Preamble

We, who gather under this banner of reform, represent the dreams and hopes, the anger and frustrations of millions of working U.S. citizens who are disillusioned with the American System, and disgusted with the performance of both major political parties: the Republican Party for its dedication to wealth, the Democratic Party for its prostitution to wealth.

Although Americans who support independent third parties are sincere in their commitments, should they win office we don’t believe the promises they make can be kept under the present political environment, which is biased towards wealth and makes a mockery of the democratic processes.

We working Americans find ourselves confronted by a situation unknown in modern times: our democratic ideals and values are being distorted and our dreams of a better world for ourselves and our children are being destroyed by the actions of our own rulers who must do as they do to save their corrupt capitalist system and preserve their way of life.

Corruption saturates both our political and economic systems, and as a result of the 2000 Florida election fiasco, we now know that even the decisions of the Supreme Court can be swayed by the influence of wealth.

We can see that the mass media, subordinates or withholds important information, and we’re told that many of our most talented journalists and writers are paid to deliberately slant news with cleverly written articles, and to fill the content of entertainment programs with half-truths and outright lies that favor the current policies and objectives of rich, powerful Americans.

We fear the elimination and weakening of federal programs designed to protect working Americans from the abuse of wealthy citizens as much as we fear the dismantling of the public school systems in favor of private or religious education. For we fear this goes hand in hand with the drive for secrecy by our unelected president and his Administration and the almost complete lack of open public debate on important national issues such as jobs, healthcare, justice, poverty, homelessness, and unnecessary wars. We fear the arrogance of such fascist policies are destroying whatever potential the republic had of ever evolving into a true democracy.

And so we have formed this political party to do what we believe is the only option left to the common working citizens of the republic—remove the power of the U.S. government from those who hold it and change the political system from one that responds to the influence of wealth to one that responds solely to the whole citizenry; from one that exclusively nurtures the needs and whims of wealthy, white, male citizens to one that nourishes the lives of all.

Platform

We declare:

First – the political form we advocate is a participatory, or direct, democracy in which all citizens of the U.S. have a voice in choosing the values, policies, and laws governing society; in which secret meetings concerning public decisions are against the law, and all such meetings are open to the public. It is to be a government in which every adult citizen is required to serve a specific period of time as administrator of local, regional, or national government, and every citizen shall be educated and paid to perform such duties.

Second - once this new political system has been approved by the majority of the citizenry, and is in place and functioning comparatively well, this party shall disolve and be no more, for a participatory government is totally reliant upon the energies of its individual citizens and has no need of intermediary political parties, which always seem to evolve needs of their own that conflict with the needs of the people.

Third – the objectives of this new government will be:

1. to utilize the natural resources of the nation in the best interests of the nation and its citizens: all citizens, present and future. This objective necessitates the transference of all privately owned real property to public ownership with a fair payment to all legitimate owners of such properties—excluding land speculators.

2. to establish an economic system benefiting all citizens, not just rich citizens or speculators. Such a system will:

a – use the rental income from the nation’s real estate to finance a national healthcare program, employment program, retirement program, insurance program, and all other programs passed by a majority vote of citizens after public discussion.

b – establish both public banking and credit systems.

c – prevent the excessive accumulation of wealth and the power that goes with it, and give as many citizens as possible an opportunity to benefit from the national economy. Ownership of corporate conglomerates deemed essential to national security will be assumed by the people,and all other conglomerates will be dismantled into smaller, totally independent and unrelated companies. In conjunction with this policy, the economic system will restrict the amount of wealth an individual my remove from the economy in a lifetime.

3. establish an education system to promote the traits of curiosity, consideration, and cooperation between individuals, groups, and nations. Such a system will be designed to produce mature citizens capable of assuming the obligations of communal living and the responsibilities of a participatory democracy.

4. establish a national transportation system compatible with the environment. This would include:

a – research and development of alternative forms of energy and individual transport.

b – construction of a national train system similar to that used in western Europe, and hopefully as efficient and dependable.

5. establish a legal system not only of law and order, but of justice for all.

6. reestablish public control of the airwaves so the narrows of information to the public can never again fall under the control of so few men. This includes tighter control of the procedures and policies governing the licensing of all broadcasters, and the allocation of a greater segment of the airwaves to the public. It means the transference of all telephone systems to public ownership and free public access to the internet. It means the creation of a separate internet for the exclusive use of the business community and the exclusion of all commercial messages and websites from the public internet.

7. reestablish the nation’s tool and die industry and bring manufacturing back to this country, but only after a national dialog among the citizenry to make certain that every citizen understands the options and values involved. And only after a successful positive vote.

8. place the military under strong civil command and forbid American boys and girls from overseas duties during peacetime.

All of these actions are designed to strengthen the security of the American people by eliminating the abuse that goes hand in hand with excessive wealth and power. They are designed to help produce a well-educated, mature citizenry capable of maintaining a participatory democracy.

It is understood that there will be many objections to such change, among which will be the dislocation involved as certain jobs are eliminated and others created. But in all instances the new political system will see that no American citizen is allowed to go hungry, homeless, or unemployed.

We end this political document as did the young student authors of the Port Huron Manifesto.

"We are committed to stimulating this kind of social movement, this kind of vision and program in campus and community across the country. If we appear to seek the unattainable, as it has been said, then let it be known that we do so to avoid the unimaginable."