A Radical Alternative

passed by the SPUSA National Convention 10/25/2025

The existing global capitalist system is hurtling the planet toward catastrophe. Climate change is the most urgent crisis, but there is also nuclear proliferation, regional wars and the growing disparity in income and wealth within the industrialized countries such as the United States and between the industrialized and less developed countries.

WHEREAS: Capitalism cannot be reformed. Its problems are deeply rooted in its essential characteristics. A market economy is designed to reward individualistic competition and short-run decision-making in the pursuit of maximizing profit. Our only hope for the future is the creation of a democratic socialist society based on cooperation and long-run decision-making that takes into account the welfare of the entire community.

WHEREAS: Both mainstream parties are controlled by corporate interests. Both parties seek to uphold the capitalist system while suppressing those who resist it. A total break with the Democratic and Republican parties is an essential prerequisite to the building of a vital working class movement in the United States.

WHEREAS: Transforming global capitalism into a democratic socialist society cannot be accomplished through the electoral process. The Socialist Party USA presents its own candidates to use the electoral arena to present demands that challenge the system while pointing toward a future society and to directly challenge the two-party system.

WHEREAS: The workplace is of critical importance to the working class. Capitalism continuously proletarianizes jobs that were previously considered to be middle class. The Socialist Party seeks to build a working-class movement that will unite the entire class from industry and transport to the healthcare and educational sectors. This will require building unions in which power resides with rank-and-file activists and not with highly paid bureaucrats.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: The Socialist Party USA at its 2025 National Convention reaffirms its commitment to the tradition of Eugene Victor Debs and the Industrial Workers of the World. We will work with others here and around the globe to build a future society that is truly democratic and egalitarian.