In order for the society working people will create in the United States to be just equitable, it must embody socialist ideology. Our fundamental change is not to preserve Capitalism. Do we have a blueprint for a socialist society? Can we envision what such a society looks like? If we rely on the people, if we pool our own collective experiences we can! We have the successes and failures of many countries since 1917 to guide us. We have a rich experience of our own in the form of a mixed economy, that embodies public and private ownership. The United States as an advanced industrial economy, has some unique characteristics, that are favorable toward creating socialism. The U.S. has a long, if incomplete, democratic tradition allowing press and mass supervision of the economy; well developed links and channels of distribution, transportation and infrastructure; an efficient tax supervision; and consumer preference networks.
SOCIALISM MEANS EXPANDING DEMOCRACY NOT ONLY IN THE POLITICAL SENSE BUT IN AN ECONOMIC SENSE – freedom from want. The political and economic and cultural changes that we must make to make a more equitable society will fulfill democracy in America.
Our practice in putting forward intermediate demands for economic and political change will shape how a future society will emerge. Some demands that will alter society in a socialist direction include:
Economic Changes:
* change the taxes of the 400,000 households in the U.S. that control 60% of the wealth. A progressive tax for incomes over $l00,000
* all corporations pay tax; foreign and domestic firms earned over $100 billion and paid no taxes
* macro-management of the economy through taxation, govt. control of primary products, and govt. steerage of research and development
* encourage farmer cooperatives and reduce payments to large agric-businesses
* place major banks and insurance companies under public and collective ownership
* nationalize primary extractive industry; encourage collective and public ownership of secondary and tertiary industry
* fund national health and research national social needs
Political Changes:
* expand democracy and citizenship – you pay taxes here; you vote here! Universal and direct voter registration. (With Savings and Loans frauds – who should fear a little vote fraud)
* limit all campaign "funding – insure minority party access to media
* all forms of govt. shall have both initiative and recall rights (only 12 states have those rights today
* End the electoral college – direct vote for all offices
* Limit Congress to 12 years – Extend the House to three year terms. One could be a Rep. for up to 12 years then run for Senate or vice versa
the list can go on
We created a program that spoke to the reasons why we needed to make a fundamental change in society. Now is the time to be bold and to start to spell out some of those changes, struggle to make changes, and on basis of mass line modify those changes. Our compass for where we are finally headed should have socialism as its destination. We need to keep this end in mind not to lose our way.