Democracy needs socialism; socialize many economic sectors
Democracy needs socialism. Progressive reforms will never be secure as long as the major means of production are in the hands of a super-rich oligarchy whose concentrated economic power translates into concentrated political power. The failure to face
this reality is how the managed capitalism advanced by Democratic Party "socialists" comes up short. As Bernie Sanders said in his 2015 speech on democratic socialism, "I don't believe government should own the means of production." We should join with
these progressives in fighting for reforms, but we should not be politically naive. Progressive reforms are not secure as long as the property-based power structure of the capitalist oligarchy remains intact.
KEY ECONOMIC SECTORS TO SOCIALIZE: If I
run, my campaign would call for the socialization of key economic sectors, including:
Third parties force issues neglected by major parties
Hawkins argues that "We had half a million people vote for the progressive Democrats [in the primary], and I'm here to tell them that I'm Plan B when we get to the general election." Hawkins says, "The historic role of third parties has been
to force issues neglected by the major parties into public debate--issues like the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, the 8-hour day, Social Security, and ending segregation. The Green Party has increasingly been playing this role."
Source: The Nation magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Nov 1, 2018
