By: Josh Simon, Representative of Winthrop University’s Socialist Student Union
The Socialist Student Union is a student-led organization on Winthrop’s campus that advocates for a political philosophy called socialism. The organization’s purpose is to educate the Winthrop community on socialist principles and to take actions in line with those same principles.
To explore this organization’s position, take a look at the socialist view on politics. Through the socialist lens, politics is an arena in which the interests of various classes struggle against one another. A class in this sense is a social class, determined by the way in which individuals in a group make their living.
In the modern capitalist context, there are two classes: the bourgeoisie and proletariat. Under this system, the bourgeoisie are the ones who own the means of production or the means with which resources can be extracted and raw materials are processed. These means of production can be anything from the tools used on a farm, mineral-rich land or a clothing factory.
Essentially, these are the things which are used to make the necessary products of society. The proletariat on the other hand, who make up the other 90 to 99% of the population, are the ones who actively produce things for society. In other words, the bourgeoisie may own the factory but the proletariats are the ones who make and maintain everything in it.
The latter survives via wages determined by the former, while the former survives via surplus value. Surplus value is an economic term referring to the bourgeoisie profiting from the difference in the cost of production (including wages) and the money they make from selling their product, investing, etc. Since the bourgeoisie are in control of the means of production, they are not only able to just influence politics but create policies in their favor. If the bourgeoisie wishes to stay in the social position they currently occupy, they must wish to maintain this relationship.
Socialists support the political interests of the proletariat or working class, of which students are included. Socialism in general favors the proletariat because they are the ones who make society function and bear the overwhelming burden of its upkeep. A factory without workers is useless just as is a university without students. Since the political interests of the proletariat can only be won by organized political action, that is the method by which activists try to enact change.
What history has shown time and again is that no institution is neutral because every institution is bound up in production since production is necessary for every branch of life. Therefore, whoever has control over the means of production has control over society.
How does this involve Winthrop? Universities are not exempt from this relationship. In a public university, for instance, most policy makers are appointed by the state either directly or indirectly.
The state is obviously a political institution, and according to the Socialist Student Union, the state is one which sides almost exclusively with the bourgeoisie in prioritizing the usage of the land, labor and resources of society. Notice how instead of land being utilized for free or affordable housing, it is prioritized for real estate companies to build homes that are sold for profit. This is why there are more houses than homeless people in the United States.
The bourgeoisie are organized for political action through the state, therefore only by organized political action and struggle can the proletariat achieve political interests. Workers in the United States are beginning to become more conscious of this, with one result being the wave of strikes and unionization that occurred this last year. Workers’ unions are a prime example of organized political action on the part of the working class.
In public universities like Winthrop, such impacts of this political situation are seen. On Winthrop’s board of trustees for instance, Vice-Chair Kathy Bigham is the wife of the late Republican Party activist Larry Bigham. From when Bigham was first appointed to the present, the South Carolina general assembly has been controlled by the Republican Party, making this a very calculated political decision.
This would not be an issue in itself, and an individual may act in any capacity they wish regardless or even in spite of their authorities. However, both the state and the university have shown repeated disregard for the needs of students and workers in favor of unclear, likely private, interests. Ultimately, this makes any appointment by this administration dubious as to whether or not they will support student interests. The consequences of these political decisions can be seen clearly in the conditions on campus, especially in the dorms as well as conditions in South Carolina more generally.
Some may say that this is the purpose of the media and our learning institutions. As stated in this article, institutions are not neutral. It has already been established the ways in which public education can be hijacked by the owning class, but the media is very easily manipulated as well.
Most mainstream media is owned by international corporate conglomerates, the consequences of which can be seen in what events they choose to cover and how they cover them. Fox News is a very obvious example of biased reporting for a bourgeois agenda. However, even supposedly factual media regularly distorts reality. During the past two years, for instance, the biggest protests in human history took place in India with over 250 million participants, spearheaded by worker’s groups and communist parties.
Despite the overwhelming size of these protests, they got scarce coverage in mainstream American media during their height. These media companies gave even less coverage to the socialists intimately involved in this struggle who oftentimes put their personal safety at risk. Winthrop students may have noticed fliers distributed by the Socialist Student Union around campus with clippings on the front and an article on the back. This was their attempt to expose the student body and others to non-corporate owned media as well to give a socialist view on the issues at hand.
What has been outlined here is a rough sketch of this organization’s political beliefs. The organization’s ultimate concern is for the wellbeing of the people as a whole and they believe that this is achieved by giving political authority over to the people. Just like a union is organized against the tyranny of their boss, they believe that the working class must be organized against any tyranny that faces the public from any governing body. To do this, the people must be organized towards concise political action for their interests, supported by the guidance of continued political education and revolutionary theory. The Socialist Student Union invites everyone to become involved with this struggle.
