Declaration of Principles of the Socialist International (June 1989)

I can only say "I hope so". Except for maybe the first part of the second bullet in item #60. I'm not too sure what they mean by that.

The web site scores ONE hit for a search on "Socialism". Mind you, its in the preamble of the Constitution (pdf) but I gotta tell you their synopsis of Democratic Socialism could probably use a brush-up...

quote:

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The New Democratic Party believes that the social, economic and political progress of Canada can be assured only by the application of democratic socialist principles to government and the administration of public affairs.

The principles of democratic socialism can be defined briefly as:

- That the production and distribution of goods and services shall be directed to meeting the social and individual needs of people within a sustainable environment and economy and not to the making of profit;

- To modify and control the operations of the monopolistic productive and distributive organizations through economic and social planning. Towards these ends and where necessary the extension of the principle of social ownership;

- The New Democratic Party holds firm to the belief that the dignity and freedom of the individual is a basic right that must be maintained and extended; and

The New Democratic Party is proud to be associated with the democratic socialist parties of the world and to share the struggle for peace, international co-operation and the abolition of poverty.

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That just doesn't seem to get the point across that we've come a long way, baby. No wonder half the country thinks the NDP are the political equivalent of the Barbie Revolution.

quote:

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That just doesn't seem to get the point across that we've come a long way, baby. No wonder half the country thinks the NDP are the political equivalent of the Barbie Revolution.

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What point don't you think the preamble to the federal NDP constitution gets across? I'm genuinely curious.

[ 16 November 2006: Message edited by: John K ]

I think it would help if it stressed that (contrary to the conventional wisdom, ahem) people can be put before profit without the whole thing going to hell in a handbasket.

I think item #3 should become item #1 and maybe get gussied up a tad to be more in line with the SI framework of freedom justice and solidarity.

solidarity should have never fallen out of fashion.

I think "monopolistic productive and distributive organizations through economic and social planning" needs to be expanded to deal with the realities of oligarchic power distribution.

I think it would help if it let passers-by know it can be done without storming the castle or even upsetting the applecart for that matter. Not that there doesn't need to be a flurry of activity.

(I dont' blame "them" for pulling the Regina Manifesto - it IS rather dated)

"We will not worship the god they serve
a god who feeds the rich while poor men starve" - Billy Bragg

[ 16 November 2006: Message edited by: BitWhys ]

Its not the "T"s and "I"s so much as the message and how it seems to be sytematically falling short. I always get a kick out of people's reactions after I've ranted for 5 or 10 minutes over coffee about something they agree with and then I let it slip that I'm a dipper.

I don't blame the NDP for that, really. Its a long row to till when you need to snap people out of decades of mass marketing media conditioning before you can convince them its ok to think that way, most people do. Know what I mean?

Even an NDP stalwart I know happened to serve as a prime example of how that conditioning has effected all of us when I found myself countering the (respectful) contention that the CCPA folks are "leftist" by saying "they're not left-wing, they're just good economists". A bit of an overstatement*, granted, but much closer to the truth than the business schools would have us (and their acolytes) believe.

*On Edit: about their persuasion, not their prowess, heh.

[ 17 November 2006: Message edited by: BitWhys ]

Le site du Parti Socialiste