Bill of Rights socialism
{{short description|American socialist ideology regarding the Bill of Rights}}
{{Socialism US|related}}
Bill of Rights socialism is an ideology based on the interpretation that the United States Bill of Rights advocated for a socialist society or that if need be, a new United States Bill of Rights that explicitly advocated for it should be made. The concept was first coined by Gus Hall, General Secretary of Communist Party USA.{{cite web|title=Gus Hall Memorial Service|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?160702-1/gus-hall-memorial-service|accessdate=29 March 2021|website=C-SPAN}} Communist Party USA has advocated for amending the United States Constitution to include the right to join a union, the right to a fair-paying job and others.{{Cite web|last=Miles|first=Roberta Wood, Dee|date=May 1, 2016|title=Bill of Rights Socialism|url=https://www.cpusa.org/party_info/socialism-in-the-usa/|website=Communist Party USA|accessdate=29 March 2021}}
Bill of Rights socialism has also been advocated by the Democratic Socialists of America since 2012.{{cite web|date=December 23, 2012|title=A Social and Economic Bill of Rights|url=https://www.dsausa.org/a_social_and_economic_bill_of_rights|access-date=March 29, 2021|publisher=Democratic Socialists of America}}
Concept
In 2012, the concept was revived by the Democratic Socialists of America, who proposed the following public policies in order to according to them "achieve basic human social and economic rights" whose implementation would "help to achieve freedom and dignity for all Americans":
- Single-payer healthcare
- Affordable and safe housing
- Universal childcare
- Progressive taxation
- Tuition-free higher education
- Income security
- Leisure time
- Healthy environment
- Free association
- Cutting military expenditures
- A return to a Keynesian model
- Maximum wage ceilings
Criticism
The idea of Bill of Rights socialism has drawn criticism, including from the political right. Writing for the Future of Freedom Foundation, Richard Embley described Franklin D. Roosevelt's Second Bill of Rights and the idea of a socialist United States Bill of Rights as a command economy and "regulatory socialism".{{cite web|last=Ebeling|first=Richard|title="Democratic Socialism" Means the Loss of Liberty|url=https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/democratic-socialism-means-the-loss-of-liberty/|publisher=Future of Freedom Foundation|access-date=29 March 2021|date=November 30, 2015}} Other critics argue that socialism in the form of central planning is inherently incompatible with the constitutionally enforced federalism in the United States that includes a separation of powers and a degree of decentralization.{{cite web|url=https://www.hoover.org/research/socialism-vs-american-constitutional-structure-advantages-decentralization-and-federalism|title=Socialism vs. The American Constitutional Structure: The Advantages Of Decentralization And Federalism|date=16 July 2020|accessdate=29 March 2021|website=Hoover Institution}}{{cite web|url=https://mises.org/wire/death-venezuelan-federalism-and-rise-socialism|website=Mises Institute|date=11 December 2018|accessdate=29 March 2021|title=The Death of Venezuelan Federalism — and the Rise of Socialism}} Additionally, some American socialists believe that federalism protects established political interests and wish for a constitutional amendment to change it.{{cite web|website=Jacobin|title=Why We Should Care About American Federalism|accessdate=29 March 2021|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/09/divided-states-review-united-states-federalism}}
Similarly, about federalism in China, a centralized unitary socialist state, Wu Bangguo, former Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said: "There will be no separation of powers between the different branches of government and no federal system. It is possible that the state could sink into the abyss of internal disorder [if this happened]".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12697997|work=BBC News|title=Chinese leader rules out democracy|first=Michael|last=Bristow|date=10 March 2011|publisher=British Broadcasting Corp|accessdate=29 March 2021}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.cpusa.org/party_info/socialism-in-the-usa/ Bill of Rights socialism] by Communist Party USA
- [https://www.dsausa.org/strategy/a_social_and_economic_bill_of_rights/ A Social and Economic Bill of Rights] by Democratic Socialist of America
{{Communist Party USA}}
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Category:Constitution of the United States
Category:History of the Communist Party USA
Category:Left-wing politics in the United States