There have been complaints about the Revolutionary American Party’s dismissal of the third party strategy in the upcoming elections. This is an important discussion because it goes to the root of the failure of political democracy in the US. Can an attempt at outflanking the Democrats with some kind of independent vote getting machine actually work? Will the energy and money necessary to mount such an attempt pay off in real change? Running up to the 2012 elections we are in a political situation unlike any in the recent history of the United States. Both party’s approval ratings are at an all time low. And there is an independent movement that has galvanized the discontent of the overwhelming majority into continued action in the streets.

Given this unprecedented combination, serious advocates of fundamental change must think carefully about their options in 2012. Looking at the range of candidates from the ruling parties there is little that would recommend one over the other—once you strip away the rhetoric and name-calling. The only candidate that has proposed anything that would challenge the current overall political direction of our nation is Ron Paul. His proposal to dismantle our military bases abroad and end the wars is unacceptable to the ruling rich. That is why consistently, regardless of how well he does in the actual voting, he is ignored or ridiculed by the corporate media. Unfortunately his position on our military-industrial complex is imbedded in an unrealistic platform for dealing with the overall problems we face as a nation.

The real discussion goes beyond one candidate versus another in the coming elections. It has to do with the very nature of our political system. To decide to campaign for Ron Paul or president Obama implies a belief that we live in a democracy. Before deciding to launch a third party or support one of the parties of the rich one must consider whether this belief reflects reality. The short answer is absolutely not. There is no substance to the power of the vote when the whole political system runs on money. The same people that make the decisions concerning the economy—through bribery (called lobbying) and through direct control of the overwhelming wealth of our nation and manipulation of the so-called free market system—also control who have even a remote chance of being elected. What some call democracy works for the 1% and against the 99% That is not true democracy.

Before focusing on the discussion of third party candidates, it bears repeating why it is absolutely essential to reject the doomsayer’s attempts to scare voters into the Obama campaign. In 2008, while Obama was promising real change and yes we can, a McCain victory was contrasted as more of the same—more war, more giveaways to the rich, no immigration reform, political deadlock, and an economy spiraling down the drain. What did we get with Obama?  More war and new wars, more drones and boots on the ground in Africa. Bailouts for the banks and big corporations while the American Dream was sold down the drain by Wall Street manipulations. Si se puede? Yes, we can deport more undocumented Americans breaking up families and causing an unprecedented spike in orphaned children. Political deadlock has now become a quarterly media circus. No jobs, 46 million Americans living below the poverty line and no end in sight. Makes you kind of miss W’s transparent smirk—at least you could tell when Bush was lying. Thank you Obama!

The Republican Party had to really dig deep to get some Neanderthals capable of making Obama look progressive. The corporate media will try to convince America that there is a choice in 2012. Are we going to cut social programs with a stone ax or a scalpel’s blade? Below the flash and glitter, the outlines of what the 1% has in store for the rest of us is clear. The only choice is whether we want to confront it head-on or fall asleep under the siren’s spell. Let’s not be fooled again! Obama’s silver tongue has allowed the ruling rich to move full steam ahead with their plan to force working people in the US and around the world to accept austerity and decades of terrorist war. Now Wall Street and the banks will pore millions into his election coffers in the hope of diverting the energy and anger of the American people from actions in the streets to inaction at the polls. A third party candidacy would only add frustration to this illusion of democracy.

What America needs now more than ever is a real party of the 99% The 2012 elections will be an ideal forum to launch such a party. The measure of the effectiveness of this campaign could not be in the number of votes received. A much more important measure would be how many chapters were active in community struggles around the country. How many occupations reversed foreclosures and forced the banks to refinance mortgages or face the wrath of a united community. When the elite try to turn the clock back even further on the right of the 99% to provide a decent higher education for their children, we would not only see students protesting but also union delegations and community organizations helping to tear down the walls of the ivory towers. When those who profit from the destruction of the environment and put in peril the very lifeblood of our nation—the clean water and pure air that we and generations to come depend on, the Party of the 99 would mobilize to stop them dead in their tracks.

In stead of expending enormous amounts of energy trying to influence the elections which are already bought and paid for by the rich, our collective energy would be better spent laying the foundation for a new type of political party—one that looks more like the Occupy Wall Street movement than the Democratic or Republican parties. One of the major obstacles to building such an organization is the lack of experience most Americans have with democratic forms. In the process of organizing our collective strength, we will also need to educate ourselves in the sometimes painfully slow process of majority rule. Even the organizations that represent our interests, like unions and community organizations, tend to rely on bureaucratic leadership whose self-perpetuation often outweighs organizational goals.

If we are to challenge the anti-democratic nature of the political and economic systems that currently control our lives, we must guard against forms of organization that mimic the larger system. The union movement has for decades suffered from a top-down form of organization which has limited its effectiveness. Labor bosses are often more comfortable with CEOs and politicians than with the rank and file of their own unions. Democracy will have to occupy the labor movement if the organizations of working people will have a chance to turn back the united onslaught of the ruling elite.

A Party of the 99 would play a role in not only revitalizing the existing labor movement but also extending unionism to protect the rights of working people to decent wages, working conditions and social services. In today’s political climate this can only be achieved in concert with the broader political struggle not in isolated craft unionism with purely economic demands. The recent union participation in the Occupy movement gave an added clout to those protests and an added prestige to organized labor. The same positive feedback loop came to play in the struggle against the Tar Sands pipeline. The resounding defeat of the anti-labor drive in Ohio underscores the mutual benefits between union and social issues.

Under the impact of the Occupy movement we have seen an increase in student protest on campuses around the country. This can be an opportunity to turn the student governments or student unions into real forums for political discussion and social dissent. Rather than the standard popularity contests to see who can gimmick their way into serving as the student arm of the administration, these elections could serve to educate and organize students to defend their rights and participate in the broader political arena. In times of political ferment students have often played an important roll because of their access to information and their concentration in large institutions. Instead of firing the corporate sports machine, students can use their creativity and energy to help solve the serious social, political and economic problems we face.

Especially with social media as an organizing tool, high school students, GLBT activists, community organizations, women’s groups, Blacks, Latinos and other super-exploited layers of our society can organize around their particular demands and come together for common action. The Party of the 99 could play a role in promoting this type of organizing through the 2012 campaign. Instead of just focusing on vote getting and handing out position papers or bumper stickers, such a party would be in the forefront in establishing broad political action committees in the communities, on the campuses and in the workplaces throughout the nation. These would be training grounds in democracy and centers for education in action. Again, the Occupy movement has provided important examples of the potential for such broad-based political organizing. But there are important difference between an all-inclusive upsurge like the Occupy movement and a political party.

A political party needs to have a defined platform. It this very important sense it differs from the Occupy movement. The OWS movement has crystallized the overwhelming sentiment of the American people against the continuing political and economic crisis in the US. While pundits on all sides of the political spectrum try to dismiss the movement for a lack of clear demands, the amorphous nature of the Occupy movement make it less vulnerable to state repression or political cooption. But a political party wishing to represent the 99% who are currently left out of the political arena needs to do the difficult work of hammering out a program. To become a counterweight to the twin parties of the rich it needs to present a contrasting strategy of how America should be run. A Party of the 99 would be based on a plan for social change not on personalities touting vague political promises like ‘yes we can’. Program not personalities will force the parties of the rich to expose their real agenda for the future of our nation.

The actual program for the Party of the 99 would have to be forged in struggle. But some general outlines can be suggested which point to important differences between how the parties of the rich approach campaigning and what a real party that hopes to take on the broad social and economic issues facing our nation would look like. The defenders of Wall Streets agenda in the White House and in Congress want the discussion during the 2012 elections to revolve around how to cut social services and end deficit spending while continuing the profit orgy by US corporations at the expense of American workers. They use catch phrases like ‘job bill’ or ‘balanced approach’ but whether you call them ‘job creators’ or the super-rich, most Americans are beginning to realize it is all about supporting the interests of a miniscule slice of US citizens. That is why the most important factors in the current economic crisis, the wars, tax breaks for the rich and short term profit gauging by Wall Street and the banks, are not open for discussion in any serious way.

The victims of these policies are hidden from view. We do not see the hundreds of dead and maimed soldiers returning home, the grandmothers and fathers being thrown out of their homes nor the millions of hungry children with parents who can’t find a job. We can’t afford to pay teachers a decent wage but we can send riot police to break up peaceful protests. The wars and repression we force on people abroad has its reflection in the streets of our nation from New York to Oakland. When the people anywhere strive for a decent life and more say in their future the response of the United States is for more drones, bombs and boots on the ground abroad and rubber bullets, truncheons, and pepper spray at home. These are two sides of the same coin. As long as we terrorize people abroad, we will see the same violence at home. Half of our common wealth collected in taxes goes to the war machine. It is time to use those funds at home to rebuild our cities and put Americans back to work. A serious opposition party must have as a central plank unconditional opposition to the wars of terror abroad and the use of terror against our citizens at home. Peace and Prosperity not War and Austerity hits at the heart of our current problems.

We are in the middle of the longest wars in our history. The American people are opposed to continuing these wars. The people of the United States will support a party that takes an unequivocal stance to end these wars. As part of this plank in the platform of the Party of the 99, we can educate around the broader issue of how the US military serves the interests of the 1% not the interests of the 99%. We can begin to draw the links between our problems in the US and the struggles of other nations around the world for freedom and justice. Our military might has long supported the most repressive anti-democratic forces around the world. Ending the current wars should be the first step to ending our role as Wall Street’s cop around the globe. Globalization has meant maximizing profits for the elite while the rest of us suffer austerity and war. We should dismantle our military bases overseas and end support for repressive regimes abroad. Let’s adopt that part of Ron Paul’s program.

Suddenly we would be faced with a new problem. How to spend the trillions we currently waste on perpetuating the ways and means of violence around the world. Instead of cutting programs for the poor and needy that affect the health and welfare of children the most, we should ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and/or homeless and every child within the borders of the United States has free medical care. None of our elderly citizens should fear loosing their homes due to rising medical costs or unforeseen calamities. The quality of a society can be seen in how they treat their children and the elderly. It is time for America to show its true quality and do what is right for those unable to defend themselves. Free universal healthcare for children and the elderly would be the first step to providing universal healthcare for all Americans. Obama-care is nothing but a cruel joke to maintain the stranglehold of corporate healthcare providers on the lives and livelihood of our nation. We can do much better. Lets begin with those who represent the heritage and future of our nation. By focusing on our youth and elderly we will show that our struggle is based on compassion not greed. Human Need not Corporate Greed!

If we dismantle the terrorist war machine, what will we do with all the scientists and engineers who are hard at work designing bombs, drones and the next innovative way to kill and maim people the world over? How about putting all that brainpower and skill towards creating technologies that enhance human life instead of destroying it? We need clean efficient ways to power our society. We need ways to fight the constantly emerging diseases that threaten worldwide pandemics. Cancer research should not be dependent on fundraising while weapons research is funded to the hilt by government subsidies and guaranteed profit margins. The United States needs to step forward and take on the science of global warming instead of allowing the religious right to pretend it is a matter of belief. We created the problem through spreading faulty technologies and hyper consumerism it is time to put our wealth and know-how into finding solutions. Without the economic and brainpower drain of constant war, we could find solutions that would make the current demands of the ecological movement seem faint-hearted. With the political will we could cut CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020. Any demands that delay accountability till 2050 just let the current system off the hook.

The fact is that once you discard the poverty mentality that those who control over 90% of the wealth inject into the political debate, it is easy to find endless ways to improve our national quality of life and become the inspiration for the entire planet. Our current anti-human miserly attitudes are artificial and unnecessary. Anyone who has been through or seen how humans react to tragedy, whether human caused like war or natural disasters, can attest to our generosity as a species and our capacity for self-sacrifice. The myth of human cruelty and greed promoted by the wealthy is merely a distortion of our true nature brought on by the unhealthy concentration of wealth and power. We have the material capacity and the moral strength to allow each human being to function to their fullest potential and lead a meaningful life without fear of going without the basic necessities. Those that preach fear and retribution as bulwarks against human nature merely reveal the poverty of their own souls—brought on by endless grasping after wealth and power. We can do better than that.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness—our basic rights as outlined by the Constitution of the United States—are all under attack by the axis of evil that controls our nation. Thousands of our finest youth have been killed or maimed in wars that have nothing to do with fighting terrorism and everything to do with ensuring that terrorism spreads throughout the world. Terrorism has become the destabilizing factor that allows the ruling elite in the US and their allies abroad to use military force to prevent change that might challenge their economic interests. Globalization is a code word for using political, economic, and military power to keep markets free for super-exploitation while forcing austerity on those that actually produce the wealth. The US war machine is the spearhead in the drive to make life expendable where it interferes with the profit drive of the world’s elite. The direct negation of life as a right currently the norm abroad will find its reflection at home. The deaths caused by lack of medical care, housing, and other basic necessities can be linked to the misallocation of funds for supporting our foreign wars. The demand of the Party of the 99 to end the killing abroad will allow us to shift focus on how to defend life as a right here at home. Life in modern society must include access to medical care. We currently have the most inefficient, unjust healthcare system in the developed world. Ending our war campaign will free up the money, skill and moral will to make healthcare a right for anyone within the boarders of the United States. Healthcare not Warfare!

Our current medical system is a joke. Unfortunately it is a cruel joke fostered by the 1% and their hired hands on the other 99%. That is why the president and congress have their own healthcare plan unavailable to the common folk and of course the super rich have the best medical care money can buy. The Party of the 99 should demand nothing but the complete reversal of this situation. Making healthcare universal and free would actually save trillions of dollars. Presently a huge percentage of the costs of providing medical care are eaten up by billing, insurance brokers, lawyers, and the reams of red tape involved in both private and government healthcare providers. None of this has anything to do with providing quality healthcare. It is an unnecessary burden carried by those least able to pay. Add to this the influence of the drug companies through lobbying and profit gouging and we have a system that costs twice as much and delivers a fraction of the care of systems in such places as Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, France, Germany, England and even poor little Cuba.

By studying the healthcare systems in these countries we can design a plan for guaranteeing the constitutional right of our people to life, though equitable healthcare, which would be second to none. Everyone living in the US should be issued a healthcare card—beginning with children and the elderly—that would only be used to store medical information. No billing procedures, or filling out forms or showing ability to pay as you are bleeding to death. Just swipe the card and the provider would know your medical history. We could eliminate all the wasted hours of billing, proving eligibility, what is covered by this or that HMO or other plan. Just the best care the facility can provide. We must take the profit motive out of the medical field for the sake of efficiency and humanity. Doctors should not be tools of corporate greed but allowed to follow their Hippocratic oath and provide for human need.

Redesigning the healthcare system will necessitate a restructuring of the way we educate doctors and other healthcare providers as well. We currently have a critical shortage of professionals in all aspects of the healthcare system. The shortage is not obvious because millions of people are excluded from access to regular medical care. We need to at least double the number of doctors, nurses and medical technicians within the next ten years. Students wishing to enter the medical fields within a healthcare system for the 99% would have access to financial aid and would have reasonable methods of repayment. Doctors should be able to work 30-40 hour workweeks and make wages and benefits suitable for a comfortable life style.

We desperately need an increase in all aspects of medical research. As the world changes because of human impact, coupled with the explosion in concentrated populations, new and potentially lethal diseases will continue to emerge. The current World Health Organization’s capacity in terms of research, staff and medical supplies are far short of current needs not to mention future disease vectors. Areas struck by drought, flood and other climate related shocks continue to increase with global warming and its unpredictable impacts. We need to act now to have emergency medical teams ready so that we do not see another New Orleans, Fukushima or Haiti. Our national security demands a reallocation of tax money from the false threats posed by terrorists to the very real threat posed by our crippled healthcare system.

The approach to these two issues: War and Healthcare can be used to show how the Party of the 99 would deal with two of the most serious problems facing Americans today. Taking our young people and our elderly out of harm’s way would be a big step forward. It would expose the lie perpetrated by the parties of the rich. We have the economic power and the moral will to make meaningful change. But we need to challenge the monopoly currently held by the Democratic and Republican parties over the political dialog. The corporate media will block attempts to reach the millions who would naturally support a party that reflects the interests of the 99% But just as shown by the Occupy movement, if we hold to our principles and have a long-term vision we can break through this political dead-lock and take the first steps towards real change with Life, Liberty and Justice for all. Let’s build a Party of the 99!