struggling with socialism
i'm too tired to be writing
i need to learn more about it
some things make me uncomfortable, like this point from the PSL's Program
The socialist government will place great importance on the social development of children. The socialist government will allocate resources to develop programs for the intellectual, physical, psychological and social development of young people.
This is something society already does, but it feels big governmenty whereas the current status quo feels ... slightly less big governmenty.
or this one
The socialist government will recognize that environmental sustainability is essential for the future development of the economy and society. Environmental considerations will be made in every area of economic and social planning ...
Just the idea that there would be "economic and social planning", but this is stuff our American government already does, when they decide how much tax money to collect, what to spend it on, what regulations to create.
it continues
... and there will be special efforts to remedy and end environmental degradation, including but not limited to: Ending all fossil fuel and nuclear energy use, creating a distributed energy infrastructure based on renewable sources, retrofitting existing buildings and build new buildings to a net zero energy standard, linking urban centers and rural communities with zero-emission mass transit systems.
okay, yeah. Seems a bit expensive, but I guess that's a capitalist way of thinking. I'm not sure I agree with foregoing nuclear at this stage.
The rights of freedom of speech and political involvement will be extended to all. These rights will only be abridged in the efforts to eliminate racism, xenophobia and all forms of bigotry, or to prevent the re-establishment of the capitalist system of exploitation and oppression.
No. No. No. Hard disagree here. I don't think people should be saying racist or xenophobic things, but that's what social accountability is for, not a central government.
But ... IS this something a central government would handle? They talk of a government by the workers. But ... idk. tired. i'm tired.
And i guess there could be specifics here that I'm not aware of, like banning nazi protests. Like sure some piece of shit can say and do nazi shit on their own time, but we won't allow nazi protests? I don't know.
My problem with banning a nazi protest is ... what if they protest anyway? Then you have to use state violence ... oh wait
The defense of the revolutionary government will be organized on the basis of the armed, organized working class. All foreign military bases will be closed immediately.
So your neighbors and coworkers have to show up to make the nazis end their protest? I don't get it.
I don't get it because I'm uninformed. I can get more informed, probably. I can at least try, I've only skimmed portions of their program thus far.
The foundation of any state power is repressive force—the military, police, prisons, courts and so on. The standing army and police must be disbanded and replaced by the armed people, organized in workers’ defense councils.
Its hard to imagine. I'm so used to police being the people with the guns. If we're an armed people then do we have the accountability that police currently have? (yes police accountability is flawed, but there is a system for training and accountability.) Is a "workers' defense council" just ... a volunteer police force?
A critical task of the new socialist order will be defending itself from the displaced capitalist class that would like to return to the days of exploitation. A workers’ government would create an entirely different type of court system, with its basic institutions determined by the democratic organs of workers’ power. Judges would not be required to be lawyers.
Fundamentally redoing the justice system? Again ig I need to read more, but like ... idk. Judges would not need to be lawyers? This is concerning because part of what keeps our society stable (i think) is that our laws are written and experts (lawyers) parse and argue about and judge based on them. My initial thought is that this sounds a bit too vibes based.
All public officials, without exception, would be elected and subject to recall at any time by those who elected them. The salaries of all elected officials will be no higher than the average wage of workers. The same would be true for all those hired to carry out government and state business.
good.
and
Idk. There's other things I have concerns and questions about. From what little I did read, the revolutionary socialist government PSL envisions is just so different from what we have now that I can't imagine it. That and I just don't know enough about it, not enough details to imagine.
So I guess I should learn more and try to get answers to my questions.
I've been calling myself a socialist for a couple years, and I think that's strongly where I lean, but ... I don't know if I'm fully there yet. I feel like I'm still pretty bought into the current system because it "works", at least ... in some ways to some extent.
But my view of it "working" is also skewed by the fact that I live in the U.S. and not gaza or iraq or cuba or anywhere in the global south. I'm a white person living in a good neighborhood (safe, but not very walkable), in a house owned by my dad, who lives in a farm house that my grandma owns, which sits on land that I believe the U.S. Government gave to our family when they were doing that a long time ago.
I'm dirt poor and I'm mentally disabled, but I'm living in an incredibly fortunate situation nonetheless. I also have food stamps (ty taxpayers!) and medicaid (state-funded health insurance for poor people; ty taxpayers), a vehicle my gma owns, and a verrryyyyy small amount of income from odd job labor, and my mom pays the house bills.
In a lot of ways the current system is working for me. But that's only because of my family being around and able to care for me and provide me with shelter and other resources. And my frustrations with "the current system" are vast, both in big things I have no control over (climate change) and in small things I interact with (accessing healthcare benefits that my health insurance company promised me but never delivered).