What's next?

[ericsp23]

So what should your strategy be going forward? What issues should we focus on? I see so much division among progressives. One of our biggest problems is that there are so many issues that progressives care about, but we don't do a very good job of uniting people who mainly care about different issues. We need a single unifying idea or set of ideas that we can all unite behind and that we can present to the people of our respective countries as a legitimate platform. Bush's presidency has done a lot to unify us here in America, but it isn't enough to just be against someone or something. We have to show the people that we have ideas of our own, and we have to fight for them when the inevitible rightwing attack comes.

[G. Adams]

In the US, I think there is a hard decision to be made, but it's going to be have done by someone eventually, and even though you may not get the credit for initially, posterity will see it differently, and that is clear your debt. I would make a focused campaign of demonstrating the weaknesses of the economy, and how Bush continues to exacerabate them. When in power, fiscal spending should initially be cut back, I personally would slash defence spending, while I would raise the top level of tax a little, say any household earning over 250k a year has to pay an additional 1% on income tax. All the crap about them leaving to other places is bullshit, where are they going to move to? The rest of the Western world has much higher taxes, so you can afford to upset them. Once the debt is elminated, or at least drastically cut, the money saved on interest payment will be significant in the long term, and can be better spent on public projects.

The main focus for public works should be education, education and education (to quote that fucking scab blair). There needs to be a major overhaul of the system. Firstly, introduce high food standards, using as many fresh foods, preferably organic, and cutting out all soda and candy machines nationwide. We should see much calmer children who are much, much easier to work with. Secondly, I would make a massive push for phy ed to be increased drastically, at least 3 hour sessions per week. If I was running a school myself it would be 3 hours of sport and 5x1 hour sessions of physical training per week. Finally, I would have schools speak to the parents and ask them to stop their kids watching more than an hour or two of TV a day and take TV's out of their bedrooms, and make the kids read, leave the house to actually enjoy being a kid properly.

The importance of education can't be stressed enough, the better educated the children are now, the better. They are much less likely to be dazzled by the crappy nationalistic rhetoric employed by the right, and are generally more likely to vote left/liberal.

I think a massive two pronged attack on the economy and education is doubly beneficial, it is at the heart of our core supporters worries, and particularly importantly, it is appealling far beyond those supporters. Everyone worries about education and the economy, so we can get them onboard. Additionally, even if we don't win the next election, I think these issues will be taken up by the media with gusto, and the opposition parties will have to deal with it, so at least the agenda has been shifted to our concerns. As we are the natural leaders on education, and Bush has shown he isn't capable of running an economy, I think we should be able to draw in the voters to us.

Once this has been done, and not just the winning but a real push and success of the two issues have been made, we will be able to move onto the next problem. I think we should get off issues like gun-rights, abortion and gay rights. On those issues we should say we want to give states their dues and allow to decide, as is their constitutional right. Thus we can pull in the constitutionalists and, at least temporarily, some libertarians.

[Gorgo]

On a personal level, I don't have a clear idea what's next. I think it's obvious that the Democrats and Republicans are working for the same people, and I they blew their chance of uniting the left under some kind of moderate left banner.

I think the more progressive and radical left should leave the Democrats and get behind some socialist or progressive party. Even if that means never winning an election. Those parties can work on education and information and winning the occasional election to state assemblies or Congress and grow a sincere left movement, rather than one crafted to win elections by being something they're not.

Exactly what that party is, I don't know.

[Gorgo]

Here are some ideas for what's next from Bernie Sanders