Three steps toward socialist revolution in the US

[Antonio Balmer]

This may be too much of an over-simplification, but here are the three important points of the political program of the Workers International League which strike me as the three core parts. Please correct me if this is inaccurate.

1.) develop Mass Party of Labor based on democratically structured unions. So union leaders must get average wage, and membership must have right of immediate recall. This structuring makes unions a working class tool. If a movement of these unions can form a party, you got a big step.
2.) nationalization of commanding heights of the economy under workers control. Workers control is the key here. This means take over fortune 500. Or 200?
3.) transitional program balancing two things: meeting working class needs (universal healthcare, fully funded education etc.) and the empowerment of working class at expense of Bourgeois class. (example: eliminate the health insurance industry, make unions more powerful etc.. basically power to the people.)

Is this a good summary? I know it leaves out some stuff but this strikes me as the most important chunk.

[Christopher Hill]

Although I really am not officially involved with any organization I believe from my research on the subject that you are right on, But it seems to me that these cannot be the main objectives so to speak, These are very important things.. And their usefulness cannot be questioned.. But in reality it would be in my mind at least to say that the only way such a thing will work is through "Legal" methods such as these as well as extralegal methods such as popularized by Lenin, Guevara, Luxemburg, Liebkneckt, and Trotsky. While I myself (And I believe most Marxists) are for the most part Anti-Violence.. There is violence which is sadly necessary.. I am not convinced that a Socialist revolution can happen by purely legal means.. Aside from those situations in which as Marx noted a legal revolution could occur, This only possible in countries were the constitution or governmental body can be legally "set aside" such as in England and Venezuela.

[Joshua Purcell]

I agree that the needed revolution would not be done through current legal means, and I believe that shows a serious problem with the current laws of the land. People shouldn't be able to perform actions or exercise 'rights' given to them by society that prevent others from at some reasonable point performing that same action or exercising that same 'right'. Property rights are an example of this in any possible long-term scenario. This fact has shown itself throughout history, and the Israeli-Palestine conflict is just one good recent example of this. You will always have a recipe for trouble with the current mode of property rights in place in a relatively small area of land and resources. This isn't the same thing as saying that nobody should be able obtain a house or business, it's saying that everyone should be able to obtain a house or business.

Rights granted or taken away solely based on prejudice, fear, or some other similar emotion is another such example of a right that is unsustainable. That's where this Swiss minaret ban falls, for example. The majority of people who voted decided to stop the construction of minarets out of fear and prejudice, and I'll bet good money the long-term outcome of that decision will make those who voted for this ban wish they would have thought a little harder about what exactly they were doing. This ban shows a double standard in allowing people to practice their religion. Everyone has just as much right to practice their religion as anyone else regardless of what country they are in. Banning a specific religion's symbols is showing that some religions have more rights than others, which rightfully causes problems among people who believe that rights should be equally applied to everyone (not to mention how the people who actually practice the discriminated religion feel about it). Performing this ban in the name of preference to some religion is hypocritical since there is no way anyone can say one religion is correct while another is not. This goes back to one of the main problems with organized religion in general... nobody should tell anyone how or when to worship what god, and they damn sure better not think they can hand out penalties to those who don't go by their demands. A government isn't (or shouldn't) be connected to a specific religion because of this. Switzerland has gone out of its way for decades to create the perception it is a neutral country in all international issues, and it has done very well in that regard up to this point. I don't think the Swiss were primarily showing that one religion was preferred when they voted this way; instead I think they were more showing their fear of Muslims. But whatever the reason for the ban, it was the wrong decision. Normal non-violent people are discriminated against because of this vote, and it will only serve to increase tensions between the West and the Muslim world.

This all comes back to the fact that the current system of laws and bureaucracy will have to be wiped out in order to meet the goals of having a real democracy and building a society as described by Marx and others. The WIL program lays out the needed steps that our society in its current mode needs to take in order to move towards that goal. I don't really try to simplify the important parts of the WIL or find the basic steps needed for social revolution any more than the WIL program already lays out:
http://www.socialistappeal.org/content/view/13/53/

To me, the most important aspect of the WIL, IMT and Marxism in general is the idea of true democracy, and making sure that society's resources and various organizations are all on the same page and all serving the will and needs of the people regardless wealth, race, nationality, or anything else. That's not really means to an end, but an end itself.

[Antonio Balmer]

Those are helpful comments. I hadn't looked at the "legal revolution" aspect. I probably should have given more context as to why the simplification. In my local community radio station I do a Marxist radio program every friday for about an hour and a half in which I try to lay out the basic economic tendencies of capitalism and some basic arguments for socialist revolution. So when it comes to the WIL platform I've tried to categorize each point into the three subjects. In my view these basically encompass the platform. Mass labor party based on demoratic unions- this relates to the first three points of the platform. The transitional program/demands sort of encompasses the points of: employment/housing, living wage, healthcare, education, equal rights, and the final category of nationalizing the commanding heights goes for the points on planned production in agriculture, protecting the environment, and obviously the point on the banks and corporations. So these three categories of the platform are what I mention in my radio program. Maybe I should just cover the entire platform of the WIL and ditch this simplification?

also, if anyone cares to listen or call in, here's a bit of info about my program.
It's on Fridays at 10:00 pm Pacific Standard. You can hear it online and watch the live webcam at www.radiobirdstreet.org
and the call in number is 1-530-534-1200 for the office and 1-530-533-1172 in the radio booth for on-the-air calls. I call my program Revolution Hour or Working Class Hour. I also play Reggae music :)

[Joshua Purcell]

That's great that you have such a radio program! I'll definitely listen to some upcoming shows now that I know about it... I've been on the lookout for such programs.

[Christopher Hill]

I sometimes go on that same show, I as of now haven't been on the air but I think I will have to come up with something to say, It really is a cool program.

[jack123]

Hi...
Socialism is the ultimate exploitative monopoly. No competitors (peaceful market alternatives) are allowed. All major industries, including food, banking, transportation, communication, health care, education, and insurance are owned and operated as state monopolies.
These things are very important for any country to social reforms and i think US Govt should emphasize on it.
thank

[chavachuchu]

Welcome Brother!

Solidarity Greetings from the Revolutionary Youth of the Philippines!


We can learn from each other's struggle for a better world, and we would love to hear from you and your group - your latest campaigns, issues, etc. you can reach us through: chava.villania@gmail.com


and perhaps we can link up online - add us up at facebook: chava.villania@gmail.com


Hope to hear from you and your organization soon! More Power!

[killua1910]

This may be too much of an over-simplification, but here are the three important points of the political program of the Workers International League which strike me as the three core parts. Please correct me if this is inaccurate.

1.) develop Mass Party of Labor based on democratically structured unions. So union leaders must get average wage, and membership must have right of immediate recall. This structuring makes unions a working class tool. If a movement of these unions can form a party, you got a big step.
2.) nationalization of commanding heights of the economy under workers control. Workers control is the key here. This means take over fortune 500. Or 200?
3.) transitional program balancing two things: meeting working class needs (universal healthcare, fully funded education etc.) and the empowerment of working class at expense of Bourgeois class. (example: eliminate the health insurance industry, make unions more powerful etc.. basically power to the people.)

Is this a good summary? I know it leaves out some stuff but this strikes me as the most important chunk.

I agree with point 1 & 3, but realization for point 2 will create confusion i bet.

[frankking110]

Thank you for sharing these 3 steps towards socialist revelution in the US.  At least I already had an idea about it.

[frankking110]

Thank you for sharing these 3 steps towards socialist revelution in the US.  At least I already had an idea about it.