Students for a Democratic Society
A Preamble to Direct Action
Who we are, what we do, what we value
We the membership of the Denton Texas chapter of Students for a Democratic Society at the University of North Texas stand resolved that because we value liberty, solidarity, and equality we must take principled collective action to achieve the kind of society that can produce and protect our values.
What do we want? (Long view)
We want a participatory democratic society where the basic needs of all people can be met. To have such a society, we need to end restrictions on free expression and all forms of oppression and domination. The result will be an end to all wars of imperialist aggression and the socio-economic and political structures that support and profit from them. We will have a non-hierarchical society, with transparent decision making at the community and business level. This society must include a proper education and be ecologically sustainable.
What do we want? (Short view)
We want it for everybody in society
In order to achieve the society we want, we must change the character and structure of our education and our educational institutions. Universal access to higher education must be made a right, not a privilege. These rights must also include reparations to correct historical systems of oppression.
We want it to be democratic
As a microcosm of society and an initiator into professional community life, our institutions of higher education should reflect the democratic values of our society. Therefore, our education should be run and organized by the people involved and affected. This means that students, teachers, workers, and community members will be involved in the decision making to the degree in which they are affected by those decisions.
How do we get it?
To make this kind of participatory democracy possible, we must prioritize student's and worker's rights, gender justice, affirmative action, and other issues relevant to correcting oppression in our communities. The result will be an education that not only prepares one for a democratic society, but actively engages them in the creation of that democracy and the practice of its values. We will have an education that actually produces solidarity, liberation, equality, and democracy as well as intelligence and wisdom.
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