conversations with "the left" - developing a platform

[welshTerrier2]

DU can, at times, be an awkward place for "lefties" ... i enclose the term in quotes because I believe, ultimately, that "political spectrum" issues should really be seen as American issues ... but, for the sake of discussion, i indulge the label ... and so, we are lefties ... the intent here is to build a core platform ... feel free to ignore the usual stream of attacks from those who blindly follow "leaders" ...

and there are as many definitions and schools of thought on ideology, and tactics, as there are lefties ... I exclude from this classification those who automatically support any Party or candidate regardless of position ... if you see no alternative to "lesser of the evils voting", i don't see you in this group ... is that arbitrary? of course it is ... all are welcome in this thread but my intent is to "talk to the left" ...

so lefties, what exactly is our "contract with America" and how do we achieve it?

here's a short list ... make it longer ...
1. big money has poisoned our democracy
2. there can be no compromise on movements for human liberation - gays, blacks, women, foreigners or anyone else should have the fullest respect of our national policies and the fullest protection under the law ... there is no room here for political game playing
3. we must have balanced budgets and sound fiscal policy ... bankrupting the nation is not sane policy whether funds are spent for good things or bad things
4. we have to have a defense architecture that provides absolute security to the American people - the current defense budget is a wasteful scam that bankrupts the nation and makes us less secure ...
5. American foreign policy and most wars are fought to procure oil, territory and power for a greedy few - America should be a benevolent nation that strives to share our "goodness" with the rest of the world - we've strayed very, very far from that ...
6. domestically, the health and well-being of each and every citizen should be among our very highest priorities ... there is no room for "rich man's medicine" and "poor man's medicine" ... if achieving this means trashing our system of capitalism and wealth acquisition, so be it ...
7. we should not have a judicial system that renders "rich man's justice" and "poor man's justice" ... we all know that more money buys better lawyers ... that's not justice at all ...
8. each and every citizen should have equal access to the "political class" ... the idea that corporations or the super-wealthy gain greater access through "sponsored conferences" or "fund raisers" or confidential meetings does not meet the test of good governance ... wealth should not provide greater access to petitioning the government ... politicians need to be much more available to their home districts and should appear with regular frequency in free, public forums ...
9. any system that values wealth over people is unacceptable ... if you need a cliche, "people before profits" ... a tax code that taxes investment income at lower rates than earned income is abusive by definition ...
10. we cannot continue to abuse the earth ... global warming has gone well beyond the crisis stage ... our institutions, especially transportation and the overreliance on autos, cannot continue to spew toxins into the air ... we seem to be so strangled by our corporations that sound environmental policy seems an impossible pipedream ... we need a government that puts sanity ahead of profits ...

so, that's enough for starters ... what's your agenda? let's hold off discussing tactics for a separate thread ...

btw, the goal of many of the above points is not to "impose" socialism and an absolute leveling of wealth ... citizens should be able to amass wealth up to the point that it begins to corrupt the political process and our social institutions ... that can never be tolerated ... the "liberal" approach to campaign corruption and legislative corruption is to call for reforms like campaign finance reform and lobbying reform ... fine ... we can support that ... but when it fails, and it always has, we must be willing to go further ... we must be willing to impose whatever regulation is necessary to protect our democratic institutions ... if that includes ideas like capping wealth, so be it ... we cannot allow the current abuses to continue under any circumstances ... the counter-argument is that capping wealth is "un-American" ... what should we call the current system where the American government has been sold to the highest bidder? is that the ideal on which the country was founded?

the next essay on this topic will explore the left and its relationship to the Democratic Party ... stay tuned ... there, we can discuss both politics and tactics ... let's start here with a platform ...

[Sammy Pepys]

1. I think it needs to be...

...picking a direction and sticking with it. We need to get down to first principles, rather than rely on indictments and such to ultimately oust our political enemies (not that it's not fun to watch). Calling out hypocrisy, while important, is not a platform.

[welshTerrier2]

3. OK ... so .......

what's your platform ??

[FarLeftRage]

2. Here are some of mine:

1.The reorganization of economic life on the basis of social need and the common good.

2.The elimination of poverty and oppression.

3.The elevation of the living standards of the nation’s people on the basis of social equality.

4.Create the fullest extension of democratic control over the policies and priorities of society and the processes by which wealth is produced and distributed.

[welshTerrier2]

4. democratic control? common good? elimination of poverty?

what are ya, some kind of commie? :toast:

somehow, themes like yours have been pushed to the extremes of the political spectrum ... how crazy is that?

sounds like a pretty good national platform to me ...

[FarLeftRage]

5. A Far Leftist, but no commie!

These are some of the things I've advocated for, most of my life.

Yes, both these themes and myself have been pushed to extremes... so it is crazy.