A Socialist Platform For Madison, New Jersey

As a member of and candidate of the Socialist Party USA, I support and run on the full party platform, as a good set of demands and plans for action. However, there are some specific points and issues, relating specifically to the situation in Madison, that I would like to put forth and advocate as central aspects of my election platform.

Economics
1) I support abolition of municipal property taxes in favour of a progressive municipal income tax.
2) I support a $15 an hour minimum wage for all workers in Madison, indexed to inflation and the cost of living.
3) I support union rights for all workers in Madison, regardless of their occupation.

Human and Civil Rights
1) I support amnesty for all undocumented workers in Madison, and non-cooperation with any and all county, state, and federal policies directed against undocumented workers.
2) I support the decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes and personal use.

Expanding Democracy
1) I support adding two voting members to the Madison school board, elected on a yearly basis by and from the population of Madison High School.
2) I support lowering the voting age in Madison municipal and school board elections to 15.
3) I support lowering the age requirement to run for municipal and school board office to 15.
4) I support lowering the signature requirement for all school board and municipal candidates to 25.

The Environment
1) I support a programme to outfit municipal building with solar panels to generate electricity and heat.

International
1) I support passing a council resolution which would condemn the 2003 invasion of Iraq, call for all troops home now, and declare solidarity with the Iraqi Freedom Congress and other forces working for a truly secular democratic state in Iraq.
2) I support passing a council resolution which would condemn any and all US aggression against Iran, as well as condemn the fundamentalist Iranian government, and declare solidarity with the organization Hands off the People of Iran.

While the platform I run on, both the Socialist Party's platform and the points that I elaborated on here, are significant portions of what a socialist society would hope to achieve, even if I am elected to the Madison borough council and managed to successfully introduce these planks into the municipal government, Madison will not become a socialist community. More generally, while I believe that running election campaigns is a good way for socialists to present their ideas to the public and win people over to the socialists cause, and, if elected, put forth legislation that can help empower people to take control of society for their own benefit and not the benefit of a few, I do not believe that socialism can be legislated into existence. Rather, only the working class and its allies, through mass action from below, can fully dismantle the capitalist system and build a truly democratic and socialist society. While I intend to use my position to help further that struggle if I am elected to the borough council, I hold no illusions about my ability to further the cause of socialism without standing with the class that I consider myself to help represent.

Signature Collection

The Peter Moody for Madison borough council campaign will be out and about collecting signatures from the 18th to the 31st of May. If you are interested in helping with the signature collection effort, please contact me either by commenting here or e-mailing me at moodyp@lafayette.edu. We need at least 100 signatures by the end of May in order to get them into the County Elections Office by the June 3rd primary, but with even just a few people in the ground collecting signatures, we should be able to meet that goal in no time!

Youth Democracy in Madison

Students at Madison Junior School and Madison High School are being given an interesting taste of democracy in this year's School Board elections. While they are still unable to vote for school board candidates as they are "too young," MJS and MHS students each have a ballot question of sorts to vote on. For the Junior School students, the question is whether or not to rename Madison Junior School as "Madison Middle School," in reference to the 6th grade being added, more in line with the more "traditional middle schools" found in many other communities. For the High School students, the question is a referendum on the school's open campus policy for seniors. Each student was given a ballot in school, and instructed to go with their parents when they voted on school board candidates and the budget. Then, they just voted as any adult would in an election, by marking their choice and dropping their ballot in a box to be counted later. Again, while this is only a small concession in having youth democratically participate in issues affecting them, it does show that, given the chance, young people are just as able and willing to participate as adults. In addition, with this small step forward into giving young people more of a say in what goes on in their schools, there seems to be little reason as to why things should stop here.

As a socialist, I believe that democracy should be extended into all areas of life, including the economy. In addition, I believe that groups of people currently disenfranchised by the capitalist system need to be given a voice in society, hopefully so that these people can express their displeasure freely, dialogue with those seeking to fundamentally change how the world currently works, and ultimately join up with other forces seeking the same goals to overthrow capitalism and establish a democratic workers republic. In the specific context of young people in Madison, New Jersey, there are several measures that I support that seek to help remedy the issue of youth disenfranchisement, keyed directly towards elected bodies and issues that effect them:

1) Addition of two voting members to the Madison school board, elected on a yearly basis by and from the population of Madison High School.
2) Lowering the voting age in Madison municipal and school board elections to 15.
3) Lowering the age requirement to run for municipal and school board office to 15.

While this is only a small section of my platform, I feel it deserves special mention because of my own age, and the fact that I will no doubt be the only candidate in the Madison borough council elections advocating such new and radical measures.

Peter Moody For Madison Borough Council

After some deliberation, I have decided to run for borough council in my hometown of Madison, NJ. While the electoral system is certainly rigged against any sort of political action outside that of the twin parties of capitalism and war, election campaigns are still one of the best ways for socialists to get out their message of a new society based on human need, full democracy, and workers power. In addition, it gives socialists a chance to explain how individual policies and programmes, while not fully socialist in themselves, can help strengthen the hand of the working class and help give it another voice and weapon in its struggle against capitalism.

To be fair, my town is not exactly a hotbed of class struggle. As a small suburban community of 16,000 people, most of whom either work in small businesses in the town or commute to New York City to work, it will no doubt be harder to connect with residents on the need for a radical voice on the borough council, but even in Madison there are concerns about over-development, a tax burden based wholly on regressive property taxes, and issues of democracy which socialist representation on the council can help remedy, and subsequently provide other small communities with a way forward to contribute in their own way for the fight for a socialist future.

Fortunately, unlike many municipal elections around the US, New Jersey law allows me to run on a socialist banner, as opposed to "independent" or "nonpartisan," so even people who don't hear about my campaign before the election will be able to know that I stand on an anti-capitalist platform just by looking at the ballot. As a member of and candidate of the Socialist Party USA, I support and run on their full platform. However, I'm working on some particular, more in-depth planks to address issues and make changes geared specifically for Madison, which I will post here, along with a campaign website, sometime in the near future.

Finally, for any Madison, New Jersey residents that read this, I need 100 signatures by the end of May in order to appear on the ballot in November, so please get in contact with me so that you can sign my petition. Every signature will help put a genuine alternative on the ballot for Madison in 2008.

Vote Socialist in 2008!