rely on division to maintain their political sup-port. Meanwhile, ‘dissident’ republicans and loyalist are feeding offthe alienation created by mass youth unemployment and cuts tojobs and services. If an alternative is not built to unite working-classcommunities, a return to the nightmare of all-out conflict cannotbe ruled out.