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The SSY affirms that poverty and systemic inequality are intended features of capitalism. Short of a complete change of system, all solutions to poverty and inequality presented by the parties of neoliberal Scotland will only further impoverish our fellow people, in Scotland and beyond. To bring justice and prosperity to the world, a new system is required. One where wealth and power are distributed fairly throughout society, and where the primary outputs of economic activity serve social and environmental purposes. This system is socialism.
To truly transform Scotland, the SSY calls for the abolition of the capitalist system. This involves: overthrowing the capitalist state and its institutions; the capitalist model of economic development; and the capitalist model of democracy — building socialist alternatives in their place.
While the inspiration for the SSY’s socialist vision is arguably rooted in the 19th century, the SSY champions its own ideology for creating a socialist system firmly grounded in the 21st century. As an organisation, we do not mimic a brand of socialism belonging to any historic individual, movement or country. Our manifesto for socialism is the theories, ideas, campaigns and policies championed by the movement for a Socialist Scottish Republic today.
For this reason, the exact socialist ideology of the SSY can be described as “21st Century Scottish Socialism”. Underpinning this unique perspective, the organisation commits to five other core principles.
The British state has proven itself time and time again as an enemy of democracy in Scotland and an opponent of working-class interests. With independence we could forge a new path for Scotland, establishing a constitutional republic with a genuine democratic system.
The SSY condemns rhetoric that Scotland is a colony of the British Empire. Instead, we understand Scotland until now to have been a loyal servant in union. Our vision of independence is therefore not a cause fought by one country against another, but by a radical movement against all forces loyal to empire.
We participate in the independence movement with honesty and integrity; however we also voice our criticisms of pro-independence centrism. Independence that does not fundamentally transform Scotland will only be independence in name. We demand separation not just from the British national identity, but also from its economy, its financial institutions, its foreign policy agenda and its guiding imperialist ideology.
Our Scotland would work with anti-colonial countries and governments from around the world to dismantle the legacy of the empire and rebuild a better world for all. Our vision of independence is therefore radical-left, transformative and internationalist.
Alongside the fight to dismantle capitalism, the SSY is dedicated to overthrowing the social structures that underpin capitalism such as racism and the patriarchy. While women, people of colour (POC), queer and disabled people’s oppression does not begin and end with capitalism it is undeniably a significant part of it.
We seek to understand, explore and expose the ways in which capitalism is inherently connected to the patriarchy, white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism. In doing so we will forge a socialism suited to all people, not just the few who hold the most social power.
Our view of socialism is inherently feminist and intersectional; we aim to reflect this in our policies and practice. We want to create and maintain a space where women, queer people, people of colour, disabled people and those occupying multiple intersections of these identities feel valued and respected. In our Scotland, society will be free from social oppressors, and we invite all people who agree with us to join our struggle for social liberation.
While citizens of Scotland are fortunate to have democratic freedoms such as the right to organise freely and contest elections, the SSY rejects the notion that we live in a democratic country.
Within our capitalist system, the media is often manipulated to suit the agendas of power. When we have the right to cast votes, we compete against the silent corporate lobbyists and backdoor business deals taking place behind the closed doors of Westminster and Holyrood. Knowledge is gate-kept by profit-making publishers and education is stratified by class. Excluding ordinary people from positions of power is central to the “democratic” system in neoliberal Scotland and the proportion of privately educated and upper-class members of parliament is evidence of this.
Under these conditions, democracy cannot flourish. But the SSY rejects the nihilism of people who believe we’re simply stuck with “the best of a bad bunch”. We are fighting for a socialist democracy that gives us popular control of our national parliament, of our communities and within our workplaces. In short, democracy in our politics, our society and our economy.
Scotland continues to benefit from the industry, knowledge and financial assets accrued during our time at the centre of a global empire. We are fortunate to have relative economic security and the freedom to organise politically, largely as a result of the externalisation of oppression and exploitation from our country to the Global South.
While our political programme aspires for radical Scottish sovereignty, we ultimately recognise our fellowship with all the workers and peoples of the world.
To create a better world, we therefore believe that socialist development within Scotland cannot be separated from the liberation of the Global South. Our position was built and is maintained through a system of global exploitation, a system we must oppose globally.
We aim to build strong ties with anti-colonial and socialist movements throughout the Global South, fiercely opposing imperialist wars and encouraging Scotland to champion a model of redistributive global economy.
Throughout much of humanity’s short time on Earth we have been altering the environment around us for both common needs and individual greed. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution our ability to affect the ecological systems underpinning our world has grown to a terrifying degree. Vibrant ecology is destroyed to be replaced by barren monocultures, elemental and energy cycles break down, and climate change threatens to end what could be the only experiment in sentient life in our universe.
The SSY recognises that the tendency of accumulation under capitalism is the key driver of both modern ecological destruction and the failure of capitalist governments to make any major effort to prevent it. We also recognise the historic failures of past socialist movements to adequately consider ecological issues especially when in government.
We call for the restructuring of Scotland’s economy to minimise its harm to global ecosystems, to reduce the size of unnecessary industries to be economical with our resources, and to stand in solidarity with environmental movements across the world against the capitalist class which would drown the world to keep shareholders happy.
The struggle for environmental and social justice are inseparable. There can be no socialism on a dead world.
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