THE UNITED STATES
PACIFIST PARTY
2008 platform (Ver. 021808)
The United States Pacifist Party (USPP) rejects military force as a means of resolving international disputes. USPP members
believe that military force violates the moral principles of the world’s great humanitarian religions and philosophies, and is a “Faustian
bargain,” that may achieve short range political objectives, but only at the cost of long-term catastrophe for the human species. They
believe that nonviolent resistance, as developed by Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, and massive economic aid
programs to eliminate poverty worldwide, are appropriate and effective ways to resist aggression and tyranny. Major planks of the
USPP’s 2008 plafform include:
International Relations
-Withdrawal of all
military forces from
-Preparation for nonviolent resistance against possible invasion and occupation attempts; This would include establishment of
a national Department of Peace, and an unarmed service corps trained in strategic nonviolent defense and equipped for mobilization
anywhere in the world;
-Deactivation of all nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons;
-Elimination of the Strategic Defense initiative;
-Abolition of all aspects of the Selective Service System;
-Complete disarmament, through negotiations and unilateral actions;
-An end to all overt and covert military aid and “intelligence” operations;
-Repeal of the Patriot Act;
-Reduction of the military budget toward zero;
-Immediate termination of all foreign military aid. Humanitarian foreign aid would be directed toward helping the poor meet
their basic human needs and become self-sufficient. Aid to foreign governments generally would be contingent upon exemplary human
rights records. When serious human rights violations are suspected, any aid given would be distributed by trustworthy agencies;
-Establishment of a massive economic aid program to abolish poverty, hunger, disease, homelessnesss and ignorance at home
and worldwide. The aid would be administered by the United Nations;
-Normalization of
relations with
who make use of land
and facilities in
-Support for legitimate, nonviolent, social change movements that are struggling to advance human rights and political
freedom;
-Support for one-person-one-vote democratic world government;
The Environment
-Inauguration of a crash program to stop and reverse global warming. This would emphasize creating a global solar power
system that could provide sufficient electrical energy for everyone on earth. It would be based on passive and active solar power
generating systems, associated with pumped water, compressed air, and battery storage systems, and, where possible, connected by
high voltage, direct current, grids. It would make only limited and tightly controlled use of fossil fueled plants. Nuclear power plants
would be shut down, and all nuclear and fusion energy research would be placed under international control. The humanitarian
principle of such a system is that all people are entitled to free electrical power sufficient for their needs.
-Ending of private logging, grazing, and oil drilling on public lands;
-Special taxes on polluting industries to provide incentives for reducing pollution, and revenue for funding other
environmental protection programs;
Health Care
Creation of a Canadian-style, single-payer national health care system with universal access, comprehensive coverage, and
freedom of choice in the selection of doctors, medical facilities, and methods of treatment;
Immigration
Unrestricted immigration. Health and educations needs of immigrants would be paid for from the hundreds of millions of
dollars saved by shutting down the military “defense” system;
Domestic Economy
-Full employment through private enterprises, cooperatives, worker-controlled and managed industries, and federally
administered public projects;
-A guaranteed
minimum income for
gives checks to people whose income lies below the poverty level);
Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
-Opposition to all forms of racial, sexual, and religious discrimination, and all unjust socio-economic barriers;
-Abolition of the death penalty;
-Ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns and assault weapons;
-Support for national and international family planning programs;
-Support for a Constitutional amendment banning discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation;
-Opposition to any
restrictions on the right to freedom of travel and migration across
Election Reform
-Limitation of campaign spending. Establishment of fair and open ballot access laws. Establishment of public campaign
financing and provision of equal access to public television and radio for all ballot-certified candidates;
-Support for the principle of proportional representation in national elections.
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For further information about the USPP:
UNITED STATES PACIFIST PARTY,
Fax: 773.324.6426; Email: blyttle@igc.org; Website: www.uspacifistparty.org