Notes on Political and Economic Reform
Here's my sense of what's wrong and a general idea of what I think we (the public) should do.
Maybe I'll get around to developing these ideas; but 'til then, here they are.
The U.S. Democratic Party leadership's one-front-at-a-time political strategy is fundamentally wrong, as centuries of military history teach and decades of right-wing political successes illustrate. If Sun-Tzu and Liddell-Hart were alive today, they'd likely shake their heads at the refusal to impeach before the the election or prosecute afterward, the focus on a single legislative priority at a time, or the tame submission to a media industry dominated by propagandists for the opposing party. This is so glaringly obvious that the Democratic strategy is probably an instance of deliberate sabotage by the leadership. (The recent pressure on Fox by the White House is a hopeful sign that maybe someone's catching on.)
Two heads are better than one, and many heads are better than just a few. Democracy works better than oligarchy.
Most politically-conscious people feel a revolutionary nimbus building up. How do we direct it effectually so as to overcome the “National Security” state and institute democracy and good government? (Can we, like, skip the chaotic violence and cut to the part where things get better?) The Okhrana's heirs (Охрана) and their feudal masters have more than a century (maybe much more) of experience to guide their attempts to co-opt and dissipate this charge without losing their grip.
History shows that unaccountable power will inevitably be abused and is thus inherently criminal. Consequently, so are large private accumulations of wealth, likewise all official secrecy. Moreover, capital concentration must be constrained to prevent convergence toward monopoly and catastrophic failure. A market dominated by just a few players cannot allocate resources fairly, as the dominant few collude to oppress everyone else.
Structural Reforms:
Abolish official secrecy.
Outlaw large private accumulations of wealth. Force all large accumulations to be contained in public corporations with open books; in particular, outlaw private banks. Furthermore, outlaw corporate capital concentrations so large that they enable a corporation to bankrupt competitors by selling at a loss for extended periods. Outlaw secret dealing among corporations. Outlaw shareholders distinct from employees; each employee votes one share. This would abolish the stock market; all finance would be via bonds and commercial bank loans. Constrain the compensation ratio of most- vs. least-compensated employees.
Restore the Estate Tax.
Segregate media from all other industries; outlaw participation of a media corporation in manufacturing, farming, or resource extraction, for example, or vice versa (aside from intracorporate communications). Likewise segregate bond-trading, banking, and insurance from one another.
Hamper the feudal use of religion for private gain by abolishing religious tax exemptions. Treat religious organizations just like non-profit corporations, with regard to wealth & accounting.
Abolish private corporations & corporate personhood; reserve civil rights (especially freedom of speech and assembly) for real people.
Reverse the erosion of US Constitutional rights, particularly the 1st, 2nd, 4th & 8th Amendments. Cherish the public's capacity to rebel.
All people, not just citizens, are created equal, endowed with unalienable rights. Treat with other nations to bilaterally extend civil rights to non-citizens as far as is reasonable. Voting in government elections, for example, should be reserved for citizens; but minimum wage laws apply to everyone, and all workers vote in the corporations that employ them.
Restore due process; for example, restore Habeas Corpus and erase the Constitution-shattering detention category of “Enemy Combatant”. (What other new guards must we erect to deter the government from violating the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions and common decency by indefinitely detaining and torturing people?) Abolish unaccountable "watch lists", of people, organizations, and nations.
Pull out of the WTO, NAFTA, &c. Restore trade barriers to protect critical industries such as farming and manufacturing. Stop depending on foreign manufacturers for national defense.
Reverse the ongoing, enormously destructive privatization of public utilities and other infrastructure, especially the sale of infrastructure to foreign owners.
Policy Reforms:
Replace lip-service with genuine support for democracy and opposition to tyranny, both abroad and at home: Target all monarchy and dictatorship for regime change, support democracies such as Venezuela, and promote the general unionization of industry. Enforce laws against cartels and restraint of trade. (How do unions and worker-owned co-ops relate? What's the precise distinction between an industry-wide or international union and a cartel? Should we remain suspicious of corporate bureaucracy even when the corporation is formally democratic?)
Enforce human rights as provided by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, particularly the rights to food, shelter and health care.
Increase staffing of schools, hospitals, courts, likewise public safety, public accounting and environmental protection agencies to the adequate levels that experience shows are attainable only by public institutions.
A plentiful supply of electric power is essential for economic prosperity, and probably for collective survival, considering the challenges posed by climate change. Solid-state switching stations are necessary both to support widespread co-generation of power by users and also to secure the grid against the spread of power failures, including those caused by sabotage. So quit dawdling and proceed with the long-studied implementation of solid-state switching and with the aggressive development and implementation of energy-storage technologies and sustainable sources of electric power.
Robust colonies throughout the Solar system, most especially on the Moon, are probably necessary for human survival. Restart the space program. Collaborate with other space-faring nations to found at least one spaceport on the Moon. Start mining and colonizing the Moon and the asteroids.