a book review by Jock Mulligan.
Éist now, for at the time of writing I’ve been sat here in the house with the rain lashing against the busted double glazing and the wind howling like a banshee. In the boredom of the dreadful spring weather, I smaoinigh-ed on what was happening in America as the good people of Minneapolis were under attack by Trump’s fascist toy soldiers. The awfulness of the deaths of those two young people whose only crime was to want a better world- and I thought about a Minneapolis courtroom in the early years of WW2 and the testimony of James P. Cannon in his book “Socialism on Trial,” a book I read last about fifteen years ago. It’s a book that demands your attention because it isn’t just a dry legal record but a fughing masterpiece of political education- if you want to understand a real democratic, peaceful socialist programme and its relevance to now, get it read.
When James P. Cannon stepped into that witness box in nineteen forty-one, he wasn’t just trying to save his own skin or keep his mates out of the cells. He was there to explain exactly how the world needs to change, and he did it with the grit of a man who has spent his life on the picket line.
The End of Scarcity
The state tried to paint the whole movement as a shadowy plot hatched in dark corners, but Cannon blew that nonsense away by explaining that a socialist revolution is a historical necessity. He argued that capitalism had reached a point where it could no longer develop the productive forces of the world without dragging everyone into periodic slaughters and economic ruins (and by Christ has he been proved right again and again). To Cannon, the hard graft of the socialist movement is to resolve the contradiction where we have the tools to provide for everyone, yet millions live in poverty.
He made the case for a planned economy, one where the factories and the land are not the private playthings of billionaires but are held in common for the good of all. He spoke of a world where production is for human need rather than for the profit of a few, arguing that if you remove the anarchy of the market, you remove the cause of the very crises that break the backs of the working class people.
The American Civil War
The most brilliant part of his testimony was how he used the history of the American Civil War to make the case for this change. He didn’t let the prosecution blather on about socialists being the ones who want to start a fight. Instead, he pointed to the election of eighteen sixty. He explained that the majority of the people made a legal and a democratic decision to stop the spread of slavery, which was a peaceful mandate from the folk at the ballot box.
He argued that the violence didn’t come from the majority who wanted progress, but from those who held “Slave Power,” a reactionary minority of wealthy masters who couldn’t bear to lose their grip on their human property. Cannon Seas-ed his ground by showing that it was this minority that rebelled against the democratic will and started the war. He told the court that socialists are in the same position today because they want a peaceful transition, but they know from history that the ruling class will likely be the ones to draw the sword when their unearned privileges are threatened. This was his fughing logic for the workers of today, for he argued that a revolution is only possible when the vast majority of the people decide they want a new way of living.
Workers Control and the End of Imperialist War
Cannon expanded on the idea that socialism isn’t just a change in who sits in the government offices, but a total change in who runs the world. He Labhair-ed about the necessity of workers’ control, where the people who actually do the work have the final say in how the work is done. He argued that the banks must be nationalised and turned into a single state bank to fund the needs of the people rather than the whims of the speculators.
Most importantly, he addressed the looming world war. He told the court that the conflict was an imperialist struggle between rival groups of bandits fighting over who gets to loot the world. He argued that the only way to end war for good is to end the system that requires it. He presented socialism as the ultimate peace programme, for in a world where resources are shared and production is planned for use, there is no longer a need to kill your neighbour for a piece of land or a pool of oil.
The Future as a Common Heritage
Amharc at the world we are living in now in 2026, where the gap between the rich and the poor is a canyon and the climate is breaking around us. I reckon that Cannon’s arguments for a sane, planned world are more relevant than they were when he was standing in that dock. He showed that you don’t have to hide your views or make reckless threats to be heard, for he presented socialism as the logical and common-sense response to a world that is falling apart.
They went to the cells, but they left behind a map that shows us exactly how to handle the bosses when the time for change finally arrives. It is a fughing brilliant testament to what the working class can achieve when it has a clear programme and the courage to speak it out loud.
