SOCIALISTS and communists around the world will celebrate International Workers' Day today, understanding that capitalism creates its own grave-diggers.

Many workers and their families already know that this system breeds insecurity, unfairness, exploitation and conflict.

Socialists have a responsibility to explain how and why this is unavoidable in a society based on the ownership of economic property by a small minority of super-rich shareholders. 

But we also have to outline the only progressive alternative, namely socialism, and propose how the working class in every country might take their future into their own hands.

Collective ownership of key sections of industry and commerce would enable us to plan so that people's basic needs are met.

The long-term sustainability of life on Earth cries out for public ownership and democratic control of energy, land, construction and public transport.

Of course, it will be argued that socialism has been tried and failed. 

In response, we should argue that the first attempts to build a new society took place amid the ruins of two world wars - the first caused by rivalry between the main capitalist powers, the second provoked by the most reactionary and aggressive form of capitalist state power, namely fascism.

Despite these circumstances, whole societies in Russia, China, eastern Europe and then Cuba were modernised on an enormous scale - and without the benefit of colonies and a slave trade.

Not only did the Soviet Red Army play the biggest part in saving Europe from fascist barbarism, but the socialist countries assisted struggles for national and social liberation around the world.

Mistakes were made — some of them profoundly cruel or inept — but most people on the left have learnt the lesson that socialism next time must fully involve the workers and the people in exercising democratic power at every level of society.

Now we need to restate the case for socialism in today’s conditions.

Capitalism fails billions of hungry, sick, deprived and oppressed people every day, not least women in disproportionate numbers. 

Capitalism is unable to plan to combat climate chaos and ensure future supplies of safe, renewable energy.When communist regimes failed, most of them resigned as their countries reverted to capitalist exploitation, gross inequality and chaos.

When capitalism’s financial system collapsed in 2008, its chief political and business leaders stayed put, purloining more than £20 trillion of public funds and attacking working-class living standards to bail out the banks and markets.

At the heart of the fightback today, we need to strengthen working-class organisation at work and in local communities. 

We have to build broad coalitions against capitalist austerity, privatisation, militarism and war.Above all, on May Day, we should proclaim the common interests of workers irrespective of nationality, race, language or religion.4

Migrant workers desperate to find employment and support their families are our brothers and sisters to be unionised — not bearers of the plague to be reviled, hunted down and deported.

The European Union is an anti-democratic machine which serves the common interests of big business, particularly its strongest sections in Germany and France. The common interest of workers across Europe is to challenge, dismember and overthrow it.

Nato is an aggressive, expansionist alliance of major capitalist powers dominated by the US. Workers and peoples around the world have a common interest in bringing it down — not merely to shuffle some of its nuclear weapons from one country to another.

Yet internationalism should not be abstract.

The biggest contribution we can make towards the worldwide defeat of capitalism is to take on and defeat our own ruling class here in Britain, which remains a major centre of capitalist financial and military power.