Class divisions create hierarchies. Hierarchies are composed of many different types of classes. There are the hierarchies created by the dominant Capitalist economic system composed of rich and poor. There hierarchies in the home born of natural instincts, like parent and child. In school there students, teachers, principals, school board and such, all being part of a hierarchy. Even in social situations there will be subtle hierarchies due to the human factor of dominance and submissiveness. Take note that submissiveness is not a negative trait.
At work, and this is really important, there is a hierarchy. You who work the grind submit to it every day. A lot of you, even though you enjoy doing your skill, feel a little resentment having to submit to this. When you look at your paycheck, you feel a little bit like you may have been ripped off, don’t you. You have been all classified and placed into a notch in the machine. Your value has been calculated to the penny. How much value you create and how much of that value you get back. All of it created by your sweat and blood, created by your labor and thoughtful attention to detail. Your labor-value has been utilized to create wealth. You don’t get to have a say in it either.
There’s the problem with class and hierarchies. People don’t like it being a part of a hierarchy they have no say in. That’s why Socialists keep going on and on about having Democracy in the workplace. They say that the solution to the problem of class is to get rid of class wholesale. This is an error, and one of the causes of the failure of Socialism to take hold and Capitalism to win.
We New Era Socialists have to think of this problem in new era ways. Instead of abandoning class and hierarchies, we should think of them in a different manner. Like in the workplace, there has to be worker input into the processes. They, because their labor created the wealth, should have a say in the division of the wealth. On the boards of directors there should be people from the production floor there to advocate for them. Let there be hierarchies in the workplace, but allow the workers to have a say as to how those hierarchies function and are formed. This is the bringing of Democracy into the workplace.
The bringing of Democracy into the workplace is not the attempt to take from the owners their property. In reality it is merely the addressing of the problem of the unequal division of wealth. Addressing this problem at work would cause a transformation at home. In general, the standard of living would go up for people who are feeling kind of ripped off today when they look at their paycheck. Mostly the people on the bottom of the economic hierarchy would be affected.
One thing that would change is the notion of hierarchies. A natural hierarchy of experience would become the dominant hierarchical system. From the day we are born we look to the members of our species who have more years and experience for guidance and knowledge. It is a perfectly natural thing to do. From times of old we are told “Respect your elders.” and for good reason. Logic and reason would dictate that we should look to our people with more experience so that knowledge might be passed from one generation to the other, and thus we advance.
That regard for knowledge and experience should be present in the workplace. As the workers are allowed to vote for their advocate on the boards of a company, they would pick the person they respect for their knowledge and experience, coupled with a sense of justice and community. This would be a new hierarchy in the workplace which would form new classes of people who are more equal economically.
We have to evolve in our thinking about hierarchies. This is the New Era Socialist way of analyzing the situation. We New Era Socialists can’t be antagonists to Capitalists because that approach will get us nowhere. We have to show them that they are better off incorporating Socialist methods, like with the approach to hierarchies, than not.
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If you New Era Socialists want change there is only one way to peacefully get it under the current power structure. That way is with a massive vote of no confidence in political parties by a mass falling out of We the People from the political parties. We must all register No-Party affiliation in order to reign in political party power, and then thusly reign in their masters, the industry 1%ers.
I beg you. Go register as a non-affiliated voter right away. Watch as the political parties quake in fear as their precious voter base shrivels to nothing. They need you way more than you need them.
The political parties come and go. The Constitution lives on;
When people think in terms of Republican-v-Democrat I see a reflection of how thoroughly we have been indoctrinated.
We have got to break the current power structure, and it will not happen if we go about things as we always have. We have all got to drop out of the parties.
I'm not registered to a stupid partisan club. I am a free thinker. I dictate my own thoughts, then seek out candidates who best match that. I don't allow some ill advised compromise offered by thralls of industry. Namely the political parties.
Maybe if a political party offers some candidate who has policy that matches mine I might vote for them. No political party would be well advised to think they have my vote, or my registration in the bag. They don't own me, or my vote.
I own them, and so do you.
Here is the beginnings of an idea.
New Era Socialism is a political, social and economic ideology that supports economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a liberal democratic polity and capitalist economy. The protocols and norms used to accomplish this involve a commitment to representative and participatory democracy; measures for income redistribution and regulation of the economy in the general interest; and welfare state provisions. New Era Socialism thus aims to create the conditions for capitalism to lead to greater democratic, egalitarian and solidaristic outcomes.
The natural resources of energy, materials and labor should be nationalized.
Persons, companies and corporations who own mineral rights under the current system should be compensated for the loss of their claim, but only up to the date of the current owner’s death in the case of an individual, and a one time cash payout to companies and corporations.
Resource extraction companies and corporations shall be enabled to submit bids on the extraction and warehousing of the people’s resources. The lowest bidder win the award of extraction,
The currency used by the people should be backed by the value of the People’s Resource Stockpile.
The People’s Resource Stockpile would be managed by a new Department of Resources.
Private industry, government and collectives may draw resources from the People’s Resource Stockpile.
The Department of Resources sets the price of any resource extracted using guidelines set by economic objectives, and policy.
Once a resource has been purchased from the People’s Resource Stockpile, it is no longer the property of the People. Regardless of that, the People shall maintain control of the safe use and disposal of any privately or collectively owned material resource.
Nationalized labor is the way to enact a universal basic income. To enable such a thing it would be required to institute a National Labor Force. Any person may, using only their free will, apply for employment in the National Labor Force. Any business or corporation may apply for labor from the National Labor Force, The National Labor Force shall be in competition with the private labor market.
All persons would be eligible for inclusion in the basic income program, but with conditions. There shall be levels of support which are dictated by the person’s activities in the National Labor Force.
Any person may obtain a minimum basic income by merely applying for it and showing need (set conditions). The basic income would be financed through the sale of materials and energy in the People’s Resource Stockpile. The minimum basic income should provide the proper level of subsistence which would maintain health and vitality in body and mind.
Any person who applies and is put on the list of available labor shall receive a premium above the basic stipend. There should be additions to the basic income to promote participation in the National Labor Force. There should be longevity bonuses and educational bonuses paid in addition to the basic income. There should also be taken into account the level of hazard, and a premium paid for that.
Companies, corporations and government entities who make use of the National Labor Force shall maintain a level of safety, and human factors consideration, in the workplace as dictated by the National Labor Force. Private industry that employs labor from the private labor market shall not undercut the minimum price of labor set by the National Labor Force because labor is a national resource.
Monies collected from the sale of the People’s resources shall grant the greatest benefit to We the People. These monies shall pay the private industry who won the bid to extract, and for cleanup. These monies shall provide for the Basic Universal Income. They shall provide for Universal Healthcare. The money collected from the sales of the people’s resources should be used also for remediation of environmental damages already caused.
All resources of energy and materials where ever they may be found in their natural state must be included in nationalization. Resources within our sphere of influence on and off the Earth must be owned by We the People in fact, and not just in theory.
This isn't simple. I would be disrespecting you if I did not share more. So here you are, for what it is worth.
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New Era Socialist Solutions
I'm sick of half measures and failed dreams. I am a Baby Boomer and a Child of the Apollo era. I grew up on the Florida North coast and witnessed Gemini and Apollo rockets blasting their way into orbit and to the moon. I have memories of all of my family sitting around that primitive B&W TV set in awe as humans set foot on the moon! I remember the words as Neil Armstrong uttered the words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
We had big dreams back then. Everyone thought that by the year 2000 there would be civilization on Mars and bases on the moon. Things didn't turn out that way. Our giant leap for mankind turned out to be a giant leap for proving our technological superiority over the USSR. Once that was done, the ball was dropped. Nixon halted the Apollo program with 2 missions worth of hardware gone to waste. What a disappointment!
July 20, 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo. It has been half a century since this awesome feat. Something the world took part in. Could you try to imagine what our reality would be if we had of never stopped with the momentum we had gained during Apollo? Look at the technological spin-offs that has come from Apollo and the other space missions. Our lives would be profoundly different if we had of continued the effort to take the moon for all humankind.
When President Kennedy said "we do it because it is hard." it was extremely hard. We didn't know how we would pull it off. We had to make everything from scratch. The computers of that era were very primitive compared to today’s models. Our engineers were cutting things so close, when the Eagle landed there was only 9 seconds of fuel remaining. Our knowledge was lacking then, but the situation has changed significantly since the early days of NASA. Now our technological base is pretty solid. We have the means to follow through on the dream created by Apollo.
We not only have the means, but we also have vastly more knowledge about our situation in space and the resources that could be had. What we need now is the national will to get the greatest migration of the human species ever attempted going. It has to be as important, if not more, than the effort to win WWII.
When we get to a point of maturity in this endeavor, a system of processes serving humanity involving off world energy and material resources would have been created. A lot of pressing problems will be solved as we go. In order to solve our problems using the systems we create we’ll have to think of these things in a different manner. Like the idea of a universal income. The realization of a national priority program of off world colonization/expansion (OWE) and industrialization would require a massive amount of labor. Labor who are highly educated would be required. Skills of all kinds would be needed. It would also require the harvesting of off world resources of materials and energy.
During the height of the Apollo there were 400,000 people employed in that program. Some people believe that off world colonization shouldn’t happen until we fix our problems here on Earth. Then in 2008-09 our people bailed out ingrate bankers and Wall Street money manipulators to the tune of $16 trillion. For that kind of money we could have had over 90 Apollo size projects going at the same time and from start to finish! Now you’re talking jobs. Millions and millions of badly needed jobs would certainly be created while building the 21st Century infrastructure. With that kind of tax base going, and coupled with proper taxation of the rich, all of our people could be cared for.
We would have to create something like a National Labor Force (NLF). We could also create a Universal Basic Income (UBI) that would work with the NLF. Any citizen in need would have a right to apply for the UBI and/or the NLF. If a person applies for the UBI they would receive a basic income that would maintain a healthy mind and body. If a person who is in the UBI program, or any other citizen who wishes to, applies for work in the NLF they would receive a higher income than the UBI. Any business may apply to hire labor from the NLF. The NLF would primarily be focused on Off World Expansion. As a person gains time served in the NLF, and in consideration of educational goals met, also considering the element of danger involved with an assignment, the NLF worker would receive premiums in pay as incentive and in recognition of these things. No privately held business would be legally able to undercut wages, conditions of employment or human factors set by the NLF.
Our citizen NLF/OWE pioneers would be the creators of a new civilization. As we go we’ll gain experience and knowledge. The human sphere of influence then will be as different 200 years from now because of it as it was different before the transition to industrialization. Pollution problems from industrial wastes of toxic substances and gasses can be largely eliminated by moving large industrial processes off world. New territories can be opened up for people go and live on Mars and the moon. NLF workers could e incentivized by giving title to a plot of land on Mars, good for the life of the person. After that it should pass to the next intrepid pioneer.
This is something real. We have SpaceX and the SLS. We can get this going in a big way if only people would say, let’s do it. I’m tired of politicians with no vision. I’m tired of politicians with just enough vision not to make any waves, or controversy over good issues. This is a good issue, but for far too long we have let the naysayers prevail. That must come to an end. Take Bernie Sanders for instance. It is good that he promotes rebuilding the earthly infrastructure, but he doesn’t go far enough. It is in disrepair and needing upgrading. After we put millions of people to work on that we’ll come to a point in time when all the rebuilding, repairing and upgrading will be caught up. What happens then? Lay off millions of people?
Why not do this? Put people through a program administered by Job Corps, in cooperation with NASA and other industry like SpaceX, which would have the end goal of producing the skilled labor needed for the OWE. As the Earth infrastructure is brought up to 21st century standards, we can start the push for the OWE, and be well underway when the Earth based infrastructure is caught up. All these people who worked on the Earth based systems can then be diverted to the OWE, if they so choose. This would be the start of an infrastructure program that would be truly without limit, and be boundless in opportunity for new expression of the human presence.
So far I just don’t see many people pushing anything revolutionary like this. There are plenty of good people willing to poke their thoughts out of the box a little, but not near far enough. We need to start thinking completely out of the box if we have any hope of reversing the damages done to our progress and environment.
I'm sick of half measures and failed dreams. I am a Baby Boomer and a Child of the Apollo era. I grew up on the Florida North coast and witnessed Gemini and Apollo rockets blasting their way into orbit and to the moon. I have memories of all of my family sitting around that primitive B&W TV set in awe as humans set foot on the moon! I remember the words as Neil Armstrong uttered the words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
We had big dreams back then. Everyone thought that by the year 2000 there would be civilization on Mars and bases on the moon. Things didn't turn out that way. Our giant leap for mankind turned out to be a giant leap for proving our technological superiority over the USSR. Once that was done, the ball was dropped. Nixon halted the Apollo program with 2 missions worth of hardware gone to waste. What a disappointment!
July 20, 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo. It has been half a century since this awesome feat. Something the world took part in. Could you try to imagine what our reality would be if we had of never stopped with the momentum we had gained during Apollo? Look at the technological spin-offs that has come from Apollo and the other space missions. Our lives would be profoundly different if we had of continued the effort to take the moon for all humankind.
When President Kennedy said "we do it because it is hard." it was extremely hard. We didn't know how we would pull it off. We had to make everything from scratch. The computers of that era were very primitive compared to today’s models. Our engineers were cutting things so close, when the Eagle landed there was only 9 seconds of fuel remaining. Our knowledge was lacking then, but the situation has changed significantly since the early days of NASA. Now our technological base is pretty solid. We have the means to follow through on the dream created by Apollo.
We not only have the means, but we also have vastly more knowledge about our situation in space and the resources that could be had. What we need now is the national will to get the greatest migration of the human species ever attempted going. It has to be as important, if not more, than the effort to win WWII.
When we get to a point of maturity in this endeavor, a system of processes serving humanity involving off world energy and material resources would have been created. A lot of pressing problems will be solved as we go. In order to solve our problems using the systems we create we’ll have to think of these things in a different manner. Like the idea of a universal income. The realization of a national priority program of off world colonization/expansion (OWE) and industrialization would require a massive amount of labor. Labor who are highly educated would be required. Skills of all kinds would be needed. It would also require the harvesting of off world resources of materials and energy.
During the height of the Apollo there were 400,000 people employed in that program. Some people believe that off world colonization shouldn’t happen until we fix our problems here on Earth. Then in 2008-09 our people bailed out ingrate bankers and Wall Street money manipulators to the tune of $16 trillion. For that kind of money we could have had over 90 Apollo size projects going at the same time and from start to finish! Now you’re talking jobs. Millions and millions of badly needed jobs would certainly be created while building the 21st Century infrastructure. With that kind of tax base going, and coupled with proper taxation of the rich, all of our people could be cared for.
We would have to create something like a National Labor Force (NLF). We could also create a Universal Basic Income (UBI) that would work with the NLF. Any citizen in need would have a right to apply for the UBI and/or the NLF. If a person applies for the UBI they would receive a basic income that would maintain a healthy mind and body. If a person who is in the UBI program, or any other citizen who wishes to, applies for work in the NLF they would receive a higher income than the UBI. Any business may apply to hire labor from the NLF. The NLF would primarily be focused on Off World Expansion. As a person gains time served in the NLF, and in consideration of educational goals met, also considering the element of danger involved with an assignment, the NLF worker would receive premiums in pay as incentive and in recognition of these things. No privately held business would be legally able to undercut wages, conditions of employment or human factors set by the NLF.
Our citizen NLF/OWE pioneers would be the creators of a new civilization. As we go we’ll gain experience and knowledge. The human sphere of influence then will be as different 200 years from now because of it as it was different before the transition to industrialization. Pollution problems from industrial wastes of toxic substances and gasses can be largely eliminated by moving large industrial processes off world. New territories can be opened up for people go and live on Mars and the moon. NLF workers could e incentivized by giving title to a plot of land on Mars, good for the life of the person. After that it should pass to the next intrepid pioneer.
This is something real. We have SpaceX and the SLS. We can get this going in a big way if only people would say, let’s do it. I’m tired of politicians with no vision. I’m tired of politicians with just enough vision not to make any waves, or controversy over good issues. This is a good issue, but for far too long we have let the naysayers prevail. That must come to an end. Take Bernie Sanders for instance. It is good that he promotes rebuilding the earthly infrastructure, but he doesn’t go far enough. It is in disrepair and needing upgrading. After we put millions of people to work on that we’ll come to a point in time when all the rebuilding, repairing and upgrading will be caught up. What happens then? Lay off millions of people?
Why not do this? Put people through a program administered by Job Corps, in cooperation with NASA and other industry like SpaceX, which would have the end goal of producing the skilled labor needed for the OWE. As the Earth infrastructure is brought up to 21st century standards, we can start the push for the OWE, and be well underway when the Earth based infrastructure is caught up. All these people who worked on the Earth based systems can then be diverted to the OWE, if they so choose. This would be the start of an infrastructure program that would be truly without limit, and be boundless in opportunity for new expression of the human presence.
So far I just don’t see many people pushing anything revolutionary like this. There are plenty of good people willing to poke their thoughts out of the box a little, but not near far enough. We need to start thinking completely out of the box if we have any hope of reversing the damages done to our progress and environment.
