[Iowa-dx] FW: Press: Greens connect ecology with democracy

[Hart, Holly J]

http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2008a/011108/011108zc.htm

Earth & Spirit
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Issue Date:  January 11, 2008

Greens connect ecology with democracy

By RICH HEFFERN

At their annual national gathering of the U.S. Green Party last summer
in Reading, Pa., party leader John Rensenbrink gave a speech in which he
outlined how the Greens were positioning themselves for the 2008
election and beyond.

=93We are going to vie for real political power in the United States in
order to achieve important goals for our neighborhoods, the country and
the planet. We are no longer entering the political arena just to force
the =91real=92 candidates to discuss substantive issues. We are not a club,
not a nongovernmental organization but a real political party that will
contest for power in these United States.=94

A more strenuous Green Party strategy will include a marketing campaign,
achievable political goals and serious fundraising. =93The Republican
party is imploding. The Democratic party has lost its way,=94 Mr.
Rensenbrink concluded. =93It=92s up to a third party now to inspire the
hearts and minds of millions of Americans.=94

U.S. Greens have been working out alternative ways of doing politics for
25 years while committed to values and goals like gender balance,
sustainable land use, nonviolence, community-based economics,
grass-roots democracy and more. They have been busy fleshing out and
realizing these values in the world and in the realm of politics. They
have consistently opposed the invasion of Iraq, advocated for campaign
finance reform and for a single-payer health insurance plan.

There are presently 227 Green party members holding state and local
level political office around the country, 55 in California alone.
They=92ve had their struggles and infighting but now seem to be emerging
as a force for change in America, capturing in particular the interest
and passion of the young. Campus Green parties have sprouted like weeds
in an organic garden. A Green Party candidate is expected to run for
president this year.

The Green party platform is expressed in terms of 10 key values. These
in turn are usually phrased in questions not definitive statements.

Under =93ecological wisdom=94: How can we live within the ecological and
resource limits of the planet? How can we build a better relationship
between cities and the countryside?

Under =93community-based economics=94: How can we redesign our work
structures to encourage employee ownership and workplace democracy? How
can we move beyond the narrow =93job ethic=94 to new definitions of =93work=
,=94
=93jobs=94 and =93income=94 that reflect the changing economy? How can we
restrict the concentrated power of corporations without discouraging
superior efficiency or technological innovation?

What other U.S. political party concerns itself with such a rich,
values-laden agenda?

Environmental writer James Kunstler, speaking at the Land Institute in
Salina, Kan., last September, said: =93So many Americans believe the only
thing wrong with America is George W. Bush, and that if only we could
wiggle out of =91his=92 war and his presidency, every day would be Christma=
s.=94

In reality, there=92s a lot more wrong with how we live and how we think
about how we live than the mere presence of George Bush in the White House.

Our dependence on foreign oil, for example, is not the real problem.
It=92s the living arrangements and consumerism that depend on that oil,
and in that we=92re all implicated. This failure to make connections
between how we all live and resulting public and foreign policies goes
down to the grass roots.

Mr. Rensenbrink presented an example of the strategizing that has been
going on. A longstanding Green party goal is to find ways =93to tame giant
corporations in the interest of small businesses,=94 that last phrase
added in order to avoid the protest mentality that identifies Greens as
over against something else and to stress a positive commitment to
community-based economics.

=93We need to get on with the life-fulfilling project of citizenship and
public life,=94 said Green writer Patrick Mazza, who spoke of the need to
=93transform politics and America itself.=94

Short-term goals include winning ballot status for the Green party in
all states. In 2008, the Greens want to add at least 25 states to the 19
states where they are recognized as a political party and win a minimum
of 5 percent of the vote, which would qualify the party to receive
public funding in the 2012 election, while also focusing energy,
resources and enthusiasm on a reasonable number of winnable House seats
and two Senate seats in 2008. Another goal is to have 1,000 Green party
members holding elective office nationwide by 2010.

Greens present an alternative vision for America that projects hope.
They are the most notable example of grass-roots environmental electoral
politics in our nation=92s history, yet they are largely ignored or viewed
solely as presidential election =93spoilers.=94

Ecology, which can be defined as intelligent caring for the whole,
=93represents a tremendous breakthrough for viewing res publica [public
affairs] as a natural sphere,=94 said Mr. Mazza. The direct connection
between the traditions of democracy and ecological consciousness is a
force that can lend Green parties dramatic force and energy for a
transformation of politics.

Rich Heffern is an NCR staff writer. His e-mail address is
rheffern@ncronline.org.


THIS ARTICLE INCLUDES A PICTURE OF JULIA WILLEBRAND

with this caption

Julia Willebrand, Green Party candidate for New York State comptroller,
speaking on the Upper West Side in New York City Oct. 27, 2006.