This was the question posed by a member of the audience at the launching of the book Speaking Truth to Power on Sept 13 at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

A very pertinent question, and it probably crystallises the questions in the minds of many middle class friends and supporters who are otherwise quite happy with the work carried out by PSM with marginalised groups in Malaysia.

Yes, at first sight it may appear that socialism has failed the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc has unravelled, and China is rushing to re-establish capitalist relations of production in its domestic economy.

Besides that, we have had the many horror stories from the Soviet Gulag as described by Solzenitsyn in First Circle, and A Koestler in Darkness at Noon to the genocidal policies of the Khmer Rouge!

We in the PSM do not deny that there have been errors and even atrocities committed in the name of socialism. But we would urge our friends to consider one crucial question Is the Socialist ideal incompatible with human nature?

If yes, then the socialist project is doomed from the start, and can only remain an unattainable dream. (And similarly all religions are doomed as well, for they too believe that human beings can be caring and communal in their outlook.)

However if the socialist ideal is not incompatible with human nature, then the failures of socialist experiments would be due to other factors wrong methods, wrong timing, sabotage by imperialist powers, the failure to build in a system of checks and balances etc - and people who want to build a society based on more humane values have a legitimate reason to dream about a better world and to work towards this dream.

Different ethos and cultures

The neo-classical ideologues argue that socialism goes against human nature. They extrapolate from the collection of attributes spawned by the advanced capitalist societies greed, materialistic pursuits, competition, aggressiveness, etc to conclude that these are universal attributes arising from the intrinsic nature of man.

Marxists however argue that this is a very parochial view of humanity. There have been many societies in history which have had markedly different ethos and cultures. Most pre-capitalist societies were not half as materialistic or acquisitive. Many have been quite communal with community ownership of land, and highly developed institutions of sharing.

In the Marxist analysis, man is to a significant extent, shaped by the society he lives in, and a less acquisitive and less materialistic society would produce men and women who are more in touch with themselves and with their fellow members.

Ultimately socialists have faith in the communal tendencies in man - believing that ordinary men and women can collectively run their lives and provide for their needs far better than a system that must keep growing to survive, that has condemned more than half the world's population to perpetual poverty and which exists for the profits of a few.

Can this socialist ideal ever be achieved? As they say, the paths only emerge when many people walk in the same direction! Would you care to join us?

JEYAKUMAR DEVARAJ is a central committee member of the yet-to-be registered Party Socialist Malaysia. Recently he authored a book titled 'Speaking Truth to Power' which looked at the development in Malaysia from the viewpoint of a socialist.