The People's Manifesto: General Strike For Revolution August 16, 2020

  (Retweet, email, share, post on Facebook, Instagram, distribute as flyers, to any and everyone you can. Those you think will join you and those who won't. The greatest lie that has been put on people since civilization began was that they had no power. Collectively, we are unstoppable.  Only through division have we been suppressed. Anyone with a platform needs to spread the word. We have been divided years ago. Divided by our own group’s special interests. African Americans, Native Americans, Unions, LGBT, environmentalists, women’s rights, labor rights, anti-war activists and anti-corruption activists have all been reduced to focusing on their own agenda. A united front is what it will take to win back rights for all.   You may not agree with everything in this manifesto, but that is the price of solidarity. If you were offered 70% of the reforms you wanted but it meant 30% of the reforms you didn’t care about or were opposed to were also included, and you rejected the proposal on those grounds, did you really want the reforms you said you did? Through unity we shall win. If we allow adversaries to divide us, we can never win. Small victories perhaps, but ultimately, we will sell each other out for our own special interests. The way forward is through a unified coalition.

We now are at a crossroads I thought we would have reached 12 years ago. If not now, then when? If not you, then who? I believe in a better world. If you are offended by the horrors you see, than you believe in a better world too. Cynicism is easy and we cling to it because we fear the cost of change. Yet, we pay in blood for this hellscape we call normalcy. The lie of powerlessness is just that, a lie. You can remake the world into the just and fair place you want it to be, through collective action. This is how we do it. This is what we demand. This is how we win.

   Every revolution needs a declaration of demands.  These are the demands of the impoverished, quarantined masses yearning to be free. A People’s Manifesto For a Better World.   

 

  Everyone has the right to nutrition, shelter, clothing, recreation, education and income. Now is the time for action. General strike. Here is every reform needed to bring about economic & environmental justice for the planet and humanity. This will be done by a stay-at-home work strike. There is no army in the world large enough to force everyone to work. If all striking workers stay inside, there will be no protesters attacked or jailed. No propaganda of rioting strikers or emergency laws declared. Do not work, watch TV, go online, shop or leave the house. Bring the global economy to a halt. If you don’t consume the media, you cannot be propagandized into believing the fear-mongering of the powers that be. No work and no consumption means all the powerful will be rendered powerless. The only way to hurt them is to hurt them in the pocketbook. Our nonviolent revolution can be an example that will be spread all over the world.

 

 These are our collective demands:   Economic reforms for poverty and income inequality: Progressive taxation on income reaching 90% on the top one percent of income. Wealth tax and Inheritance tax done in the same progressive fashion as income tax. Wall street transaction tax. All wealth hidden overseas will be seized and redistributed to the American people in the form of UBI. Tax cheats will be jailed for life. Use the increased tax revenue to fund the following programs: Raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour with an increase every year to reflect the cost of living and inflation. Lower the 40-hour work week to 28 hours and a 4-day work week. Pay additional 7 hours a week for people to exercise. 12 national holiday paid days off. 12 paid sick days are mandatory and 6 weeks paid vacation, totaling 40 weeks worked per year.  Retirement starts at age 60 for full Social Security. Increase SS payments every year to adjust for standard of living. Workers in physically-demanding jobs can meet full retirement age at 50 if they have worked 20 years or more in those types of jobs. Remove the caps on Social Security tax to fund the program indefinitely. Ban all borrowing from the SS fund. Increase the monthly amount paid to all current retirees. Current payments continue to increase as cost of living increases. UBI is paid to retirees as well.   CEOs, employers, and managers of any company cannot make more than 20 times the lowest paid employee. This includes all stocks and bonuses.  50% of all companies, big or small, must be co-ops. Union reps shall sit on corporate boards. Any business that wants to close is required to give the employees the option to buy the company first and then can turn it into a fully worker-owned co-op. Any company that gets a bailout from taxpayers automatically becomes publicly-owned.  One year of paid parental leave which can be split by parents anyway they want. Universal Pre-K and childcare is provided. Increase childcare workers' salaries. UBI of $2,000 a month for all adults in the U.S. and $1,000 per every child under 18. Increase with inflation and job loss due to reduced hours and automation. Federal jobs guarantee. UBI increases for every job that has been eliminated by automation or offshoring of jobs. 90% of companies' profits reaped from automation goes to the UBI fund. Percentage increases as jobs decrease. As automation increases, hours worked will decrease, so UBI increases for Americans until we move to a fully-automated resource-based economy.  End all foreclosures and evictions. Rent and mortgage freeze until the crisis is over. It will NOT be owed retroactively.  Make public transportation free to reduce pollution.  End fracking and phase out all pipelines, coal mining & oil drilling completely by 2025. Move to geothermal, wind and solar power and make it all free for Americans. Utilities will be publicly-owned and paid for by taxes. Transition to good paying clean energy jobs. Stimulate the economy and retrofit all homes and buildings to be energy efficient and less environmentally destructive. Move to vertical farming to conserve water and end the use of pesticides.  End public school funding based on property taxes in individual zip codes and instead, funded equally throughout each state, based on pupil count. Make all public higher education free. Cancel all student and medical debt. In grades K through 12, increase teacher salaries, reduce class size and have two teachers per classroom.  Publicly-funded free WiFi for all. Nationwide Internet structure to reach rural America. Move to high-speed Internet for all Americans. Medicare for all. Health care is provided free at point of service. Universal healthcare includes dental, physical therapy, mental health therapy, eyesight, hearing and reproductive health. Drug treatment would be provided over prison for substance abuse. No co-pays for hospitals and pharmacies. All cures and treatments are publicly owned. Research done with public funding means no private company can profit from treatment.  Every citizen or resident in America will get paid a minimum wage of $25 an hour to exercise an hour a day. Gym memberships will be free paid by taxes. For the disabled and elderly, the same equivalent is paid to them based on what exercise they can do. If none can be done, the same amount is given as part of disability benefits. Walking, biking, swimming or other exercises are paid the same as intense workouts. Use sign-in at gyms or electronic step counters to track participation. Encouragement to be more active is the goal. This will improve health, longevity and help stop the obesity crisis.  End subsidies for sugary and fatty foods. Encourage healthier eating and Victory Gardens at individual homes or community-based. End food deserts throughout America. Americans should not have to travel more than 5 blocks to find food. End homelessness in America by building homes for every American. Renovate all apartments and homes with public works investment to bring everything up to code rather than kicking people out of homes for violations. Get the lead out of people's drinking water.   Racial/Immigrant/Indigenous/Foreign/Criminal Justice: Reparations for A.D.O.S.-$4.7 trillion distributed to them and the next 3 generations in a trust to be opened at age 18. All African Americans are given the option of free DNA testing to trace their ancestry and have access to all records to trace their heritage. End housing discrimination, redlining, loan discrimination, insurance discrimination. Equitably distribute hazardous waste sites so they are not concentrated in low-income and minority areas.    Abolish I.C.E. and prosecute all agents and government officials ordering and sanctioning raids for child theft. Free children from cages. DNA tests to return all children to their parents. Stop deportations for undocumented workers. Move towards citizenship/increase temporary visas. Test ALL rape kits that are in storage. Mandatory DNA tests to all prisoners convicted. Increase funds to The Innocence Project. End school-to-prison pipeline. Move to restitution model for property crimes. Have fines and tickets be on a sliding income scale so it is not a regressive tax on poor people. End asset forfeiture. Legalize marijuana nationally, pardon & release all current felons imprisoned for using it. Decriminalize all drugs. Treat as a health issue not a criminal issue. End pipelines on Indigenous people's land. End all pollution of Indigenous land. End resource extraction. Broaden jurisdiction of tribal law enforcement to prosecute and arrest any offender on Native American land. End U.S. jurisdiction over crimes committed against Native tribes. End rape, murder, and disappearance of Ingenious women and children. Provide substance abuse counseling and mental health care to combat alcoholism and suicide on Indigenous people's land. Increase funding for tribally controlled schools. Full sovereignty on tribal land. Increase funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. End mismanagement of BIA. End Native American homelessness. Increase funding and inspectors at EPA, FDA and OSHA. Increase regulatory powers to ensure safety of all Americans. Civilian control of all police forces. All police officers required to wear body cameras. If the cameras are turned off or blocked for any reason, the officers are immediately fired and their pension lost. Officers can also be sued personally for violations/abuses they commit on the job. Costs in civil claims will be paid by them. Any violation will result in prosecution by an independent citizen council from the community. End qualified immunity. All police officers must attend college and get a degree in sociology, and additional training in conflict de-escalation. Failure to pass required courses will result in termination or refusal to hire. Any officer fired for abuse of power, will be ineligible to be hired at any other police department, private security firm, or any branch of the military. Officers must live in the neighborhoods they patrol. Any wrongful death or abuse will result in them being fired & prosecuted by an independent citizen council. All settlements for abuse will come from the police pension fund past & present. This will be used to ensure the force will police their own. Remove all militarized weapons from every police department. All police officers will be forbidden from carrying any weapons unless they receive permission for dangerous circumstances. Trust has been violated & they have not demonstrated responsibility in using them.  Any D.A.'s office withholding evidence or participating in cover ups/violations will have its department tried by an independent citizen council from the community. End debt prison. End cash bail. End all prison slave labor. All prisoners are paid the minimum wage for any work. End sweatshop labor. End prison phone call cost. End solitary confinement. End the death penalty. Too many innocent people have been wrongly convicted and executed. You can not undo death, therefore it is banned. End all private prisons. End all prisoner abuse. Wardens, correctional officers or any other management that covers up or participates in abuses will be fired, held civilly liable & prosecuted for abuse of authority & human rights violations. No prisoner should have to fear violence or rape. Rehabilitation should be prioritized over retribution. Education and job training should be essential components for incarcerated people so prisons stop being a place where criminals only learn how to be better criminals.  Any company that uses child labor/slavery will have all their income confiscated, board of directors jailed and profits redistributed to workers in countries they have exploited. All companies have to pay workers overseas the same salary that they would Americans. Same minimum wage as the U.S. or salary of the job if stationed here, whichever is higher.  War & Peace/Civil Liberties: Repeal the Patriot Act. End use of US surveillance on US citizens unless ordered by a judge with probable cause. Any judge issuing warrants for wiretaps or spying without cause or on weak grounds will be removed from the bench, tried and, if convicted, sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison by an independent citizens council. The judicial, legislative & executive branches presently no longer police each other, so independent bodies will convene on a rotating basis to ensure no special interests or personal corruption occurs. Councils will be made up of investigators, legal scholars, auditors, individual citizens selected similar to jury members, activists in the field that the abuse pertains to (although not personally connected to anyone involved in the case in any form) and former elected officials not found to be in any violation in the past. Independent prosecutors will try the case, a council will act as tribunal & jurors from the state in which the charges are brought, will be selected.  End the Espionage Act. Halt all prosecution of whistleblowers. Pardon every whistleblower who exposed US war crimes, corruption or treason by military/elected office holders. Release the complete and unredacted 9/11 report, unseal all files on JFK assassination, MLK, and every civil rights leader & activist killed. Release all of Congress' past & present emails. They have spied illegally on US citizens,violated our rights & have been guilty of graft without any oversight. Since they are public servants, it will all be disclosed. All future elected officials will have all of their communications monitored by a rotating independent citizens council to go through them as well as financial records to ensure no corruption. Cut the military budget by 95% Audit the Fed. Audit the Pentagon. No more will taxpayer money be disappeared into the military industrial complex without any accountability. End torture and all Geneva convention violations. Close Guantanamo Bay. End all weapons sales to other nations. End foreign aid to terrorist-sponsoring, human rights-violating or apartheid countries. End sanctions. End all drone strikes. End all US wars. Bring troops home. Shelter homeless veterans. End war on terror. Stop all regime change wars. End all C.I.A. and military involvement overseas. Prosecute U.S. war criminals, including elected officials and enablers that voted for it in Congress, both past and present. Hold U.S. government to International laws. All soldiers are required to wear body cameras. Any violation results in prosecution by an independent citizen council. All wars must be put to a vote by citizens, not by Congress. All profits shall be removed from any war. Any country we declare war upon shall have its resources nationalized for the benefit of that country for the duration and at the end of the war. No U.S. extraction of resources. War expenditures shall be paid through taxes raised on corporations and the wealthy.   Political Reform to secure democracy/ end corruption: Voting is mandatory for all U.S. citizens.  Voting will include one month of early voting. National holiday for voting or the option of taking paid leave any day in the month prior to voting day. The way to make it mandatory is to give everyone a tax rebate every year for voting in all elections, both local and national. Lower the voting age to 15 or 16. Whenever someone is legally able to work and pay taxes they should be allowed to vote. Paper ballots for every state. Hand counted three times before anything is announced. Vote count happens next day on every day of early voting and every hour on election day. If any voting lines exceed an hour's wait, voting will be extended 3 days for that location. Announcement of election results will not be not made until all votes are counted. Electoral college is done away with. All delegates are eliminated in primaries. All votes counted by popular vote. Rank choice voting for all elections.  Every age-eligible citizen is able to vote. This includes: ex-cons. prisoners (you do not lose your rights as a citizen because you are incarcerated), the homeless (this issue will be addressed later on in manifesto but for now assume it is someone without a permanent residence either due to work, education or domestic issues), hospital patients, disabled or elderly that cannot go to polling stations, ballots will be delivered to them for mail-in ballots and current resident aliens (if you work and live here, you should have a say in how you are governed).  Term limits on every branch of government. 10 years for federally-appointed judges including the Supreme Court. All appointees must be approved like all appointees in the cabinet or other positions on a national vote. This includes Vice Presidents. The President can nominate them, and Congress can move forward with vetting to ensure that they are qualified.  Then, a special election is put to the people about if they are accepted or not. If they do not clear a 50% popular vote by the voters, their name is withdrawn and a new candidate is made to go through the same process. House members have a 6-term limit. Senators have a 2-term limit. The President has a 2-term limit or a10-year maximum in the event of Vice Presidential ascension. All elected or appointed officials will be voted out in a recall election if they have less that 50% support from voters. Evaluation will be done after every three months to ensure that politicians keep their word on issues that they campaigned on. Age limits on all elected officials now includes a maximum age of 60 years old to serve. If elected close to that age (58 or 59, for example) they will be allowed to fill out that one term. All physical/mental evaluations must be disclosed and witnessed by three separate non-partisan bodies before candidacy is accepted on the ballots. No one with dementia or other cognitive decline will be allowed to serve. Evaluation votes will be done by mail-in ballots, in-person at polling stations or by non-partisan  government  survey sites online. If discrepancies occur on online voting, in-person voting will be required for the survey. Vote will be called by 5 different agencies including community controlled ones to ensure accuracy. It includes all state elections. Mayors, governors, etc.  All government officials in the 3 branches of government will be paid minimum wage (see raises, income wages) and be forced to sell and divest from all stocks, holdings and property. All immediate family members must also divest, including siblings, spouses, parents, children and grandparents/ grandchildren. It is called public SERVICE not public PROFIT. They will be unable to own any stocks during their time in office and for 10 years after they leave office. All of their tax returns for their entire lives must be disclosed 2 weeks after announcing candidacy, including their family members'. Failure to do so would disqualify names on the ballot. If in office, they will be prosecuted by an independent citizen council. If found guilty of profiting off their office, they will be sentenced to life in prison. All of their taxes and investments (including their family's) will be audited for 20 years after they leave to ensure no corruption took place. Elected officials are not salaried, but get paid by the hour. If there is a recess, they don’t automatically get paid for that time, but they can use sick time or vacation. They will work for pay, like anyone and don't get paid for doing nothing.   End campaign donations. Public financing for all elections. Any donation given will result in life in prison for the the politician and donor giving the bribe. End all lobbyists. Elected representatives caught taking any cash or gifts will be removed from office, tried, and if convicted, go to prison for a minimum of 20 years. All bank accounts of politicians  and their families will be reviewed on a monthly basis by an independent citizen council. End pardons for anyone politically or financially-related to any politician giving pardons. Governor or President caught violating this will be removed from office immediately and tried for it in court. Pardons given illegally will be rescinded. All financial records will be monitored from any public official example: D.A. judges, commissioners, etc. This will insure no bribery, corruption or political favors. If caught they will be removed from office, tried and jailed minimum 20 years.  The Senate will have proportional representation.  A state with 500,000 residents will not get the same amount of Senators as a state with 6 million. All U.S. territories, (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Washington D.C.) get statehood.   Surveillance and future tech economy: End all facial recognition cameras on streets and businesses. This violates unreasonable searches. End all deep fakes for commercial use unless the party used in deep fake is compensated at the rate they desire. Everyone has the right to control their digital image. Break up big tech companies. End all monopolies. Plan for online content revenue loss: Entertainment viewed online not commercially supported (no streaming service with union representation & disclosed financial info to creators, commercials or sponsored content) will get a revenue tracker to ensure content creators get paid. If you read a story or watch a video online (movie tv, show) an entertainment fund will direct payments to content creators.This will come from the consumer payment based on what they watch and read  at universally set rates and only that if they don't want to pay for bundles or subscriptions. This will be used to stop piracy/monopolies. If you watch 20 shows a week your payment will go to the show creators instead of the site host who will receive a smaller percentage. Rather than Youtube, for example, withholding income by not giving creators ad revenue because of some unrevealed policy. All disputes in financial matters will be done by an independent tribunal with union representation. Same for newspapers and other publications. As the economy moves more and more to digital platforms, these protections guarantee workers' protection and money for labor. If you read 5 non-advertisement/sponsored news articles and don't have a subscription to their publication, the authors will still be paid for their labor. Publication will also receive a smaller percentage of revenue. So the view count in music, print or video is reflective in payment. Equivalent payment will be given if content is ad-sponsored or subscription service at universal union negotiated rates. The consumer decides if they prefer bundle/subscription or pay as you go affordable content.  The strike will only be called off when these new amendments are added to the Constitution. All politicians that have exceeded their time in office or aged out will step down and new elections called. Their failure to govern has made this government forfeit. They no longer have the consent of the governed and a new one must prove it is fit to lead. Once the revolution has been finalized, elections will also take place for qualified members to sit on temporary citizen councils to review all government documents. This will be done for all national security and financial records to root out all corruption and mismanagement. Abuses will be disclosed. Budgets will be reviewed and voted on by the American people. When a newly-elected body is sworn in, it will take over these duties with full transparency. Failure to do so will result in removal from office. The easy part of all this will actually be the strike. Understand, that those in power who will capitulate to us will only be doing so with the belief that this is temporary. It is not, but it could be if we Americans are not vigilant, informed and dedicated to this new form of more direct democracy. Over time, more direct democracy will implemented so our collective voice will always be heard. If we become lazy or easily distracted, the moneyed interests will devolve into the horrible conditions we face now. Do not let that happen. Evil will always exist but it can only flourish if good people do nothing. A population aware of the inherent nature of power's corrupting influence will halt it's spread. The founders of America placed checks and balances on different sections of the elites. Balances that were whittled away over time to the point that any checks on each other's power have been superficial, at best. We live presently in an inverted totalitarianism where the illusion of democracy is proven time and again that an illusion is all it is. To ensure that will never happen again, we must stand together as one free people. All personal autonomy must be respected. For if one does not respect another's autonomy, why should anyone respect theirs? Remembering this is the key to a better future for all. This manifesto has the ability to spread worldwide. For all free people of the world to rise up, throw off their chains, control their own lives and futures free from violence, poverty, ignorance, hunger and despair. America does not need to be an empire in decline, but what it should have always been:  an ideal to strive for and for others to emulate. Join with your fellow Americans and together we can change not only this country, but inspire the world to do the same. Demand it all. Don't settle for anything less than everything. Together we will win! 

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 We Have the Power! Use It With A General Strike Revolution A People's Manifesto For A better World  90% Tax on top 1%.Wealth tax and Inheritance tax done in the same progressive fashion as income tax. Wall street transaction tax. All wealth hidden overseas will be seized and redistributed to the American people in the form of UBI. Tax cheats will be jailed for life. Use the increased tax revenue to fund the following programs: Lower retirement age to 60. 50 for workers in physically demanding jobs. $25 minimum wage, 12 weeks paid vacation. Pay everyone $25 to exercise 1 hour a day to improve health. $2000 a month UBI for adults $1000 a month UBI for every child under 18. All businesses are will be 50% co-ops. CEO’s can only make 20 times more than lowest paid worker.One Year paid parental leave. Medicare For All. Health care is provided free at point of service. Universal healthcare includes dental, physical therapy, mental health therapy, eyesight, hearing and reproductive health. Drug treatment would be provided over prison for substance abuse. No co-pays for hospitals and pharmacies. All cures and treatments are publicly owned. Research done with public funding means no private company can profit from treatment. Cancel all medical and student debt. Make all public higher education free. End All foreclosures & Evictions. Rent & Mortgage freeze until crisis is over. End homelessness in America by building homes for every American. Renovate all apartments and homes with public works investment to bring everything up to code rather than kicking people out of homes for violations. Get the lead out of people's drinking water. Free Public transportation. End fracking. Green New deal. Move to geothermal, wind and solar power and make it all free for Americans. Utilities will be publicly-owned and paid for by taxes. Transition to good paying clean energy jobs. Publicly free Wi-Fi. Reparations for A.D.O.S. $4.7 trillion over next 3 generations in trust to be opened at age 18. Free DNA testing & access to all records to trace heritage option. End housing discrimination, redlining, loan discrimination, insurance discrimination. Abolish I.C.E. Return stolen children to parents. Use DNA testing to reunite them. Stop deportations for undocumented workers. Move towards citizenship/increase temporary visas. End All pipelines on Indigenous land. Full sovereignty on tribal land. End all pollution of Indigenous land. Civilian Control of All Police Departments- hiring, firing, prosecuting. Ban ALL police weapons unless authorized for extreme situations(ex:hostages, shooters). Cops must obtain 4 year degree in sociology or be fired. End Qualified Immunity. All lawsuit payouts come out of police pension fund or the officer personally. End private prisons. End all prisoner abuse. End all prison slave labor. Legalize marijuana. Prosecute All US war criminals. Hold U.S. government to International laws. End the Espionage Act. Halt all prosecution of whistleblowers. Pardon every whistleblower who exposed US war crimes, corruption or treason by military/elected office holders.Term limits for all branches of Government. All appointees must be approved by a national vote. Must have at least 50% support every 3 months otherwise new elections held. All bank, health records, & emails of government officials are public. Public financing for all elections. All government officials in the 3 branches of government will be paid minimum wage. It is called public SERVICE not public PROFIT. They will be unable to own any stocks during their time in office and for 10 years after they leave office. Universal Voting. Age Lowered to age 15. Whenever someone is legally able to work and pay taxes they should be allowed to vote. Election Integrity-Paper ballots for every state. Hand counted three times before anything is announced. Rank choice voting. End Patriot Act & all surveillance either by government or private companies. Break up all monopolies. Any company that uses child labor/slavery will have all their income confiscated, board of directors jailed and profits redistributed to workers in countries they have exploited. All companies have to pay workers overseas the same salary that they would Americans. Same minimum wage as the U.S. or salary of the job if stationed here, whichever is higher. Audit The Pentagon. Audit The Fed. Cut military budget 95%. Bring troops home. End all C.I.A. & military involvement overseas. End all weapons sales to other nations. End foreign aid to terrorist-sponsoring, human rights-violating or apartheid countries. End all regime change Wars. All wars voted on by Citizens not Congress. Any country we declare war upon shall have its resources nationalized for the benefit of that country for the duration and at the end of the war. No U.S. extraction of resources. War expenditures shall be paid through taxes raised on corporations and the wealthy.  All this and more. Read all the details. How we do it, & what comes after at:

 

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