Here's my revised Bill of rights
THis is now the duel american/commieversion
EDIT-Now with Preamble forgive me for not posting all of this magnificent document.
[Preamble]
The Great October Socialist Revolution, made by the workers and peasants of Russia under the leadership of the Communist Party headed by Lenin, overthrew capitalist and landowner rule, broke the fetters of oppression, established the dictatorship of the proletariat, and created the Soviet state, a new type of state, the basic instrument for defending the gains of the revolution and for building socialism and communism. Humanity thereby began the epoch-making turn from capitalist to socialism.
After achieving victory in the Civil War and repulsing imperialist intervention, the Soviet government carried through far-reaching social and economic transformations, and put an end once and for all to exploitation of man by man, antagonisms between classes, and strive between nationalities. The unification of the Soviet Republics in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics multiplied the forces and opportunities of the peoples of the country in the building of socialism. Social ownership of the means of production and genuine democracy for the working masses were established. For the first time in the history of mankind a socialist society was created.
The strength of socialism was vividly demonstrated by the immortal feat of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces in achieving their historic victory in the Great Patriotic War. This victory consolidated the influence and international standing of the Soviet Union and created new opportunities for growth of the forces of socialism, national liberation, democracy, and peace throughout the world.
Continuing their creative endeavors, the working people of the Soviet Union have ensured rapid, all-round development of the country and steady improvement of the socialist system. They have consolidated the alliance of the working class, collective-farm peasantry, and people's intelligentsia, and friendship of the nations and nationalities of the USSR. Socio-political and ideological unity of Soviet society, in which the working class is the leading force, has been achieved. The aims of the dictatorship of the proletariat having been fulfilled, the Soviet state has become a state of the whole people. The leading role of the Communist Party, the vanguard of all the people, has grown.
In the USSR a developed socialist society has been built. At this stage, when socialism is developing on its own foundations, the creative forces of the new system and the advantages of the socialist way of life are becoming increasingly evident, and the working people are more and more widely enjoying the fruits of their great revolutionary gains.
It is a society in which powerful productive forces and progressive science and culture have been created, in which the well-being of the people is constantly rising, and more and more favorable conditions are being provided for the all-round development of the individual.
It is a society of mature socialist social relations, in which, on the basis of the drawing together of all classes and social strata and of the juridical and factual equality of all its nations and nationalities and their fraternal cooperation, a new historical community of people has been formed -- the Soviet people.
It is a society of high organizational capacity, ideological commitment, and consciousness of the working people, who are patriots and internationalists.
It is a society in which the law of life is concern of all for the
good of each and concern of each for the good of all.
It is a society of true democracy, the political system of which ensures effective management of all public affairs, ever more active participation of the working people in running the state, and the combining of citizen's real rights and freedoms with their obligations and responsibility to society.
Developed socialist society is a natural, logical stage on the road to communism.
The supreme goal of the Soviet state is the building of a classless communist society in which there will be public, communist self-government. The main aims of the people's socialist state are: to lay the material and technical foundation of communism, to perfect socialist social relations and transform them into communist relations, to mould the citizen of communist society, to raise the people's living and cultural standards, to safeguard the country's security, and to further the consolidation of peace and development of international cooperation.
The Soviet people,
guided by the ideas of scientific communism and true to their revolutionary traditions,
relying on the great social, economic, and political gains of socialism,
striving for the further development of socialist democracy,
taking into account the international position of the USSR as part of the world system of socialism, and conscious of their internationalist responsibility,
preserving continuity of the ideas and principles of the first Soviet Constitution of 1918, the 1924 Constitution of the USSR and the 1936 Constitution of the USSR,
hereby affirm the principle so the social structure and policy of the USSR, and define the rights, freedoms and obligations of citizens, and the principles of the organization of the socialist state of the whole people, and its aims, and proclaim these in this Constitution.
Part I Principles of Social Structure and Policy
Chapter 1 Political System
Article 1
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of the whole people, expressing the will and interests of the workers, peasants, and intelligentsia, the working people of all the nations and nationalities of the country.
Article 2
(1) All power in the USSR belongs to the people.
(2) The people exercise state power through Soviets of People's Deputies, which constitute the political foundation of the USSR.
(3) All other state bodies are under the control of, and accountable to, the Soviets of People's Deputies.
Article 3
The Soviet state is organized and functions on the principle of democratic centralism, namely the electiveness of all bodies of state authority from the lowest to the highest, their accountability to the people, and the obligation of lower bodies to observe the decisions of higher ones. Democratic centralism combines central leadership with local initiative and creative activity and with the responsibility of the each state body and official for the work entrusted to them.
Article 4
(1) The Soviet state and all its bodies function on the basis of socialist law, ensure the maintenance of law and order, and safeguard the interests of society and the rights and freedoms of
citizens.
(2) State organizations, public organizations and officials shall observe the Constitution of the USSR and Soviet laws.
Article 5
Major matters of state shall be submitted to nationwide discussion and put to a popular vote (referendum).
Article 6
(1) The leading and guiding force of the Soviet society and the nucleus of its political system, of all state organizations and public organizations, is the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU exists for the people and serves the people.
(2) The Communist Party, armed with Marxism-Leninism, determines the general perspectives of the development of society and the course of the home and foreign policy of the USSR, directs the great constructive work of the Soviet people, and imparts a planned, systematic and theoretically substantiated character to their struggle for the victory of communism.
(3) All party organizations shall function within the framework of the Constitution of the USSR.
Article 7
Trade unions, the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League cooperatives, and other public organizations, participate, in accordance with the aims laid down in their rules, in managing state and public affairs, and in deciding political, economic, and social an cultural matters.
Article 8
(1) Work collectives take part in discussing and deciding state and public affairs, in planning production and social development, in training and placing personnel, and in discussing and deciding matters pertaining to the management of enterprises and institutions, and the use of funds allocated both for developing production and for social and cultural purposes and financial incentives.
(2) Work collectives promote socialist emulation, the spread of progressive methods of work, and the strengthening of production discipline, educate their members in the spirit of communist morality, and strive to enhance their political consciousness and raise their cultural level and skills and qualifications.
Article 9
The principal direction in the development of the political system of Soviet society is the extension of socialist democracy, namely ever broader participation of citizens in managing the affairs of society and the state, continuous improvement of the machinery of state, heightening of the activity of public organizations, strengthening of the system of people's control, consolidation of the legal foundations of the functioning of the state and of public life, greater openness and publicity, and constant responsiveness to public opinion.
Chapter 2 Economic System
Article 10 [Socialist Ownership]
(1) The foundation of the economic system of the USSR is socialist ownership of the means of production in the form of state property, and collective cooperative property.
(2) Socialist ownership also embraces the property of trade unions and other public organizations which they require to carry out their purposes under these rules.
(3) The state protects socialist property and provides conditions for its growth.
(4) No one has the right to use socialist property for personal gain or other selfish ends.
Article 11 [State Property]
(1) State property, i.e. the common property of the Soviet people, is the principal form of socialist property.
(2) The land, its minerals, waters, and forests are the exclusive property of the state. The state owns the basic means of production in industry, construction, and agriculture; means of transport and communication; the banks; the property of state-run trade organizations and public utilities, and other state-run undertakings; most urban housing; and other property necessary for state purposes.
Article 12 [Cooperative Property]
(1) The property of collective farms and other cooperative organizations, and of their joint undertakings, comprises the means of production and other assets which they require for the purposes laid down in their rules.
(2) The land held by collective farms is secured to them for their free use in perpetuity.
(3) The state promotes development of collective cooperative property and its approximation to state property.
(4) Collective farms, like other land users, are obliged to make effective and thrifty use of the land and to increase its fertility.
Article 13 [Personal Property]
(1) Earned income forms the basis of the personal property of Soviet citizens. The personal property of citizens of the USSR may include articles of everyday use, personal consumption and convenience, the implements and other objects of a small-holding, a house, and earned savings. The personal property of citizens and the right to inherit it are protected by the state.
(2) Citizens may be granted the use of plots of land, in the manner prescribed by law, for a subsidiary small-holding (including the keeping of livestock and poultry), for fruit and vegetable growing or for building an individual dwelling. Citizens are required to make rational use of the land allotted to them. The state, and collective farms provide assistance to citizens in working their small-holdings.
(3) Property owned or used by citizens shall not serve as a means of deriving unearned income or be employed to the detriment of the interests of society.
Article 14
(1) The source of the growth of social wealth and of the well-being of the people, and of each individual, is the labor, free from exploitation, of Soviet people.
(2) The state exercises control over the measure of labor and of consumption in accordance with the principle of socialism: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his work". It fixes the rate of taxation on taxable income.
(3) Socially useful work and its results determine a person's status in society. By combining material and moral incentives and encouraging innovation and a creative attitude to work, the state helps transform labor into the prime vital need of every Soviet citizen.
Article 15
(1) The supreme goal of social production under socialism is the fullest possible satisfaction of the people's growing material, and cultural and intellectual requirements.
(2) Relying on the creative initiative of the working people, socialist emulation, and scientific and technological progress, and by improving the forms and methods of economic management, the state ensures growth of the productivity of labor, raising of the efficiency of production and of the quality of work, and dynamic, planned, proportionate development of the economy.
Article 16
(1) The economy of the USSR is an integral economic complex comprising all the elements of social production, distribution,
and exchange on its territory.
(2) The economy is managed on the basis of state plans for economic and social development, with due account of the sectoral and territorial principles, and by combining centralized direction with the managerial independence and initiative of individual and amalgamated enterprises and other organizations, for which active use is made of management accounting, profit, cost, and other economic levers and incentives.
Article 17
In the USSR, the law permits individual labor in handicrafts, farming, the provision of services for the public, and other forms of activity based exclusively on the personal work of individual citizens and members of their families. The state makes regulations for such work to ensure that it serves the interest of society.
Article 18
In the interests of the present and future generations, the necessary steps are taken in the USSR to protect and make scientific, rational use of the land and its mineral and water resources, and the plant and animal kingdoms, to preserve the purity of air and water, ensure reproduction of natural wealth, and improve the human environment.
Chapter 3 Social Development, Culture
Article 19
(1) The social basis of the USSR is the unbreakable alliance of the workers, peasants, and intelligentsia.
(2) The state helps enhance the social homogeneity of society, namely the elimination of class differences and of the essential distinctions between town and country and between mental and physical labor, and the all-round development and drawing together of all the nations and nationalities of the USSR.
Article 20
In accordance with the communist ideal -- "The free development of each is the condition of the free development of all" -- the state pursues the aim of giving citizens more and more real opportunities to apply their creative energies, abilities, and talents, and to develop their personalities in every way.
Article 21
The state concerns itself with improving working conditions, safety and labor protection and the scientific organization of work, and with reducing and ultimately eliminating all arduous physical labor through comprehensive mechanization and automation of production processes in all branches of the economy.
Article 22
A program is being consistently implemented in the USSR to convert agricultural work into a variety of industrial work, to extend the network of educational, cultural, and medical institutions, and of trade, public catering, service and public utility facilities in rural localities, and transform hamlets and villages into well-planned and well-appointed settlements.
Article 23
(1) The state pursues a steady policy of raising people's pay levels and real incomes through increase in productivity.
(2) In order to satisfy the needs of Soviet people more fully social consumption funds are created. The state, with the broad participation of public organizations and work collectives, ensures the growth and just distribution of these funds.
Article 24
(1) In the USSR, state systems of health protection, social
security, trade and public catering, communal services and amenities, and public utilities, operate and are being extended.
(2) The state encourages cooperatives and other public organizations to provide all types of services for the population. It encourages the development of mass physical culture and sport.
Article 25
In the USSR there is a uniform system of public education, which is being constantly improved, that provides general education and vocational training for citizens, serves the communist education and intellectual and physical development of the youth, and trains them for work and social activity.
Article 26
In accordance with society's needs, the state provides for planned development of science and the training of scientific personnel and organizes introduction of the results of research in the economy and other spheres of life.
Article 27
(1) The state concerns itself with protecting, augmenting and making extensive use of society's cultural wealth for the moral and aesthetic education of the Soviet people, for raising their cultural level.
(2) In the USSR development of the professional, amateur and folk arts is encouraged in every way.
<CENTER><H3><A NAME="1">Amendment I</A></h3>
</center>
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="2">Amendment II</A></h3>
</center>
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="3">Amendment III</A></h3>
</center>
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the
consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed
by law.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="4">Amendment IV</A></h3>
</center>
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported
by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="5">Amendment V</A></h3>
</center>
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in
actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be
subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb;
nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="6">Amendment VI</A></h3>
</center>
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to
have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="7">Amendment VII</A></h3>
</center>
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty
dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried
by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United
States, than according to the rules of the common law.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="8">Amendment VIII</A></h3>
</center>
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="9">Amendment IX</A></h3>
</center>
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
<CENTER>
<H3><A NAME="10">Amendment X</A></h3>
</center>
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people.
Edited By Bartman on Jan. 15 2002 at 8:31