Sunday, July 27, 2008

Human Needs of the Socialist Party




(Who exactly do the Socialists think is going to pay for the following? Oh, I know, the greedy, rich people that are earning their wealth on the backs of workers! VN8)

Arts and Culture

The Socialist Party believes that art is an integral part of daily life, and should not be treated as a commodity produced by the activity of an elite group. All members of society should have ample opportunities for participation in art and cultural activities.

1. We support the formation of collectives, arts centers and schools, independent media, theaters and festivals to advance such cultural endeavors as music, poetry, prose, drama, dance, storytelling, visual art, and videography.

2. We support guaranteed incomes and grants for artists and performers.

3. We support making schools and workplaces available as cultural centers.

4. We call for full funding of community and school arts programs for people of all ages.

5. We call for full funding to keep libraries, museums, cultural centers, and historic sites open and accessible to all.

6. We call for the preservation of literature, art, music, dance, oral traditions, and audio and video recordings that have arisen out of people's experiences: young and old, of all nationalities and colors, sexual preferences, working, un- and under-employed, and disabled.

7. We support the autonomy of artists of color, women artists, and disabled artists in their creative work.

8. We support the right of artists to join and form unions to protect their labor rights and to form collectives to advance common artistic visions.

Education

The Socialist Party recognizes the right of students of all ages to a free, quality education in a safe and supportive environment, and of all school employees to good wages, benefits, and working conditions.

1. We call for full and equal funding of public education; for the restoration of a comprehensive K-12 curriculum, including art, music, world languages, and physical education; for an end to all public funding of private schools; and for free tuition and full-time teachers with full benefits (not "adjuncts") at the post-secondary level.

2. We support public child care starting from infancy, and public education starting at age three, with caregivers and teachers of young children receiving training, wages, and benefits comparable to that of teachers at every other level of the educational system.

3. We oppose merit pay for teachers, standardized testing, competition between schools within the same district, the sale of on-campus advertising in order to raise funds, and the increasing dependence of post-secondary institutions on corporate funding.

4. We call for an egalitarian educational system with teaching methods that accommodate the wide range of teaching and learning styles, and that provides all students with the means to obtain the post-secondary education they desire. We call a maximum of 15 students per teacher for grades K-12, and a maximum of 50 students per teacher at the post-secondary level.

5. We call for vigorous affirmative action programs so that the faculty and student-body of all schools reflect the community at large in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, and economic background. We support multicultural, multilingual, experimental education at all levels.

6. We support student, parent, and teacher control of curriculum formation, and in the hiring and dismissal procedures of school personnel, through the formation of local school/community committees.

7. We call for student representation on school boards, and for those boards to be fully accountable to students, parents, teachers, and school workers.

8. We call for opportunities for lifelong self-education, with retraining programs and transitional financial support for workers displaced by technological advances.

9. We support full and unrestricted health education programs, including sex education, with curriculum input from parents, students, teachers, and health care professionals.

10. We oppose school-sponsored prayer or any other religious practice in public schools, and all efforts to limit the teaching of evolution or to combine it with non-scientific theories.

11. We call for free and open access to information, including the public ownership of all large databases.

Health Care

The Socialist Party stands for a socialized health care system based on universal coverage, salaried doctors and health care workers, and revenues derived from a steeply graduated income tax.

1. We support a national health program with full standard and alternative medical, dental, vision, and mental health coverage for all, publicly funded through progressive taxation and controlled by democratically elected assemblies of health care workers and patients. The National Health Program should extend, and replace, Medicare and Medicaid.

2. We call for a health care system that emphasizes preventive care, respects patients' privacy, gives special attention to the needs of the physically and mentally disabled, and conducts treatment and research unimpaired by sexism, racism, or homophobia.

3. We call for full funding for AIDS research, prevention, and treatment. We demand full civil rights for people living with AIDS.

4. We call for public ownership and worker and community control of the pharmaceutical industry.

5. We call for educational programs to help prevent drug addiction; for voluntary treatment programs for addicts and alcoholics; and for the availability of free, sterile needles for those still using IV drugs.

6. We call for the reinstatement of funding to community mental health services so that low-cost or no-cost treatment is available on a voluntary basis, with clients' rights respected. We oppose involuntary incarceration for treatment without due process.

7. We support the right to choose or refuse medical treatment, the right to die, and the right to assisted suicide.

Housing

The Socialist Party recognizes the right of all people to high quality, low cost housing.

1. We call for a vast increase in Section 8 housing subsidies as one element of major public investment in the construction of low cost, scattered site, community-based, high quality housing.

2. We call for rent control for all rental units, and the right of tenants to organize.

3. We support the formation of non-profit land trusts and of socially owned, tenant controlled housing cooperatives.

4. We call for the organization of a housing rehabilitation program aimed at renovating and remodeling existing homes to bring them up to housing and safety codes, as part of a broader public works program.

5. We call for an end to home foreclosures


Transportation


The Socialist Party calls for extensive public transportation in both urban and rural areas.

1. We call for the creation of a fully funded high-speed national rail system with fares set low enough to be a viable alternative to the use of the automobile.

2. We call for an end to the expansion of the interstate highway system and the reduction of combustion engine/auto based transport.

3. We call for government subsidized programs to expand safe routes for foot and bicycle paths.

4. We call for pedestrian ways, accessible by mass transit, which exclude vehicles from the downtown area of cities and towns.

5. We support publicly funded development of renewable fuels.

6. We support federally funded auto insurance.

7. We call for public ownership and worker control of the airline industry.

8 comments:

Jim said...

I don't think you've got anything to worry about VN8. The Socialist Party nominee, Brian Moore, won't even get 1% of the vote.

Unknown said...

Dang VN8, you've done well.

Jim: Tell me how these values differ from those of Dennis Kucinich, Mad Maxine Waters, and so on and on.

VoteNovember2008 said...

I'm not worried about the Socialist Party, I'm worried about how similar what Democrats want to do to this Country parallels the Socialist Party! Democrats want to give everyone healthcare, so do the Socialists, Democrats want to level the monetary playing field, so do Democrats. You can't have it both ways or sit on a fence. You either believe as a Party in Social welfare or you don't.

I appreciate you stopping by and taking a stab at it. When you convince me that Democrats aren't interested in supporting Social Welfare, I'll believe that Democrats aren't that evil word you don't want to be associated with. VN8

Jim said...

VN8 I don't think that you could find even a hand full of Republicans that would vote for your vision of the perfect society. I can't think of anyone who would want to live in a pure Anarcho-capitalist society. We live in a democracy and love the principle of capitalism but none of us, including Republicans want to live under extreme pure Anarcho-capitalism.

VoteNovember2008 said...

Jim, I don't know what you are smoking over there in East Cobb but I have never said anything to the effect that I believe in the elimination of States! If anything I believe that the Federal Government needs to get out of the business of the States. What a ludicrous attempt at name calling.

I believe that our infrastructure needs to be maintained and we need fire and rescue and a court system but I do believe that there are plenty of taxes imposed on citizens that are unnecessary!

Have you even read the "fair tax" book yet? When you read it in it's entirety then come back and find a "new" name to tag me with. Make up something on your own, but find something that fits me more appropriately.

As for other Republicans, I am involved in the Republican Party in Cobb County and we don't all agree on everything but we do agree on a majority of things so if I were indeed an Anarcho-capitalist, I don't think I would be to welcome to the PARTY.

I suppose you are still a little sore for me labeling you as a socialist and it stuck. If you don't believe in a "social welfare" state then say so, but if the shoe fits, one must wear it and be proud of it, not try to hide it in the closet and act as if it doesn't exist.

I'm not ashamed to announce that I'm a fiscal conservative and on some issues a social liberal. As a Libertarian I believe that people have a right to be whatever they want to be without judgement from anyone else, but if someone chooses to be lazy, don't expect someone else to pay for it!

Stand tall, be proud and accept the fact that it appears to me that you believe that there are those in society who need someone to assist them to achieve success without so much as breaking a sweat. Don't be ashamed of it. We still live in a Country that allows people to have opinions, I just don't agree with all of yours. VN8

VoteNovember2008 said...

Lee, thanks for stopping by! As for Dennis Kucinich, I'm gong to have to do a blog on he and Mad Max! Now that aught to get Jim going! VN8

Anonymous said...

Well, socialism, in my opinion, is the greatest evil of the last two centries. Socialism has given us communism and fascism, both tyrannical systems pushing for more government in our everyday life. As that wise gentleman named Thomas Jefferson stated, if a men isn't able to take care of itself (this is the very idea at the basis of socialism, that man is bad and needs someone, in this case the government, to look after him), should we trust other men (the government) to take care of him? Well, this is the socialist solution, despite nobody forces the politicians to be better than the man who's elected them. Besides that, nodoby can know what's better for each one of us...according to the socialists, the government does. It's such a shame any government is made up of bureaucrats and politicians looking for power, money and votes, but according to the socialist doctrine, a huge bureaucracy in the only way to CONTROL so many people. This is what socialism is really all about: control over the people. But the Founders gave the American people a great resource against such a socialist government: "whose beauty is you don't need it until they try to take it away from you" (Thomas Jefferson on the Second Amendment).

For the proper role of government, I'd redirect y'all to Jefferson's first inaugural speech.

VoteNovember2008 said...

S&SP, You are wise beyond your years. When you come to America, I hope and pray you are in some classes where you can teach Americans what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the great documents that shaped our Country! Be safe and you are always in my prayers! VN8