- Preamble and Purpose:
The world we live in is conditioned by one central fact: The destruction of the Soviet Union, the first successful proletarian revolution. As such, working class and socialist ideology has been thrown back all over the world, though in an uneven fashion. This means the rise of non-Marxist socialist tendencies: From the rise of Green Radicalism and Anarchoid tendencies in the Imperialist centers to National-Populists in the colonial/neo-colonial world such as the Zapatistas and the 'Bolivarian Revolution' in Latin America.
A pressing need is felt for clarification on the numerous demands and programmes propounded by these socialist [and in some cases not even that!] tendencies.
Therefore, this guild has been created to collect all the communists and socialists on Gaia Online in order to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and help achieve clarification on numerous issues. This is not a party, and as such no ideological demands are made of the membership other than a commitment to a socialism.
This is a place that COMMUNISTS AND SOCIALISTS can come to talk about stuff. The can come here and talk about how to make socialism, how to oppose capitalism, the roots and solutions to all the attending problems.
The guild is NOT here for Liberals to come and deny that capitalism is harmful to the existence of the human race. The guild is NOT here for Libertarians to deny that racism and sexism exist. The guild is NOT here so that anti-communists of whatever stripe can question the basic assumptions of our world views.
The guild IS here for communists and socialists to talk about how to understand these things and how to deal with them. People who want to argue with non-leftists can argue in ED-P. Once they step into the guild however, SOCIALISM REIGNS.
This guild exists to bring together varying shades of left-wing socialism and provide them with a place where they can learn about socialism and discuss the differences between the various socialist trends without non-socialists questioning the base assumptions or outright denying them.
1. The Rights and Duties of the Membership
i. The members of this guild will not say or act in a way that is contrary to the spirit and purpose of the guild. The exact limits of this are to be set forth in rules in the manner prescribed in section 5.
ii. The members of the guild have the right to not be charged with crimes against the guild or socialist morality without proof being presented.
iii. Membership of the guild is conditional upon agreeing to 5 political points.
iv. The 5 points are as follows:
v. Society is plagued by a vast array of social ills that stem from the division of society into classes based on their relationship to the means of production. It is both possible and desirable to abolish class society through the transfer of the means of production from private ownership to the community as a whole.
vi. Sexual, National, Racial and Sectarian oppression exist. Until these are done away with, social equality is nothing more than a myth. It is both possible and desirable to eliminate these forms of oppression.
vii. The oppression of women stems from the institution of the family which serves to guarantee the biological connection between property owner and heir. Thus, any and all sexual conduct which transcends the family is treated as deviant and suppressed. It is both possible and desirable to end womens' oppression.
viii. Racism is inherent in capitalism and is manufactured and encouraged by the capitalist press and state to divide the working class into hostile camps with perceived differences.
Racism is neither natural nor inherent, and it is both possible and desirable to do away with racism.
ix. Nationalism is the lie that the people of a given nation have common interests and serves only to divide the international working class and prevent common action. It is both possible and desirable to eliminate nationalism.
2. Punishments and Sanctions
i. The only sanctions that can be taken against a member of the guild are as follows. These sanctions are applied to crimes against the guild and socialist morality as put forward in the guild rules.
ii. Probation: The member is allowed to remain a member of the guild however any posts they make after being put on probation will be deleted without exception. Evidence of the violation of the spirit or purpose of the guild or violation of the guild rules must be provided and posted in a motion thread. After one ( 1 ) day deliberation by the guild membership the Central Committee will vote. A majority is required to pass the motion to put the member under probation. Repeated posting may be seen as disruptive behavior and grounds for further sanctions.
iii. Temporary Banning: The member is banned from the guild for a period of no less than one ( 1 ) week and no more than one ( 1 ) month. Evidence of the violation of the spirit or purpose of the guild or violation of the guild rules must be provided and posted in a motion thread. After three ( 3 ) days deliberation by the guild membership the Central Committee will vote. A majority is required to pass the motion banning the member.
iv. Permanent banning: The member of the guild is permanently banned. Evidence of the violation of the spirit or purpose of the guild or violation of the guild rules must be provided and posted in a motion thread. After three ( 3 ) days deliberation by the guild membership the Central Committee will vote. A majority of at least two thirds ( 2/3 ) is required to pass the motion banning the member.
v. Executive Action: If a member of the guild is making posts that repeatedly violate the spirit and purpose of the guild and no other members of the Central Committee is present, a single mod may take Executive Action whereby the offending member has their posts deleted. In extraordinary cases the member may even be banned. Evidence of the violation must be provided in the form of a screencap of the post/s in question. These will be stored in a thread in the Central Committee subforum. PMs will be sent to the member who made the violation and all other members of the Central Committee informing them of this. The PMs sent to the Central Committee members must include a link to the thread containing the screencaps.
3. Elections for the Central Committee and Mods
i. Every member has the right to register for each election. A Thread will be made for each member to register in.
ii. To register, each member must post at least five (5) political posts within the month prior to the election. These posts must be linked in their application for voting registration.
iii. Elections will be conducted in the following manner:
The election is announced one ( 1 ) month prior to the date of the election.
The election will last for one week.
There will be a sticky thread made for the purposes of the election.
Each member has a number of votes equal to the number of Central Committee positions in the election.
Each member will vote for members that they want to participate on the central committee based on their POLITICS and ACTIVITY
Each vote counts for a number of points ranging from 1 through to the number of committee members. Only one vote from each member can count for a given number of points.
The member who receives the most points is elected Chairperson of the guild. The rest of the positions on the Central Committee will be filled by the members who received the next highest amounts of voting points.
In the case of a tie Those already elected vote from the tied candidates for the position.
iv. Elections can be held NO LESS than two ( 2 ) months and no more than 10 ( 10 ) months after the last. The guild should aim to have regular elections held every six ( 6 )
v. At any point where an election would be valid, i.e., no less than two ( 2 ) months after a previous election, the membership of the guild can sign a petition with more than one third ( 1/3 ) of the current active membership for a new election. The new election must be announced within the week.
vi. During period commencing with the posting of the registration thread and closing with the opening of elections no join requests will be accepted or guild invites will be made
vii. The results of all past elections is to be kept in a sticky for this purpose.
4. Central Committee and Mods
i. The central Committee is the executive body of the guild. It will be made up of between three ( 3 ) and eight ( 8 ) members. This will be decided one month prior to the elections based on guild activity and will be included in the election announcement.
ii. Each member of the Central Committee will act as MODERATOR of the NCS Guild and ANY OTHER GUILDS the NCS makes.
5. Rules and Amendments to the Constitution
i. Rules for the guild can only be proposed by members of the Central Committee. To make a new Rule it must be proposed in a Motion thread posted in the main forum of the guild. During the next week the membership of the guild can propose Friendly Amendments to the Motion. The member who proposed the motion is under no obligation to accept these amendments. With the close of that week the motion as it exists is voted upon by the Central Committee. The Motion becomes a Rule of the guild if it passes unanimously. The Central Committee has a period of one ( 1 ) week to discuss the motion and to vote on it, but can make no further changes to it.
ii. Amendments to the Constitution can only be proposed by members of the Central Committee. To make an Amendment to the Constitution it must be proposed in a Motion thread posted in the main forum of the guild. During the next week the membership of the guild can propose Friendly Amendments to the Motion. The member who proposed the motion is under no obligation to accept these amendments. With the close of that week the motion as it exists is voted upon by the membership of the guild. The Motion becomes an Amendment to the Constitution of the guild if it passes by a two thirds ( 2/3 ) majority. The membership of the guild has a period of two ( 2 ) weeks to discuss the motion and to vote on it, but can make no further changes to it.
6. Activity of the members of the Central Committee
i. Each member that has been elected into the Central Committee of the MCS that do not remain active will be demoted and replaced.
ii. All members of the Central Committee will have to make a minimum of one (1) post every two (2) weeks in any forum or sub-forum of the MCS.
iii. If this requirement is not met the inactive member of the Central Committee will be given a period of two (2) weeks during which to be active again. If inactivity is continued he/she will be demoted.
iv. A warning will be issued to the inactive member of the Central Committee if the activity requirement is not met. Another warning will be issued to the member at the end of the second (2) week and the third (3) week.
vi. Warnings will be posted in the main forum of the MCS and sent privately to the inactive members.
vii. If by the end of the fourth week the member of the Central Committee continues being inactive he/she will be demoted
viii. All of this won't apply if the member provides a valid excuse and a warning to the members of the Central Committee and the members of the guild.
ix. It will be the job of the other members of the Central Committee to make an announcement to the membership of the guild announcing the Central Committee member's reason for inactivity.
x. Vacated positions in the Central Committee will be filled by an active member of the guild elected by all currently active members of the Central Committee. If the Chair or Vice-Chair becomes vacant the position will be filled with one of the remaining members of the Central Committee, to be chosen by a vote of all members of the new Central Committee