Bush's rotten capitalist system

[DOMS]

You are looking for excuses for America.........I just posted the facts if they bother you then go ahead and find a way to justify them.
America fails miserably in so many areas its just pathetic.

That's funny! I did the same thing with blacks and you nearly threw up a lung.

And sure the USA has a higher crime and such when compared to countries that could barely be called a state, or even a city, in the US.

 

[DOMS]

According to FBI statistics, over 18,000 people were murdered in 1997. The 1997 figure was down 7 percent from 1996, and 26 percent from 1993.
bullet According to data about 15,289 of the estimated 18,209 murders in 1997: 77 percent of the victims were males and 88 percent were persons 18 years of age or older. Forty-four percent were ages 20 through 34. The percentage of whites murdered was 48 percent, blacks 49 percent, and other races accounted for the remainder.
bullet In 1997, according to supplemental data reported for 17,272 offenders, 90 percent of the offenders for whom sex, age, and race were reported were male, and 87 percent were persons 18 of age and older. Seventy percent were ages 17-34. Of offenders for whom race was known, 53 percent were black, 45 percent were white, and the remainder were persons of other races.

According to this reference blacks are slightly higher than whites....not enough to prove anything........however it clearly shows that Men are the killers in this country..

Men are definantly the killers around the world. I wont argue that.

"53 percent were black, 45 percent were white"


The problem is that whites make up over 75% of the population and blacks make up about 12%.

Do you see the problem?

 

[GFR]

That's funny! I did the same thing with blacks and you nearly threw up a lung.

And sure the USA has a higher crime and such when compared to countries that could barely be called a state, or even a city, in the US.

To target a race is very different than targeting a country.....shame on you.


I agree with you on several things about how things are in America according to race.....Hell I was a Juvenile counselor so trust me I had plenty of reason to think certain racial groups looked to be more inclined to crime . Plus My first Degree was in Criminal justice back in 1990.....and I was a young republican back then. So I was made aware of all kinds of statistics on crime and Race...ect

 

[GFR]

"53 percent were black, 45 percent were white"


The problem is that whites make up over 75% of the population and blacks make up about 12%.

Do you see the problem?

Good point, I wasnt sure if that stastic covered the % of each race as far as population......It looks like it didnt......so Black men ( in America) 18-24 get the #1 coveted spot of murder.....

 

[brogers]

you stay in America because you know it's the best country in the world, without question. You're just taking part in the popular "in" thing for liberals to do these days, bash America since the republicans are currently in charge of the branches of government. Preaching socialism, what a fucking joke. Wake up to reality pal, incentives for unemployment, unproductivity, and having as many babies as possible doesn't work, and will never work.

 

[GFR]

you stay in America because you know it's the best country in the world, without question. You're just taking part in the popular "in" thing for liberals to do these days, bash America since the republicans are currently in charge of the branches of government. Preaching socialism, what a fucking joke. Wake up to reality pal, incentives for unemployment, unproductivity, and having as many babies as possible doesn't work, and will never work.

You really cant be that stupid can you?????

Ok I will give you some reasons I live in America

1. I was born here.....in any other country I am a foreigner....and worse than that an American foreigner.

2. All my family lives here.....If I go then I will only see them once or twice a year.

3.My baby lives here....if I go to another Country I will only see her a few times a year.......and miss out on most of her life....

4. All my friends live in America.

5. It is very difficult to get citizenship or work permanently in many of the other country's

just a few off the top of my head......

 

[DOMS]

To target a race is very different than targeting a country.....shame on you.

A fact is a fact.

 

[GFR]

A fact is a fact.

What blacks do in America hardly defines a race, at best it defines a culture....

 

[DOMS]

What blacks do in America hardly defines a race, at best it defines a culture....

No, but it does define blacks in America.

 

[GFR]

Poland 1980
The rise and fall of Solidarnosc
ON 31 August this year, anti-working class capitalist leaders from across Europe were celebrating the recognition 25 years ago of the mass trade union movement called Solidarnosc (Solidarity). Some present-day Solidarnosc members protested at the celebrations which stressed the Catholic Church's role in toppling Stalinism.
Capitalist speakers tried to ignore the reality that widespread discontent amongst the working class at Poland's Stalinist regime found expression in a free independent trade union movement that had the opportunity to establish a real workers' democracy.
Alistair Tice examines Solidarnosc's meteoric rise, its contradictions, political divisions and missed opportunities for revolution, before it was suppressed under martial law.

BY THE late 1970s, Poland's economy was in decline. In 1979, national income fell by 2% according to official figures, an unprecedented admission in a Stalinist state. The ruling 'Communist' Party bureaucrats had sought big price rises in 1970 and 1976. These provoked near uprisings, forcing withdrawal of the price rises and an increase in subsidies, which only exacerbated the economic crisis. On 1 July 1980 the government increased meat prices again, leading to scattered protest strikes for higher pay.

But in the Baltic coast port of Gdansk (where hundreds of workers were shot dead in the 1970 uprising) management moved to nip protests in the bud by attempting to remove potential 'troublemakers' including long-time workers' activist Anna Walentynowicz who was sacked.

This had the opposite of the intended effect. 15,000 workers in the Lenin shipyards went on strike. All the workers' demands were conceded, but a mass meeting rejected the strike committee's recommendation to go back to work and voted to stay out with other workers until their demands were met as well.

Within a few days, a general strike paralysed all the Baltic Coast towns. An inter-factory strike committee was established with delegates from over 500 workplaces.

One incident shows that the workers were now the real power in society: a woman from the fish-canning plant approached the strike committee appealing that 'the people must have food'. So workers at another plant temporarily returned to work to produce the 120,000 cans needed so fish in the canning plants could be distributed to strikers, rather than being allowed to go bad.
Regime's concessions

The regime wanted to crush the movement. They moved troops outside Gdansk. But workers sent delegations to fraternise - the troops became unreliable. Army leader, General Jaruzelski, at that time advised the government not to try a military solution.

So the government was forced to concede even more to the strike's wider demands, including the release of all political prisoners, reduction of press censorship, publication of the workers' demands, the right to strike and form free independent trade unions, as well as better health services, maternity leave and pensions.

From this victory in Gdansk and the Baltic Coast, strikes spread throughout Poland - all industrial centres including the capital Warsaw were affected. Silesian coalminers forced the government to agree that the 'Baltic Agreement' won in Gdansk should apply to workers throughout Poland.

Within a few months, ten million workers (out of 13 million employees) had left the 'official' state-run unions to set up their own independent unions under the umbrella of 'Solidarnosc'. Peasants and students set up their own committees. Even 40,000 police set up an independent union!

In an opinion poll at the time, 83% of the population said they supported the strikers. In effect, there existed a situation which marxists call 'dual power' - real power lay in the hands of the workers who were challenging the right of the old, official state power to rule.

The regime was forced, by its weakness, to make huge concessions. It hoped that in time it could buy off some of the workers' leaders and exhaust the movement, in order to strike back later.
Political demand

CLEARLY AT this stage, the movement was not anti-socialist as the Stalinist regime and the Western politicians tried to make out. The workers' economic demands quickly passed over into political demands against the regime's repressive nature: for free trade unions, against press censorship and for freeing of political prisoners.

The demands were also against the privileges of the 'Communist' Party elite, a few of whom were scapegoated by the regime. The former head of Polish state TV was tried for embezzlement.

He had amassed a country villa with a sauna and swimming pool, a lavishly adorned bed costing £50,000, seven cars, two planes, a helicopter, two yachts, a 42-bedroomed country estate, 32 full-time domestic staff, and use of a private island in the Mediterranean and a safari lodge in Kenya!

Workers didn't want the restoration of capitalism but to democratise the 'socialist' system. As one worker-delegate said: "We speak on behalf of the 40,000 workers of Lenin steelworks... Today our union has 7 million members. We are the majority of the working people of Poland who believe that socialism is a system of social justice and that it is possible to restore the highest values: truth, justice, recognition for honest work and respect for man.

"Our activity does not impair the foundations of socialism in our country. We have only condemned those who have distorted its basic tenets."

In effect, workers were striving for a political revolution, that is the overthrow of the corrupt one-party totalitarian ruling elite, the Stalinist bureaucracy, whilst maintaining and democratising the nationalised, planned economy through workers' control and management.

But at this time, there did not exist in Poland, a conscious organised Trotskyist force, that could give expression to these instinctive ideas. (Trotsky, the co-leader with Lenin of the 1917 October socialist revolution in Russia, subsequently fought against Stalin's dictatorship and called for a political revolution to overthrow the ruling bureaucracy.)

Instead, some of the Solidarnosc leaders fell under the influence of other ideas and social forces, in particular of the Catholic Church and dissident intellectuals. The Catholic Church in Poland was seen as a symbol against centuries of national oppression and was the only legal semi-opposition tolerated in Stalinist dictatorships. Portraits of the Pope hung outside the shipyards alongside those of Karl Marx!

The dissidents held sway because of their past opposition to the regime and the repression they'd suffered for it. Each urged restraint and compromise on the Solidarnosc leaders.

They advised workers "not to go too far" and "keep within necessary bounds". In particular, they feared provoking a Russian invasion, such as occurred against workers' uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Lech Walesa, the leader who came to personify Solidarnosc, was especially susceptible, claiming to be "non-political". Consequently Solidarnosc's leaders accepted a 'compromise' solution. They had won huge concessions but accepted "the leading role of the Communist Party".

In other words, Solidarnosc would not interfere in politics or challenge the bureaucracy's right to rule. And they signed a 90-day truce (no strikes) in spring 1981.

This gave the regime (General Jaruzelski was now head of the Party and government as well as the army), the breathing space it wanted, which it used to sabotage the economy through redundancies, cut the meat ration and raise bread prices, which began to demoralise the workers' movement.

Even the Solidarnosc leadership, in their report to their September 1981 congress, recognised: "To our moderation, they respond with still greater aggressiveness."
Inspiring battle

DESPITE THEIR own leaders, Solidarnosc could not help but be political. Poland's Stalinist dictatorship could not tolerate free trade unions let alone elements of workers' power. To pursue economic and democratic demands they were forced to challenge the bureaucracy's privileges and repression.

For 18 months the workers could have taken power, peacefully without violence or civil war, such was Solidarnosc's strength and the regime's weakness. The international effect would have made it almost impossible for Russia to intervene, especially as the Polish army would most probably have fought with the workers against foreign invasion.

Instead, the continual appeals to moderation undermined workers' confidence that all their efforts could achieve real lasting change.

On 13 December 1981 Jaruzelski struck. Using the military and secret police to do the dirty work, a military coup was carried out. Solidarnosc was banned, leaders arrested, strikes declared illegal, all concessions withdrawn and martial law declared.

Workers did resist - shipyards, mines, the Ursus tractor factory, car plants all went on strike - but their isolated actions fizzled out. The movement became disorientated and demoralised, the defeat greater for having been so near to taking power.

Western democracies, the banks and politicians applauded the coup. They welcomed the restoration of stability and a chance to get their debts paid back!

Solidarnosc's inspiring and heroic struggle shows that the first movement of workers was towards political revolution, as happened later in East Germany and Czechoslovakia in 1989, but without a conscious leadership this was not carried through.

The coup, martial law and repression, demoralisation and disillusionment at defeat, the continued collapse of the Polish economy and the seeming capitalist boom in the west in the 1980s, all combined to undermine, even reverse, the Polish workers' socialist consciousness.

So much so that in 1988, on a visit to Poland, Margaret Thatcher was cheered by Gdansk workers as was US President George Bush senior the following year!

Solidarnosc leader Lech Walesa even declared, "We will build America here in Eastern Europe." It's a historical irony that the Solidarnosc leaders went over to support the restoration of capitalism at exactly the same time as the ruling Stalinist bureaucracy in Poland, Eastern Europe and Russia, for their own reasons, reached the same conclusion.

Jaruzelski, under cover of military dictatorship, began this process. And Lech Walesa, due to his authority as Solidarnosc leader, was elected President of Poland in the early 1990s, and used increasingly authoritarian powers to push through privatisations.

Instead of America being built in Poland, US firms were invited to buy Poland up! Walesa became so discredited through his association with capitalist free-market policies and authoritarian rule that he received only 3% of the vote when he stood again for Poland's presidency in 2000.

Solidarnosc's political party was wiped out in the 2001 parliamentary elections, and today the Solidarnosc trade union exists as a shadow of its former self trying to resist the effects of the neo-liberal policies it ended up promoting!

Nonetheless Polish workers can draw inspiration from the Solidarnosc movement of 25 years ago, as they struggle today to rebuild fighting trade unions and create a new workers' party in the future, capable of overthrowing capitalism and replacing it with a democratic socialist society.
Economic growth slows

BEFORE WORLD War Two, Poland was a semi-feudal dictatorship dominated by foreign capital.

Under Nazi occupation, Poland lost a fifth of its population and industry was destroyed. With the Red Army defeat of the Nazis, a Stalinist state came to power at the end of the war. With a nationalised and planned economy, industrial production increased 13-fold.

From 1951 to 1972 national income grew by 7% a year on average, with big improvements in living standards, health and education. But economic growth was already slowing by the 1970s because the bureaucracy could not meet people's needs through a system of 'diktats' and crude targets. This resulted in shortages, queues and price rises, which triggered uprisings in 1970 and 1976.

The regime's attempts to kick-start the stagnating economy through market mechanisms and western loans only made things worse. By the 1970s, price subsidies were consuming a third of the state budget. The attempt to cut these subsidies again in July 1980 led to the movement from which Solidarnosc developed.
What were the Stalinist states?

MARXISTS USE the term "Stalinist" to describe the Soviet Union/Russian state after it degenerated under Joseph Stalin's leadership from a relatively democratic workers' state into a one-party totalitarian regime.

The regimes in Eastern Europe (including Poland) that developed after World War Two shared the same features from their inception.

These Stalinist states were characterised by nationalised and planned economies (replacing landlordism and capitalism) ruled over by a privileged elite of bureaucratic rulers who still called themselves 'communist' but ran military-police dictatorships where workers had no democratic rights. These regimes were caricatures of genuine socialism, which requires workers' democratic participation at every level of society.

Despite the economic advantages of a planned economy, the Stalinist bureaucracy's 'commandism' and mismanagement led to crises which eventually resulted in the overthrow of these repressive regimes in 1989, unfortunately opening up the way for the restoration of capitalism.
Poland 2005
Capitalist restoration - a catastrophe for workers
VISITORS TO Poland may see the market reforms of the nineties as a success, reports Paul Newbery from Poland.
Gone are the queues for basic necessities outside empty shops. Nowadays the stores are overflowing with goods and modern shopping centres around Warsaw don't differ from those in the west either in quality or price.

However, behind the impressive shop displays of Poland's capital, the reality is quite different. There is one small problem that admirers of Poland's market reforms conveniently forget - the vast majority of the population can't afford to buy the goods in the fancy shops.

The restoration of capitalism in Poland, ushered in by the Solidarity-sponsored Balcerowicz Plan at the beginning of the nineties, was catastrophic for Polish workers.

In the first year, 1990, GDP fell by over 10%, twice what Balcerowicz expected. Industrial output fell by over 25%. In 1991 GDP fell a further 7.5%. Only at the end of the 1990s did GDP reached the level of 1989, ie before the introduction of the market. Hardly a success story! Even today, GDP per head in Poland is only one-fifth of that in Britain.

For workers the economic collapse caused by capitalist restoration meant a driving down of real wages and the appearance of mass unemployment - a phenomenon previously unknown in Poland. Today unemployment is around 20%, whilst workers often earn as little as 150 euros a month.

Mass privatisations accompanied the restoration of capitalism, causing massive job losses. Most enterprises were sold off at a fraction of their value either to friends and family of the political elite or to businessmen in return for generous bribes.

In state-owned enterprises workers enjoyed cheap, subsidised holidays and children's camps, as well as cheap housing provided by the company. Privatisation meant the liquidation of such benefits and often the selling off of the flats to private landlords. This year the government introduced a bill 'liberalising' private-sector rents, which will make thousands more working-class families homeless.

The introduction of capitalism also meant the destruction of the welfare state. The health service has been decimated due to chronic underfunding of state hospitals and the chaos caused by the introduction of the internal market. Benefits and pensions have been slashed. However, only a minority of the unemployed are entitled to benefits anyway.

Employment in mining has been reduced from 450,000 to 142,000. In Walbrzych, a mining town in the south of Poland, unemployment runs at over 50%. In conditions reminiscent of the 19th rather than the 21st century, poverty forces unemployed miners and youth to risk their lives working illegal mining shafts, tens of metres underground using makeshift props to secure the tunnels. Every few months a tunnel collapses, killing or seriously injuring workers.

"At least in the Polish People's Republic we didn't starve. We had work and a roof over our heads" is an opinion that you often hear when talking to workers.

Last year, Edward Gierek, leader of the Polish United Workers Party (the communist party) in the 1970s, topped a poll to find the greatest Polish statesman, beating Solidarity's legendary leader, Lech Walesa. In another poll, most Poles felt life was better in the seventies.

However, the solution for Polish workers is not a return to the bureaucratic mismanagement of the economy that existed in the Polish People's Republic.

Instead, what is needed is a planned, nationalised economy under democratic workers' control and management. Then the economy can be organised to meet working people's needs instead of making profits for the small business elite and the international corporations.

 

[GFR]

Workers' unity against war and terrorism
Defend democratic rights

THE HORRIFIC terrorist attacks that have taken place in London and around the world have been condemned by the Socialist Party.

But we warned that Blair would use these attacks to intensify a climate of fear and crack down on civil liberties...just like GWB
Stop the War Coalition Demonstration
24 September 2005
Assemble 1pm Central London

Now, Blair's new plan, which includes secret, judge-only courts, will further attack civil liberties and whip up racial tension.

It confirms that the terrible actions of the suicide bombers have been used by Blair to attack working-class Muslims and all working people.

It will not lessen the chances of further suicide bombings and will create more tension.

These draconian plans will not just be used against suspected terrorists but will be used against the workers' movement, the anti-war movement and anyone who dares to dissent against Blair's foreign and domestic policy.
"Extreme views"

The government is preparing a definition of "unacceptable behaviour" to include anyone who expresses "extreme views that are in conflict with the UK's culture of tolerance".

In the USA, the introduction of the Patriot Act after 9/11 has been used against anti-war protesters and Green Party members.

The experience of the 'Troubles' in Ireland showed that a clampdown on civil liberties was used against the workers' movement.

The use of Diplock Courts and the use of internment without trial did nothing to stop terrorist activity.

If anything it intensified it and acted as a recruiting sergeant for terrorist organisations.

Blair claims the "rules of the game are changing" but his determination to tear up human rights legislation will not be a 'game' for the many innocents who will be caught up in this widespread attack on rights and liberties.

Blair's proposals represent a serious threat to anyone who opposes the New Labour government's support for US imperialism's invasion and occupation of Iraq and subjugation of the peoples of the Middle East.

Whilst the majority of people in Britain have no sympathy for those who advocate support for suicide bombings, many also understand that Blair's new measures will further worsen the situation, rather than bring a solution.

The trade union movement has not so far adequately responded to Blair's actions in the aftermath of the bombings.

The trade union movement needs to act decisively and effectively to protect and safeguard the interests of working-class people.

That can be best done uniting workers in building a campaign to ensure that the government is put under the maximum pressure to withdraw the troops from Iraq and withdraws its plans to erode civil liberties.

The trade union and anti-war leaders must give a clear lead in building a mass campaign to withdraw the troops, remove Blair and end Britain's role in the oppression of the peoples of Iraq and the Middle East.

 

[bio-chem]

sounds like a very limited point of view and an all around load of crap to me.

 

[BigDyl]

Foreman = intelligent guy with more free time than myself.

However, I agree w/ him.

 

[GFR]

sounds like a very limited point of view and an all around load of crap to me.

Its over your head, I'll try to write it in a simpler way next time so you can grasp it.
But with you as always the real problem is your fear. It will not let you learn or see anything but the propaganda and hate you were taught to believe as a child.

 

[Rich46yo]

Does anyone here actually read all of Foreskins posts?

 

[GFR]

Does anyone here actually read all of Foreskins posts?

Its clear you don't read anything that isn't approved by your party leader....

Hell why read about something different than you believe??? You might get tricked or brainwashed......plus it takes so much time and effort to read one page.....your better off just making up crap and saying its a fact.

 

[bio-chem]

who was brainwashed? and it might be a good idea to cut your posts down to smaller points so that people will be more interested. when you post crap like the last, there are just too many things to say in response and i really dont want to take the time.

 

[bio-chem]

foreman i think you need a better grasp of economics.

 

[min0 lee]

Foreman and Rich46..............this will be interesting.

 

[GFR]

who was brainwashed? and it might be a good idea to cut your posts down to smaller points so that people will be more interested. when you post crap like the last, there are just too many things to say in response and i really dont want to take the time.

If you would read a book for once and stopped using cliff notes then maybe it wouldn't bother you to read one whole page

 

[GFR]

foreman i think you need a better grasp of economics.

Its clear that my grasp is bigger than your grasp.

 

[min0 lee]

Oh brother....my grasp is bigger than your grasp....all this freaking grasp envy....how big is your grasp..can you suck your own grasp.

 

[GFR]

Oh brother....my grasp is bigger than your grasp....all this freaking grasp envy....how big is your grasp..can you suck your own grasp.

You know the answer to that question baby

 

[Nick+]

Listen I've lived in 'communist' countries (as China supposedly was) back in 1978-79, and I've seen the corruption it breeds. The 'carders' (or elite) Chinese in Communist China were the same people who would have been the 'factory owners' or big bosses under a 'capitalist' system.

The problem though, may now be ,(now that socialism has been cleared out of the way........{?} ) That rampant exploitation rules the day.... By that , I mean unfettered 'capitalism'. I do hope not.

One bright outlook I must say.

 

[Rich46yo]

I wasnt relating to foreskins ignorant posts. I was referring to his 500 line motherfuckers that would take an afternoon to read.........Uncle Rich.....

 

[GFR]

Listen I've lived in 'communist' countries (as China supposedly was) back in 1978-79, and I've seen the corruption it breeds. The 'carders' (or elite) Chinese in Communist China were the same people who would have been the 'factory owners' or big bosses under a 'capitalist' system.

The problem though, may now be ,(now that socialism has been cleared out of the way........{?} ) That rampant exploitation rules the day.... By that , I mean unfettered 'capitalism'. I do hope not.

One bright outlook I must say.

Good post Nick


THE SOCIALIST PARTY strives to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control -- a non-racist, classless, feminist, socialist society in which people cooperate at work, at home, and in the community.

Socialism is not mere government ownership, a welfare state, or a repressive bureaucracy. Socialism is a new social and economic order in which workers and consumers control production and community residents control their neighborhoods, homes, and schools. The production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. Socialism produces a constantly renewed future by not plundering the resources of the earth.
Under capitalist and "Communist" states, people have little control over fundamental areas of their lives. The capitalist system forces workers to sell their abilities and skills to the few who own the workplaces, profit from these workers' labor, and use the government to maintain their privileged position. Under "Communist" states, decisions are made by Communist Party officials, the bureaucracy and the military. The inevitable product of each system is a class society with gross inequality of privileges, a draining of the productive wealth and goods of the society into military purposes, environmental pollution, and war in which workers are compelled to fight other workers.
People across the world need to cast off the systems which oppress them, and build a new world fit for all humanity. Democratic revolutions are needed to dissolve the power now exercised by the few who control great wealth and the government. By revolution we mean a radical and fundamental change in the structure and quality of economic, political, and personal relations. The building of socialism requires widespread understanding and participation, and will not be achieved by an elite working "on behalf of" the people.
Radical democracy is the cornerstone not only of our socialism, but also of our strategy. Here are the main features of each:

Socialist Society

Freedom & Equality

Democratic socialism is a political and economic system with freedom and equality for all, so that people may develop to their fullest potential in harmony with others. The Socialist Party is committed to full freedom of speech, assembly, press, and religion, and to a multi-party system. We are dedicated to the abolition of male supremacy and class society, and to the elimination of all forms of oppression, including those based on race, national origin, age, sexual preferences, and disabling conditions.

Production For Use, Not For Profit

In a socialist system the people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically controlled public agencies, cooperatives, or other collective groups. The primary goal of economic activity is to provide the necessities of life, including food, shelter, health care, education, child care, cultural opportunities, and social services.
These social services include care for the chronically ill, persons with mental disabilities, the infirm and the aging. Planning takes place at the community, regional, and national levels, and is determined democratically with the input of workers, consumers, and the public to be served.

Full Employment

Under welfare capitalism, a reserve pool of people is kept undereducated, under-skilled and unemployed, largely along racial and gender lines, to exert pressure on those who are employed and on organized labor. The employed pay for this knife that capitalism holds to their throats by being taxed to fund welfare programs to maintain the unemployed and their children. In this way the working class is divided against itself; those with jobs and those without are separated by resentment and fear. In socialism, full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work.

Worker & Community Control

Democracy in daily life is the core of our socialism. Public ownership becomes a fraud if decisions are made by distant bureaucrats or authoritarian managers. In socialist society power resides in worker-managed and cooperative enterprises. Community-based cooperatives help provide the flexibility and innovation required in a dynamic socialist economy. Workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions. Worker and community control make it possible to combine life at work, home and in the community into a meaningful whole for adults and children. Girls and boys are encouraged to grow up able to choose freely the shape of their lives and work without gender and racial stereotyping. Children are provided with the care, goods and services, and support that they need, and are protected from abuse.

Ecological Harmony

A socialist society carefully plans its way of life and technology to be a harmonious part of our natural environment. This planning takes place on regional, national, and international levels and covers the production of energy, the use of scarce resources, land-use planning, the prevention of pollution and the preservation of wildlife. The cleanup of the contaminated environment and the creation of a nuclear-free world are among the first tasks of a socialist society.

Socialist Strategy

Socialist Feminism

Socialist feminism confronts the common root of sexism, racism, and classism: the determination of a life of oppression or privilege based on accidents of birth or circumstances. Socialist feminism is an inclusive way of creating social change. We value synthesis and cooperation rather than conflict and competition. We work against the exploitation of women who live with lower wages, inferior working conditions and subordination in the home and in politics. Socialists struggle for the full freedom of women and men to control their own bodies and determine their own sexual orientation. Women's independent organizations and caucuses are essential to full liberation, both before and after the transformation to socialism. Women will define their own liberation.

Liberation of Oppressed Groups

Bigotry and discrimination help the ruling class divide, exploit, and abuse workers here and in the Third World. The Socialist Party works to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in all its forms. We recognize the right of self-defense in the face of attacks; we also support non-violent direct action in combating oppression.
People of color, lesbians and gays, and other oppressed groups need independent organization to fight oppression. Racism will not be eliminated merely by eliminating capitalism.

International Solidarity & Peace

People around the world have more in common with each other than with their rulers. We condemn war, preparation for war, and the militaristic culture because they play havoc with people's lives and divert resources from constructive social projects. Militarism also concentrates even greater power in the hands of the few, the powerful and the violent. We align with no nation, but only with working people throughout the world.

Internal Democracy

Socialism and democracy are one and indivisible. The Socialist Party is democratic, with its structure and practices visible and accessible to all members. We reject dogma and promote internal debate. The Socialist Party is a "multi-tendency" organization. We orient ourselves around our principles and develop a common program, but our members have various underlying philosophies and views of the world. Solidarity within the party comes from the ability of those with divergent views on some issues to engage in a collective struggle towards social revolution. We strive to develop feminist practice within the party.

Cultural Freedom

Art is an integral part of daily life. It should not be treated as just a commodity produced by the activity of an elite group. Socialists work to create opportunities for participation in art and cultural activities. We work for the restoration and preservation of the history and culture of working people, women, and oppressed minorities.

The Personal as Political

Living under domination and struggling against it exact a personal toll. Socialists regard the distortion of personal life and interpersonal relations under capitalism as a political matter. Socialism must ultimately improve life; this cannot be accomplished by demanding that personal lives be sacrificed for the movement. We cherish the right of personal privacy and the enrichment of culture through diversity.

Electoral Action

Socialists participate in the electoral process to present socialist alternatives. The Socialist Party does not divorce electoral politics from other strategies for basic change. While a minority, we fight for progressive changes compatible with a socialist future. When a majority we will rapidly introduce those changes, which constitute socialism, with priority to the elimination of the power of big business through public ownership and workers' control.
By participating in local government, socialists can support movements of working people and make improvements that illustrate the potential of public ownership. We support electoral action independent of the capitalist-controlled two-party system.

Democratic Revolution From Below

No oppressed group has ever been liberated except by its own organized efforts to overthrow its oppressors. A society based on radical democracy, with power exercised through people's organizations, requires a socialist transformation from below. People's organizations cannot be created by legislation, nor can they spring into being only on the eve of a revolution.
They can grow only in the course of popular struggles, especially those of women, labor, and minority groups. The Socialist Party works to build these organizations democratically.
The process of struggle profoundly shapes the ends achieved. Our tactics in the struggle for radical democratic change reflect our ultimate goal of a society founded on principles of egalitarian, non-exploitative and non-violent relations among all people and between all peoples.
To be free we must create new patterns for our lives and live in new ways in the midst of a society that does not understand and is often hostile to new, better modes of life. Our aim is the creation of a new social order, a society in which the commanding value is the infinite preciousness of every woman, man and child.

 

[Rich46yo]

Ok,Ok, I was referring to his ignorant posts as well....Uncle Rich.........

 

[GFR]

I wasnt relating to foreskins ignorant posts. I was referring to his 500 line motherfuckers that would take an afternoon to read.........Uncle Rich.....

Brilliant post................are you a multiple PHD ????

 

[maniclion]

Listen I've lived in 'communist' countries (as China supposedly was) back in 1978-79, and I've seen the corruption it breeds. The 'carders' (or elite) Chinese in Communist China were the same people who would have been the 'factory owners' or big bosses under a 'capitalist' system.

The problem though, may now be ,(now that socialism has been cleared out of the way........{?} ) That rampant exploitation rules the day.... By that , I mean unfettered 'capitalism'. I do hope not.

One bright outlook I must say.

I see Communism as a country run as one big corporation, I see American capitalism becoming a bunch of Corporations practically becoming their own countries, and it's becoming hard to tell the difference, like Walmart won't sell certain music or books yet a majority of our population shops there and no where else because Walmrt is the only store within miles. And then you notice that all the items in these Corporation were made in that one huge Corporation across the wide Pacific and you realize we're being eaten from the inside out.

 

[Nick+]

Foreman- good posts-and good thread. I'll come back later today on them. It's 2am here I've been up and mucking out horses since 7am yesterday. Then a 3 hour drive from 7-10pm this evening with some rather pshycotic French drivezrs sharing the autoroute{highway} and other roads. I aù completely trashed. Got myself back to the internet connection however-- after 3 weeks without. Not connecting myself up to the phone line and ADSL/broadband where I live until I know I really have the job............

Nick