canadian-marxist:

left-reminders:

fandomsandfeminism:

10 Things America should do if we actually value democracy

1. Automatic voter registration for all citizens
2. Allow all citizens of voting age to vote, including felons and people currently incarcerated
3. Mandatory voting
4. Mail in voting available for all
5. Election day becoming several days, including a weekend
6. Abolish the electoral college and move to the popular vote in presidential elections
7. Institute ranked voting systems to encourage third parties.
8. Eliminate gerrymandered districts (moving, perhaps, to a proportional party vote) in state elections
9. Ban corporations from donating money to politicians
10. Restrict active campaigning AND political fundraising to only 8 weeks before election day.

11. Encourage any policy proposals that would subsidize worker cooperatives or bring crucial industries under public control; democratic citizens councils in each area could then make sure the cooperatives and public industries are sufficiently responsive to the needs of the people (they would also foster the democratic instinct). These policies would always be under threat in a capitalist system, like the 10 points above this one, so they ought to be understood as stepping stones rather than full solutions. Only a socialist system, with workplace democracy, bottom-up planning, and production for direct use (rather than for elite profit), would solidify these gains (and more) as part of the basic fabric of society. Democracy must be a fundamental feature in economic life as well if the word is to have any meaning at all.

Reblogging for that addition ^^^

Bourgeois democracy is undemocratic by necessity and design. We can fight for democratic reforms, but the entire purpose of the state is to enforce capitalist rule. The only way we’re going to have real democracy and real control over our lives is through socialism.