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On Political Criteria for Participation in Election Campaigns
It would seem useful to have some general criteria in mind in guiding us when considering participation in electoral campaigns. These criteria would seem to apply whether the office is President of the United States or school board member. The criteria enumerated below, which are not meant to be exhaustive should not be considered to…
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Why Do We Insist on Rejection of the Two-Party System as a Point of Unity?
Everything begins with the understanding that the corporations and banks are the enemies of all the people, and especially the working people, and among workers, workers of color most of all. We understand that the corporations and banks control all the social institutions – the corporate media, the courts, most churches, the universities, even…
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Suggested Principles of a Pre-Party Vanguard Organization
Originally written c. 1990-1992 The capitalist system is a slave system. One cannot make it humane any more than one could have reformed the old slave institution to make it humane.The aim of our organization is to radically transform society by ending all forms of exploitation and oppression. And nothing short of overturning the present…
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Why We Need a Firm and Consistent Ideology
Discussion originally proposed to the People’s Power Movement Steering Committee, 2010. What is ideology? A more or less internally consistent body of ideas, set of ideas, generally concerning politics, economics, society, which usually reflects the interests and/or social position of a particular class or social stratum. In our movements, we need to strengthen our ideology…
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Reformism vs. Revolutionary Tactics
There are reformists who sincerely desire to see fundamental social change. Their view is that they differ from revolutionaries “only” in the matter of tactics, since they share the same goals. It is good to strive for revolution, they say, but that is way down the road, the necessity for which is understood and supported…
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A Response to: “The Revolution Will Not Be Funded” (Tang, 2007)
Eric Tang is to be commended and thanked for his historic sketch of the “movement,” as well as for engaging in a long-needed critical examination of the role of NGOs. I am sure Eric would be the first to agree that his reflections were not meant to be exhaustive. And so I would like to…
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Independent Politics
A burning task at this political juncture is the setting in motion of a mass movement of working people toward independent politics. At this point we should define what we mean by “independent politics.” But before doing that, before discussing political strategy, we need to ensure that we share the same political goals. Without that,…
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Why Politicians Are Not Our Legitimate Representatives
What does “growing up” mean? It means, among other things, developing the ability to think critically. It means coming to understand that not everything that exists is right, necessary or permanent. We are born into a political system which we take for granted. We start off by thinking it is perfectly natural and democratic. Then,…
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Left Fragmentation
The Left is incredibly fragmented. Obviously, as long as it is in pieces it will remain weak. And yet that is not the real problem at this juncture. The real problem is that the Left is divided into essentially two pieces, if we consider only their political complexion and not other factors such as national…
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The Democratic Party
The Democratic Party is the lightning rod of discontent. It adapts itself to radical movements more readily than the Republicans. It bends. It is flexible. And one of its main functions is to prevent the formation of a genuine people’s party, a party that would express the interests of the working people, of the oppressed…
