progressiveissuesblog

Peace and Freedom Party

The Peace and Freedom Party is committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality. We represent the working class, those without capital in a capitalist society. We organize toward a world where cooperation replaces competition, a world where all people are well fed, clothed and housed; where all women and men have equal status; where all individuals may freely endeavor to fulfill their own talents and desires; a world of freedom and peace where every community retains its cultural integrity and lives with all others in harmony.

The Peace and Freedom Party was founded on June 23, 1967, by people who wanted to vote for something they could support. The Democrats were leading the nation in the war against Vietnam. As the military drained the domestic economy, Republicans and Democrats called for “law and order” to repress Americans who wished to improve their own lives. Black militants were rising up angrily in the cities, while Filipino and Latino farmworkers were organizing labor unions in the fields. Women were agitating for full equality with men. These forces of discontent united to create an electoral arm of “The Movement.” A massive voter registration drive placed the Peace and Freedom Party on the California ballot in January 1968. On both the state and national level, we have shown a willingness to work with other like minded groups, trying to build a mass based socialist party throughout the country.

.

Specific Issues Index

from Creating Better World

Movement for a People’s Party

The goal of a people’s party is to represent the interests of the wide majority of us and create a system to sustainably maximize well-being for ALL.

We believe we deserve a system that honors everyone for the content of their character, not the color of their skin, the land where they happened to be born, or the numbers in their bank account. One that brings powerful law-breakers to justice. One that makes sure the planet and its magnificent beings are cared for before any corporation exec’s profit margins. One where the power of our nation’s wealth serves all of us, not just failed banks or masters of war.

So many of us realize Congress currently does the bidding of Wall Street, corporations and billionaires — no matter which party is in power. That’s left most of us behind. The result is all our hard work and sacrifice has made the rich much richer, but not ourselves. It’s not our energy or work ethic that’s the problem. It’s the system.

The elites have escaped justice for major financial crimes, and continue to lock into place an abusive unsustainable system threatening our lives and the planet. Things must change — dramatically, and fast.

In 1944, FDR proposed an Economic Bill of Rights guaranteeing employment, food, clothing, leisure, a living wage, housing, health care, social security, education and freedom from corporate control. It’s the end of the age of oil. We’ve begun the renewable, digital age. We can and must bring a new system to life that delivers Roosevelt’s vision.

.

from Creating Better World

Eugene Victor “Gene” Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (“Wobblies”) and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States.^[1] Through his presidential candidacies as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

Early in his political career, Debs was a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected as a Democrat to the Indiana General Assembly in 1884. After working with several smaller unions, including the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Debs led his union in a major ten-month strike against the CB&Q Railroad in 1888. Debs was instrumental in the founding of the American Railway Union (ARU), one of the nation’s first industrial unions. After workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company organized a wildcat strike over pay cuts in the summer of 1894, Debs signed many into the ARU. He led a boycott by the ARU against handling trains with Pullman cars in what became the nationwide Pullman Strike, affecting most lines west of Detroit and more than 250,000 workers in 27 states. Purportedly to keep the mail running, President Grover Cleveland used the United States Army to break the strike. As a leader of the ARU, Debs was convicted of federal charges for defying a court injunction against the strike and served six months in prison.

In prison, Debs read various works of socialist theory and emerged six months later as a committed adherent of the international socialist movement. Debs was a founding member of the Social Democracy of America (1897), the Social Democratic Party of America (1898) and the Socialist Party of America (1901). Debs ran as a Socialist candidate for President of the United States five times, including 1900 (earning 0.6% of the popular vote), 1904 (3.0%), 1908 (2.8%), 1912 (6.0%) and 1920 (3.4%), the last time from a prison cell. He was also a candidate for United States Congress from his native state Indiana in 1916.

Debs was noted for his oratory skills, and his speech denouncing American participation in World War I led to his second arrest in 1918. He was convicted under the Sedition Act of 1918 and sentenced to a term of 10 years. President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence in December 1921. Debs died in 1926, not long after being admitted to a sanatorium due to cardiovascular problems that developed during his time in prison.

Source: Wikipedia

Eugene V. Debs Internet Archive

Eugene V. Debs – Definition, 1912 Election & Socialism

The Eugene V. Debs Foundation

Blog | The Debs Project | Eugene V. Debs Selected Works

Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

.

ENFORCEMENT – BCPGV

GUN LAWS, LOOPHOLES, AND VIOLENCE – BCPGV

GUN OWNERSHIP – BCPGV

.

Specific Issues Index

from Creating Better World

Share this:

Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Youth Organizers

.

Our Campaign Services – PCCC

Blue Future – About

.

Specific Issues Index

from Creating Better World

Progressive Change Campaign Committee

.

DEBT-FREE COLLEGE – PCCC

.

Specific Issues Index

from Creating Better World