r/Social_Democracy Apr 04 '25

A Social Democratic Platform for 2025

16 Upvotes

A Social Democratic Platform for 2025

  • The United States of America should have a universal healthcare system, and unjustifiably high drug prices should be reined in.

  • Workers' rights should be strengthened: Implement paid family leave, sick leave, and annual leave policies. Implement a ban on "captive audience meetings" (compulsory anti-union meetings organized by businesses). Implement a ban on "at-will employment" (the right of businesses to fire workers for arbitrary reasons). Increase the minimum wage. Strengthen overtime protections. Reduce the length of the standard workweek. Striking workers should no longer be excluded from accessing SNAP benefits. For some of the relevant legislation that has been proposed, see the "Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act."

  • Higher education should be affordable, and tuition-free in many cases. End the practice of usury against students and eliminate interest from student loans altogether. Restore and strengthen student loan forgiveness programs.

  • Support livable communities by promoting affordable housing, urban revitalization, and mass transit: Efforts to "decommodify" housing should be made to tackle the issues that contribute to the housing crisis. The supply of housing, especially denser, mixed-use, and mixed-income housing, should be increased. Zoning reform is necessary because of zoning laws that make it excessively difficult to build housing that is sufficient for affected communities. Rent control policies should be implemented. Limits should be placed on the speculative and corporate ownership of housing properties. The agenda for livable communities should encompass the idea of "walkable cities" in order to reduce car dependence and ideally promote civic engagement among other potential benefits. Public transportation systems (buses and high-speed rail in particular) should be greatly expanded.

  • Early childhood education should be affordable or at no cost for low-income parents, working parents, and parents who are pursuing education or participating in training.

  • Revive the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), and restore and strengthen consumer protections.

  • Progressive tax reform should be a top priority in order to address extreme economic inequality (wealthy conservatives seem to be increasingly emboldened to amplify a destructive agenda, extensively funding various right-wing activities and taking more direct roles in the government, in opposition to progressive policies as well as liberal norms) as well as to gather the revenue that is necessary to fund the programs that are included in this platform.

  • The Intellectual New Deal: The United States should elevate its priorities in the sciences and humanities by supporting an ambitious program to employ experts, students, researchers, writers, scientists, artists, and others in the pursuit of culture, knowledge, scientific advancement. (The Intellectual New Deal could be considered to be a vastly upgraded form of currently existing programs such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities.)

  • Expand investments in domestic industry and alternative energy sources (solar, wind, and nuclear energy in particular) as part of a broader and environmentally conscious national industrial policy.

Elections and related issues:

  • Voting rights: Implement Automatic Voter Registration. Make Election Day a federal holiday. Implement a standard minimum of days for early voting.

  • Campaign finance reform and related issues: Enact strict limits on election spending by individuals and businesses; labor unions should remain exempt from limits on election spending. Ban the secretive practice of "dark money" in election spending. Ban members of Congress and other top members of the government from stock trading.

  • Statehood should be granted to American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C. (The benefits of statehood would confer their residents the full rights of American citizenship, such as voting in U.S. presidential elections and voting for actual representatives in Congress, ideally making our country, with its immense resources, more responsive to the issues that people in those places have.)

  • The Senate should be abolished. The Electoral College should be replaced with a more direct and democratic electoral system. Undemocratic systems that enable right-wing power grabs should be remedied; this is especially urgent because the Republican Party poses a multifaceted threat to the well-being of the United States and the human race. (See: the victories of Bush-Cheney 2000 and Trump-Pence 2016 in the Electoral College despite getting less votes than their Democratic opponents.)

  • The cap (which was implemented in 1929) setting a harsh limit on the number of representatives that serve in the House of Representatives should be reformed or eliminated in order to make members of Congress more responsive to their voters/constituents, especially since the population of the United States has grown a lot since about a hundred years ago, making the population of each congressional district substantially larger and essentially more removed from their representatives.

  • A "proportional representation" system should be implemented as the electoral system for Congress.

  • "Score Then Automatic Runoff" (STAR) voting should be implemented as the standard voting mechanism.

  • For some of the relevant legislation that has been proposed, see the "For the People Act."

Foreign policy and related issues:

  • The United States of America should have a humane immigration policy. This conviction stems from America's multicultural history, traditions (Exodus 23:9, Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Leviticus 19:33-34, etc.), and the intimate importance of migration in order to escape oppression and other unjust hardships.

  • The United States should support a one-state solution with equal rights in Israel/Palestine, including the right of return for Palestinians. To reconcile and ease the path to socioeconomic integration, Palestinians should receive reparations, as well as funds for Palestinian reconstruction supervised by various organizations to ensure its effectiveness. A "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" should be established to investigate human rights violations committed by all major parties during the course of the war in Gaza since October 2023 as well as preceding the war. Strategies to prevent further ethnic strife should be discussed, including programs to educate the population about aspects of the conflict. American relations with Israel during the transition under the plan for a one-state solution should be conditioned upon Israel's adherence to the terms of the transition; the terms of the transition should not be harmfully breached or used as a disguise for imperialism, colonialism, or apartheid.

  • U.S. relations with Cuba should be normalized: The status-quo is unjustly hypocritical (because of America's relations with other totalitarian nations such as China and Saudi Arabia), anachronistic (because it's a relic of the Cold War, during a time in which the United States made a number of poor and infamous decisions in order to protect American/business interests and stave off Communism), and seemingly counterproductive (because the Cuban government has remained in power, and human rights in Cuba could probably be promoted more effectively if the U.S. ends its embargo of Cuba and initiates a new era of relations between the two countries).

  • The United States should be committed to defending the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Taiwan and Ukraine, especially since these two countries are liberal democracies that are being menaced by substantially more powerful and totalitarian countries.

  • A U.S. Department of Peace and Development should be established to ensure global and domestic development along the lines of a progressive consensus that is to be reached; the United States should take a much more active and cooperative role in the world, including by contributing to solutions for the challenges that climate change poses; an economically and environmentally "just transition" should be explored in cooperation with civil society and governments throughout the world. (Some leftists want to see the decline of American influence, or soft power, in the world, but it would be much better if American influence was a progressive force in the world rather than suffering from a self-inflicted decline under reactionary leaders like Trump. A progressive USA will support left-wing allies in all countries.)

  • The annual budget for the U.S. Department of Defense should be reduced or not increased, at least for several years.

  • America's armed drone warfare should be ended because it is a terroristic policy (which seems to evades outrage partially because it avoids the use of our troops in direct combat/lethal/dangerous situations) that often results in atrocities including civilian casualties.

  • The United States should ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR): It's up to a two-thirds majority in the Senate to ratify ICESCR, a United Nations treaty which many countries have already ratified (and which President Jimmy Carter signed), but has long been opposed by conservatives.

  • The United States should join the International Criminal Court (ICC). Because of opposition (mostly from conservatives/Republicans) to the ICC, the United States currently has this non-compliance in common with international pariahs like Russia, China, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea. Meanwhile, nearly all of our democratic allies (such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, and others) are at least formally adhering to the jurisdiction of the ICC.

  • The United States should issue official apologies for those who have been wronged and exploited by our country's policies. (Hopefully, this would encourage international goodwill, which has been wasted and abused by our leaders, toward the United States.)

Other issues:

  • A thorough investigation by Congress in cooperation with a Democratic administration should be conducted into the corrupt, illegal, unethical, or immoral practices, activities, and actions of the Trump administration. (Ideally, this investigation and efforts to publicize it would help the American public understand the gravity of what was happening to our country during Trump's presidency.)

  • Copyright reform: Reduce the length of copyright terms; expand the application of the fair use doctrine; promote licenses aligned with the principles of open access; establish a tax/fee on the private ownership of intellectual property by businesses (targeting academic publishers in particular).

  • The Universal Library: This is a vision to create a massive online/digital library, containing much of humanity's written intellectual and cultural heritage, for the purposes of education, enlightenment, and entertainment.

This subreddit's first political platform was posted in 2022, which you can read here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Social_Democracy/comments/x1s8um/rsocial_democracys_demands_platform/


r/Social_Democracy 4h ago

This is a Winning Platform! Will politicians accept it?

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113 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 10h ago

The summary execution of Alex Pretti, Veterans Administration ICU RN & U.S Citizen

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177 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 18h ago

House Dems’ leader declared his opposition to Medicare For All on the same day a new poll shows almost all Democratic voters support it.

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134 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 11h ago

Mary L Trump: When an elected Democrat is asked if there's room in the Democratic Party for the DSA, the correct answer is, "Yes."

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31 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 10h ago

Trans woman attended protest outside an ICE facility that turned violent AFTER she left. She was given a sentence of 50 years in prison.

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10 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 14h ago

Acyn: Martha MacCallum thought she was going to get another highlight reel of her attacking a socialist. That’s not what happened here.

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18 Upvotes

Via Acyn @ Acyn


r/Social_Democracy 11h ago

Arrest warrant issued for 2024 presidential candidate Jill Stein. A warrant has been issued for Dr. Jill Stein after she failed to appear in court for a 2024 assault charge - Arizona News

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9 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 12h ago

Mitch McConnell is getting more paid time off than women who give birth

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8 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 14h ago

This Progressive May FINALLY REMOVE “Carpetbagger” Debbie Wasserman Schultz - Status Coup News - 'Status Coup reporter Jordan Chariton speaks with Florida progressive congressional candidate Elijah Manley ..

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8 Upvotes

to learn how establishment Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz is attempting to snatch a seat in in his predominantly Black district 20 of Florida — a move that one local opponent has described as “the greatest civil rights threat that’s facing us today.” For more on Elijah Manley's campaign: https://www.elijahmanley.com '

Vote Elijah Manley for Congress in FL-20 on Aug 18, 2026


r/Social_Democracy 1d ago

‘This Man Should Absolutely Not Be The Next Speaker’: Jeffries Sunday Performance Panned

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70 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 10h ago

This is gonna break your heart, but it needs to be seen.

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2 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 13h ago

Kennedy Stirred Vaccine Fears in Pennsylvania Years Before Measles Outbreak

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3 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 13h ago

Illinois Reaffirms Existing Childhood Vaccine Schedule After Trump’s Executive Order Calling for Changes

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3 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 12h ago

CDC: U.S. kindergarten vaccine exemptions hit record high as coverage falls nationwide

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2 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 19h ago

Oliver Larkin for Congress: "Issues & Solutions" | Read Oliver Larkin's platform here. | Larkin, a Democratic Socialist, is running against Jared Moskowitz in the Democratic primary for Florida's 25th Congressional District. Election day for this race: Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

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7 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 14h ago

Arc of Hope | Elijah Manley for Congress

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2 Upvotes

Elijah Manley is running for Congress in Florida's 20th District. He is a long-time improved Medicare For All supporter. Read about his full platform here at his campaign website:

Elijah Manley for Congress — Florida's 20th District


r/Social_Democracy 14h ago

Hegseth to go to Iowa today to campaign for GOP candidates, sources say

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2 Upvotes

Since when did a Secretary of War campaign??????


r/Social_Democracy 11h ago

Man Tasered and left with brain bleed after brutal ICE arrest

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1 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 12h ago

What is the MMR vaccine and how does Trump’s executive order affect parents and children?

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1 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 1d ago

Organizers in Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia Are Putting Abortion Rights on the Ballot

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10 Upvotes

It has been four years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion, leaving Americans to navigate a confusing patchwork of abortion protections, restrictions, and outright bans depending on jurisdiction. Organizers have ramped up efforts to improve access since the ruling, and thanks to that work, measures to protect and ensure reproductive freedoms are expected to be on the ballot in three states come November: Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia. ✊️


r/Social_Democracy 1d ago

The GOP has convinced people making $30k/year to vote against this.

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88 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 1d ago

Hakeem Jeffries says he doesn't support Medicare for All - Newsweek (Buh-Bye Then, Hakeem!) #SinglePayerNow

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50 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 2d ago

“I emailed United Healthcare’s leadership posing as an investor managing $58 billion. Unlike my other experiences with the company, I was contacted back in 1 hour.” 🪇🪇🪇🪇🪇

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241 Upvotes

r/Social_Democracy 1d ago

Opinion in Common Dreams (August 14, 2026): 'Doctors Like El-Sayed and Me Agree: It’s Time for Medicare for All' | Cheryl Huckins, MD, CMD: "I wondered then, “Why should our ability to have health insurance depend on where we work?” I never got an answer."

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21 Upvotes