>Sounds excellent to me, Jenny. Remember, though, the discussion started
>out being about whether one is more likely to get there by beginning with a
>lofty exposition of faith, vision, general principles, etc, or with lots
>of concrete suggestions like these. Of course both are necessary, but as a
>tactical/rhetorical matter, where to start?
Yeah. I was responding to the proposed program list, the one to which Doug interlined responses. However, we've also got rhetoric aplenty (www.thelaborparty.org):
A Call for Economic Justice: The Labor Party's Program Preamble We are the people who build and maintain the nation but rarely enjoy the fruits of our labor. We are the employed and the unemployed. We are the people who make the country run but have little say in running the country. We come together to create this Labor Party to defend our interests and aspirations from the greed of multinational corporate interests. Decades of concessions to corporations by both political parties have not produced the full employment economy we have been promised. Instead income and wealth disparities have widened to shameful extents. We offer an alternative vision of a just society that values working people, their families and communities. We, the members of this Labor Party, see ourselves as keepers of the American Dream of opportunity, fairness, and justice. In our American Dream, we all have the right:
* To a decent paying job and a decent place to live * To join a union freely without fear of being fired or other retribution * To strike without fear of losing our job * Not to be discriminated against because of our race, gender, ethnicity, disability, national origin, or sexual orientation, at work or in our communities * To free, quality public education for ourselves and our children * To universal access to publicly-funded, comprehensive, quality health care for all residents * To retire at a decent standard of living after a lifetime of work * To quality of life in our communities enhanced by a fully funded public sector.
The Democratic and Republican parties serve the corporate interests that finance them. We oppose corporate power that undermines democratic institutions and governments. We oppose corporate politicians and parties that provide billions in corporate tax breaks and subsidies to the rich, selling themselves to the highest bidder. We reject the false choice of jobs versus environmental responsibility. We will not be held hostage by corporate polluters who poison our workplaces and our communities. We reject the redistribution of billions of dollars of wealth from poor and working people to the rich. And we reject every opportunist who plays the race, gender, or immigrant card to keep us from addressing our real needs, and the needs of our families and communities.
Our Labor Party understands that our struggle for democracy pits us against a corporate elite that will fight hard to retain its powers and privileges. This is the struggle of our generation. The future of our children and their children hangs in the balance. It is a struggle we cannot afford to lose.
***
Jenny Brown