New York at a Crossroads
We are facing a crisis. Will we continue on as we have these past decades, watching privilege and money dominate our city as public welfare declines? Or will we instead build a new and more just city, with the needs of the community placed before corporate profit and the interests of the powerful? Here are 6 points from the SPNYC's program for a city built by and for the people.
Housing
Physically beautiful, ecologically sound affordable housing is absolutely vital to the future of the city – only by constructing such housing can we reduce rents and break the overwhelming political power of the real estate industry. By collaborating closely with the people who will live in and around it, we can plan housing that will create a real community and fit with the surrounding neighborhood. By building it with public funds and on city land, it can be built faster and cheaper than any privately developed project. We could begin by rehabbing the 65,000 derelict units the city already owns and turning them into true co-operatives, owned and operated by their inhabitants.
Education
After WWII, New York had the finest urban education system in the country – today endemic overcrowding, aging facilities and low pay for teachers have eroded what was the finest emblem of a free community. We propose a comprehensive renewal of the system: school renovation and rebuilding, mandated class sizes of less than 20 students, a living wage for city educators, and a return to free, open-enrollment city universities. Beyond these structural changes, though, we must effect a radical change in the concept of education – we must do away with the outmoded and confining ideas about learning which, obviously, have utterly failed us. We must promote alternative schools of every description, and invite teachers and students to design their own schools. We must turn public libraries into centers of culture and artistic development. We must establish a system of adult education centers – in short, we must make education and cultural development the very center of our society.
Health Care
Free access to health care is a basic human right. Despite having the highest number of doctors per capita of any city on earth, New York has 30,000 fewer hospital beds and 500,000 more uninsured residents than it did in 1968. 1 in every 4 children in NYC is uninsured. We call for the establishment of free neighborhood clinics and comprehensive child healthcare programs. When working people and the uninsured are no longer forced to use the ER as a doctor’s office, serious illnesses can be detected and treated before they become life-threatening, saving lives. In addition, reducing the number of radical interventions would save millions of dollars. The Health Insurance Plan, which already serves 1 million members, must be expanded to cover every uninsured New Yorker! Instead of victimizing high-risk patients by allowing HMOs to charge them sky-high premiums (or refusing to insure them at all), the city must return to the policy of ‘collective rating’; that is, one premium should apply to everyone in New York, regardless of their health history or background. Finally, regulations need to be rewritten to encourage non-profit insurers (like HIP) and to stimulate the construction of new public hospitals.
Racial Healing
For generations, New York politicians have manipulated racial and ethnic differences to consolidate power and divide their opposition; the hateful and divisive policies of the Giuliani administration show that these tactics are quite alive and well. Identity politics always exploits latent fear and racism – and white-identity politicians are usually the beneficiaries, as in the recent Democratic mayoral primary. These simplistic politics do not reflect the complex reality of human interaction; they are a cynical tool used by leaders of all ethnicities and they ensure that communities of color and working people of all types remain disempowered. We must confront the deep divisions in our communities where they exist, in real terms involving the people and neighborhoods where they are lived out every day. We must break the cycle of psychological and material violence directed against working people, and especially against working people of color. And we must begin the long and difficult process of re-imagining the relationship between the police and the community which they serve and belong to. Among the policies we call for are the establishment of Spanish as an official city language and the creation of a fully independent citizen board for the investigation of electoral abuses, focusing particularly on disenfranchisement in minority neighborhoods.
Public Transit
Private cars make no sense in a dense city center. The pollution, noise, and danger they bring is only exacerbated by the tremendous cost to the city for the roads, services and infrastructure they require. Cities like Amsterdam have shown that it is possible to remove cars from the city center while allowing delivery trucks and emergency vehicles to operate with far greater efficiency. Our subways would cost only 60 cents a ride if the state subsidized them at the same rate it subsidizes the commuter railroads that serve the suburbs – but we call for a completely free system, funded by fair subsidies and a return to the commuter tax for non-residents. Time and again city residents have voted to expand the transit network. We demand the completion of the 2nd Avenue subway and the construction of 8 additional lines throughout the five boroughs, along with an expansion of infrastructure to accommodate bicycles.
Independence!
New Yorkers send three times as many dollars in taxes to the state and federal governments as we receive in services – the Transit Authority, school budget, housing laws, and social welfare systems are all controlled by bureaucrats in Albany. The Socialist Party advocates complete legislative autonomy for New York City, in effect creating a ‘free city’ within US territory. We further call for a system of accountable governance, including a city council elected by proportional representation, democratic control of community boards, a completely merit-based bureaucracy and a reduction of the centralized authority of the mayor.
From The Platform Of the Socialist Party USA
THE SOCIALIST PARTY USA [1] stands for the abolition of every form of domination and exploitation, whether based on social class, gender, or race.
We are committed to the transformation of capitalism through the creation of democratic socialist society.
Socialism will establish a new social and economic order in which workers and consumers will take responsibility for and control of production, and the residents will take responsibility for and control of their homes, schools, and local government.
For these reasons we call for social ownership and democratic control of productive resources, for a guarantee to all of the right to participate in societal production, and to a fair share of societys product, in accordance with individuals needs.
As we pursue a socialist transformation of society, we join with others in demanding fundamental changes within the existing system. As we build the socialist movement, we organize around a platform committed to our common and interdependent struggles and aspirations.
Human Rights [2]
Human Needs [3]
Political Structure [4]
Agriculture [5]Animal Rights [6]
Environment [7]
Labor [8]
Economics [9]
Civil Rights [10]
"War on Terrorism" [11]Foreign Policy [12]
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