For Ethical Socialism

Ethical socialists believe that democratic socialism is a moral imperative. We believe that all people deserve a fulfilling life and that democratic socialism is the necessary condition for human flourishing. For this reason, ethical socialists hold ourselves to be morally obligated to build democratic socialism. Our task is urgent because capitalism will not inevitably collapse into socialism but must be defeated through solidarity that knows no borders. We must critique and reject internalized capitalist ideology, which ties a person’s moral worth to their productivity, in order to build a better world.

For Intersectionality, Not Class Reductionism

Capitalism creates an environment that stokes the flames of prejudice, but capitalism did not create these prejudices, nor will they automatically disappear with capitalism. Prejudice cannot be defeated through worker control of the means of production alone, and ethical socialism is a call to end all forms of inequality, regardless of their nature, by building a world where we all see each other as friends and equals.

For Equality Regardless of Ability

A future built on the principles of ethical socialism will ensure that every member of society is guaranteed a basic standard of living and meaningful representation in the decisions about society’s productive resources, regardless of ability to work. Capitalism enriches a small sliver of society by finding ways to force down workers’ wages, relying on the unpaid labor of caregivers, and providing no means of support to people who cannot work wage labor, such as elders, children, caregivers, and people with disabilities. We believe that socialism will reproduce some of the evils of capitalism if economic democracy is not extended to all people, regardless of work status.

Good Organizers, Not Dogmatic Organizers

As organizers, we believe that everyone can be won over to democratic socialism, in principle. However, democratic socialist organizers must be flexible enough to tailor their approach to the people and conditions where they are organizing. We strive to preserve solidarity across disagreement in order to build a mass movement.