The working class will rise again Socialism is possible only from the self-organised working class realising its power as an alternative to that of its masters, the capitalist ruling class. It was democratic and egalitarian, forming the basis for Marx of his views on the need for workers' power to smash the capitalist state. In the Russian revolution of 1917, the workers took power, but were overwhelmed in the 1920s by a bureaucratic counter-revolution. Elsewhere the possibilities of socialism and working-class freedom were crushed. But those possibilities existed.
Socialism means a society restructured according to the working-class principle of solidarity.
It means an economy of democratic planning, based on common ownership of the means of production, a high level of technology, education, culture and leisure, economic equality, no material privileges for officials, and accountability. Beyond the work necessary to ensure secure material comfort for all, it means the maximum of individual liberty and autonomy. Revolutionary socialism can be far freer and more democratic than capitalism could conceivably be - through integrating economic and political power in democratic structures, through accountability and provisions for political participation, and through extensive political and individual liberties. At the same time a socialist regime would have the power and the will to allocate sufficient resources for all human needs, so that no individuals or groups would be cast off and cast out as dregs, as they are under capitalism. Socialism is only possible as the result of direct action by the working class.