From: Amara Graps (amara@amara.com)
Date: Mon Aug 19 2002 - 23:32:47 MDT
Christopher Whipple
>IMHO, it's high time someone brought up RU Sirius. Through all the
>political back-and-forth on this list about coulda, woulda,
>shoulda's... I've not once seen his tongue-in-cheek political party
>mentioned.
>
>For those of you who haven't seen it before - or those who haven't
>seen it in awhile - drop by and check out the party platform:
>
>You'll note that it was written for the 2000 elections, and not
>updated since - making some of the platform points hopelessly
>out-dated.
Thanks for pointing it out! -Amara
http://www.revolting.com/platforms.html
20 Point Party Platform for National Politics by R.U. Sirius
NOTE: All of these platform points are stated simply in
three-or-less sentences. The reality is far more complex. Each
one of these will be detailed, one by one, in the months to come.
If you agree with 14 of these 20 points, you should JOIN THE
PARTY
1. Convert to clean energy now! Particularly in light of the global
climate crisis, we call for a global transition to clean energy
sources by the end of the decade. Encourage the development and
distribution of new, more efficient, clean energy sources as the
technologies become available. Encourage the practice of
recycling and clean manufacturing processes. Promote global
cooperation in ensuring that all nations are able to implement
these new technologies as soon as possible. Promote research
into possibly reversing the damaging effects of old, "dirty"
technologies.
2. Drug peace! We call for an immediate end to the War on Drugs as
a top national priority, beginning with the repeal of all
prohibition against Cannabis, later to be followed by the total
transformation of all policy towards other so-called "illicit"
substances. We demand an end to the imprisonment of individuals
for the possesion of small amounts of illegal drugs and
encourage the replacement of our current punitive, "criminal
justice" approach with one that views the abuse of drugs as a
health problem, and that stresses education as well as respect
for an individual's Constitutional rights & civil liberties. We
recognize that the specific details of this wider transition
require greater investigation and therefore encourage
constructive debate of new models of drug regulation and
taxation, ranging from medicalization to legalization and many
points between. Furthermore, we call for an immediate end to
military involvement in the war on drugs, both at home and
internationally.
3. We will repeal twice as many laws as we pass. We need to
simplify and clarify the rules of the game. We will do a better
job of enforcing and obeying a few reasonable rules than
thousands upon thousands of incomprehensible statutes.
4. End corporate rule! We reject the domination of our lives and
political systems by corporations, and call for corporate
documents and information to be open to the public. We call for
an end to corporate welfare. We call for prison terms for
serious corporate crime. We call on Federal and State
governments to use the right to revoke the charters of
corporations that don't play by the rules, and challenge legal
rulings giving corporations the same rights as people.
5. Radical simplification and reform of the tax system: We call for
an end to all Federal Personal Income taxes on an individual's
first $100,000 of income, with a simple flat tax to be
instituted on all income over $100,000. We further encourage
states to also end taxation of the incomes of the poor and
middle class.
In order to maintain social security insurance we call for
an end to the current income ceiling on payroll taxes which
place an unfair burden on lower and middle income people.
Finally,we are committed to promoting individual and
smaller business enterprize by easing the excessive tax burdens
on small companies, individual proprietors, and "free agents",
and by making large corporations pay their fair share.
6. You can't own the human genome. We need to examine
biotechnology's promises and threats more closely, and share the
information and the positive results more democratically.
7. Close down the prison/industrial complex. Pardon all prisoners
who are in for victimless crimes, provided they have no known
history of violent activities. Pardon all prisoners listed with
Amnesty International. Grant a stay of execution to Mumia, and
support a new trial.
8. Defend civil liberties. For the first time in recent memory,
let's have a federal government that respects The Constitution
and The Bill of Rights. Let's have representatives of the ACLU,
EFF and other pro-rights organizations in the Justice
Department.
9. Stop the war on youth. It's time to end absurd zero-tolerance
policies in schools, curfews, and other impositions of martial
law on the youth of America.
10. It's time for a new globalism. Advocate a global minimum wage
and environmental standards. Oppose excesses in corporate
property rights through patents, copyrights et. al.
11. Stop policing the world. Become just another member of the UN,
with responsibilities equivalent to our numbers. Reduce the
Pentagon's budget by at least 30%.
12. Tibet can't wait. And neither can millions of other victims of
state repression around the globe. Emphasize human rights in
foreign policy, and be consistent about it. Representatives of
human rights groups should represent the US in the UN and should
be part of the State Department.
13. Close down the National Security State. Since the end of World
War II, representative democracy has been hostage to the
National Security State. Release all secret documents (excluding
only those recent ones that present a very clear and present
danger), fire the CIA, and reform the federal intelligence
apparatus. Put mature computer hackers in charge of
intelligence.
14. Put environmental concerns before profits and jobs. On the other
hand, put scientific consensus and reason ahead of emotion-based
environmentalism. Protect the environment while limiting
Orwellian bureaucratic absurdities. Pay loggers not to clear cut
the forests.
15. Open federally-funded birth control clinics all across the
country, guaranteeing women in every locale reasonable access to
her legal right to abortion and other forms of birth control.
16. Allow 'autonomous zones.' Offer ways in which localities and
even households can -- with a very few limits -- opt out of the
system.
17. Re-establish social services at pre-Reagan levels, for starters.
Study the possibility of replacing demeaning welfare by using
government to create an ultimately self-sustaining 'generic'
maintenance economy. By creating co-operatives that co-exist
with free enterprise, we can replace welfare with a less
demeaning, and more democraticly engaging alternative.
18. Study the possibility of restructuring the economic/money system
toward making money consistent with actual value in an age where
money-as-information is excessively abstracted from the creation
of real wealth and unfairly favors those who know how to
manipulate it. Also, question the oligarchic power of those who
control the money system, such as the Federal Reserve, the IMF,
and the World Bank, reforming or possibly eliminating those
organizations.
19. Fund a 'Manhattan Project Toward Utopia.' Finance and encourage
altruistic scientific and technological projects geared towards
breakthroughs that can diminish or eliminate scarcity, disease,
and other forms of suffering that most people would prefer not
to experience. Establish a principal of universal access to the
products of such breakthroughs.
20. Victory Over Horseshit! The political process in America is
hostage to certain obvious absurdities that are an embarrassment
before the civilized world: like the continuing embargo against
Cuba (and particularly the Helms/Burton bill), the excessive
numbers of state executions, our refusal to sign the land mine
treaty, the opposition to policies like needle exchange that are
geared towards slowing down a plague, refusal of funding for
international birth control, ad infinitum. Let's have a national
government that calls ridiculous horseshit what it is.
-- ******************************************************************** Amara Graps, PhD email: amara@amara.com Computational Physics vita: ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/ ******************************************************************** "Dare to be naive." -- Buckminster Fuller
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