Bill-of-rights socialism continues fight for democracy

By School Workers' Club, Eastern Pa. and Delaware, CPUSA

The original Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. These amendments were added, in large part, because the authors and delegates who had signed the original document came under forceful criticism from many quarters for their failure to include guarantees of personal rights and freedoms.

They feared that the Constitution would not be ratified by the state conventions without such guarantees. Therefore, the Bill of Rights was born in an atmosphere of protest.

During the two centuries since the addition of those first 10 amendments, Americans have changed the constitution many times. Generally the changes extended guarantees of personal freedoms to sections of the population who did not have them, or mentioned rights that had originally not been mentioned at all, such as the right to vote. Each change came as the result of struggle.

The amendments added after the Civil War (13, 14, 15), for instance, abolished slavery, applied the Bill of Rights to state and local governments and clarified the right to vote for adult males.

More than 40 years later (1913) the federal government formally gained the power to tax the rich directly through a graduated income tax and the American people gained the right to elect their senators through popular vote. The popular vote was still a limited concept, however. The right of large sections of the American people to vote was only secured during the 20th century by the 19th Amendment (1920, women), the 23rd (1961, residents of D.C.), the 24th (1964, no tax or other tax required for voting) and the 26th (1971, all citizens over 18).

Clearly, the original Bill of Rights, while an enormous people's victory at the time, was limited by the historical circumstances.

People's struggles since then have dramatically expanded the rights of Americans; the rights listed in the original 10 amendments and additional rights had to be secured and, in many cases, this was achieved. But much remains to be done.

In the struggle for Bill-of-Rights socialism, we must take this into account. The Bill of Rights was added to the constitution to protect individuals from the intrusive and controlling role of government, but as currently constructed, the Bill of Rights is too limited. It must be expanded to include all basic rights of citizens, which socialism is intended to guarantee.

There is need for federal laws providing the right to:

Socially useful jobs for all with adequate wages and humane conditions.

The inalienable right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

Free high-quality equal education from pre-school through graduate school.

Adequate and affordable housing in the place of one's choice.

Equal opportunity for all regarding employment, education, health care, recreation and political and social activity.

Freedom from bigotry, racism, national chauvinism, male chauvinism, homophobia or other forms of oppression.

Live at peace with the peoples of the planet based on relations of mutual respect and fair trade and exchange.

Making these rights real will require major struggles, but struggle was required to win the original Bill of Rights and all the rights we have, or claim to have. We must continue to build the movement for Bill-of-Rights socialism!