When my 17-year-old daughter came home yesterday, she laughed at me and asked why I had a brand-new “Vote Green Party” sticker on the bumper of my car.
“They’re never going to win- you know that, right?” she asked.
If she’s talking about the presidential election coming up next November, there’s a pretty good chance that she’s right. But creating change in politics to better our world is a whole lot bigger than any one election, and voting for who you think has a good chance of “winning” is no way to participate in a democracy.
If you follow politics closely like I have for the last 10 years or so, it’s very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day battles between the “conservatives” and the “liberals” that dominate our national media. Did you hear what Nancy Pelosi said today? And the response from John Boehner? To choose a side is only human, and to defend that ideology against all who oppose it is nothing short of a patriotic exercise of one’s First Amendment rights. You have to pick a side, right?
But what if you start to realize that BOTH sides are really one in the same? What do you do when you recognize that BOTH sides are bought and paid for by the corporations that funded their multi-million dollar election campaigns? What happens next when you come to the conclusion that BOTH sides are happy to argue for a position when they think that it will help sway public opinion, but write legislation that only serves to maximize profits for the executive class of America at the expense of We the People?
As a progressive liberal, I often found myself passionately defending the positions of
the Democratic Party against attacks from Republicans, only to be disappointed when the
Democrats eventually caved to the pressure of the media machine that infests our daily lives with half-truths and an absolute refusal to do the investigative work necessary to accurately report on a story. I began to realize that although the Democrats talked a better game than the Republicans, their actions betrayed their statements. During the negotiations over ending the Bush Tax Cuts last December, the Democrats failed to adhere to the will of a huge majority of Americans that wanted to see an end to policies have contributed to creating massive national debt and overwhelming income inequality in our nation.
It should have been a very easy win for Democrats, but they somehow lacked the political will to challenge their wealthy donors that helped them get their jobs. Comedian Will Durst blogged at that time that “the heartless are pummeling the spineless while the clueless cheer them on.” That statement has stuck with me because there is just so much truth to it. Unfortunately, it hasn’t changed at all since then.
The clueless Tea Party continues to guide the heartless Republicans further off the cliff, and the Democrats sit idly by and enable the destruction of our nation out of fear of offending their donors and the backlash from the well-polished right-wing smear machine.
Unfortunately, the game is rigged for now. Without being able to raise millions of
dollars to compete with the millions that the two corporate parties have, it’s almost impossible to challenge the entrenched powers. Right now, the heartless ARE pummeling the spineless while the clueless cheer them on. But what do you do when you realize that you are none of the above? What do you do when you realize that the only people that truly fit into Durst’s description are the elected officials that are running our country? You do the only thing you can do- you find the movement that is bringing the power back to the hands of the people.
There is a way to get our democracy back from the big money donors that run our legislature. It’s called people-powered politics, and it starts on a local level. That movement is called the Green Party.
When you look around the world today, you see unrest everywhere. From Egypt to
Syria to London to Madison, Wisconsin, the people are starting to see the light. The people
are starting to recognize that it is you and I that should have the rights, not the corporations and the oligarchs they put in charge. The regular people of the world are standing up and telling those in power that we are tired of the greed. We are demanding social justice and equal opportunity for everyone, not just the rich.
As Greens, we are dedicated to building a true grassroots movement that begins at the local level. We are running candidates in our local municipalities and county elections, building a base of elected officials that are informed, caring, and willing to fight for the people that elected them. As the winds of change continue to blow, more and more of our fellow citizens are recognizing that taking corporate money out of our election process is the only way to get representatives that actually represent the people.
We may not be ready to take the White House next November, but we will win. We will win not by buying consensus through the corporate media, but by building consensus on the local level and spreading the message of the people from the bottom to the top. The people are waking up to the fact that the two parties have become one in the same, and that neither one represents them.
I didn’t apply my new bumper sticker because I thought it would make me look like a winner, I did it because I know that democracy begins when you get involved. I
did it because I want to support a party that is represented by the people, and it’s very clear that the only party that does that is the Green Party.
For more info on the Green Party:
Occupy Naperville
Well said!
Extremely well written. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and encouraging people that it takes one before we can become many and finally a majority!
Great post! Thank you for sharing!
I’m tired of both mainstream parties using very little but fear to get votes. The Republicans use fear of socialism, muslims, mexicans, homosexuals, death panels and the poor to scare people into voting for them. The Democrats use fear of Republicans to do the same. I realized recently that it has been almost 15 years since I voted FOR a democrat (Clinton), as opposed to voting AGAINST the scary, or just dangerously ignorant, Republican opponent. I didn’t even agree with a great deal of the Democratic Party’s platform, and that was BEFORE they sold themselves out to corporate interests. Nope…from now on I’m voting for someone I can stand behind. That doesn’t mean I’ll always vote Green Party, but I refuse to be a mindless pawn in our corrupt 2-party’s system anymore.
EXACTLY! This is one of the most concise and well thought out answers I have come upon. I hope you don’t mind but I have to share it. Wonderful.
Thank YOU!!!!!!!!! for writing this. I have been adamently refusing to vote for the Dems again, just in order to keep the republicans out of office. I wont do it. Not ever again.
I will- however- continue to vote for what I do believe IN. And the Green Party is the only one in the front for me right now. I will actually get emails from liberal friends at election time whining and pleading for me to not vote 3rd party and split the vote.
Hey, dont want me to “split the vote?”
Then get a REAL Democratic liberal thinker in the running.
Very well written and really does get to the point of the matter.
Colossal typo at the end of the 5th paragraph about overwhelming income inequality. You put overwhelming income equality, though the typo is a beautiful dream for the future;-) The similarities between the Republicans and the Democrats are too blatant to ignore. The Democrats will preach a good 21st Century version of Manifest Destiny, where the goal isn’t so much Westward expansion but Compassionate expansion and equal access to basic human fundamentals in this country, but in practice, they’re behaving like the Republicans. That particularly amuses me about the Republican candidates, right now, that’ll talk about how Obama’s the death of the US and how he needs to be a one-term President, because he’s absolutely no good for America. YET IF HE’S BEHAVING LIKE REPUBLICANS, then isn’t that a subliminal way of saying that America would be further down the road with a robust economy, sustainability, nationalized healthcare that didn’t put the burden on small business, but operated similar to Canada’s system or to that of many European countries, an equal rights amendment for women, et. al., IF WE DIDN’T HAVE THE TEA PARTY, THE REPUBLICANS, OR ANY SUCH PARASITES BY ANY OTHER NAME THAT ARE SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF OUR FUTURES IN THE BEHALF OF YUPPIES????
Don’t even get me started on the nonsense of the drug war, our preemptive intervention foreign policy, and the areas of this country that still have the barbaric/murderous death penalty, ’cause I don’t want to blow a blood vessel, the lining of my stomach, et. al.!!!
Thanks for noticing the typo, Martin. I have corrected it now.
But we need to start getting organized as a party. If we believe we will do best for the people we need to ask ourselves why more are not joining. Why are more Greens not donating. Why is it that our image is not that of a party that wants to be known nationally.
Anyone can find inexpensive talent if you look in the right places. A massive chunk of the Democratic Party’s volunteer base is made up of college students and youth. The Green Party’s problem isn’t one of simply money. We need a marketing strategy. For starters, get rid of the image/stereotype that we are an all-environmentalist party. The general public think we Greens are either single-issue or the antithesis to the norm, whereas we are neither. And we need to put ourselves more out there. While the establishment media won’t give us a spotlight, we need to take advantage of all the tools of modern day communication technology such as social networking and video sharing. Be concise and appealing. Target voters strategically. All of these tactics spell success, but we need to begin to implement it at every level of our organization.
We need to do better, Green Party is our Party!
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This is a great article. How many times have I heard someone ask why people join the GP. I try to save articles and reports like this, they make a very good argument for why the GP exists!
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I’m 68, always vote “3rd party” in spite of abuse about wasting my vote.
The reason it’s not catching on is the oneparty/twoparty corporate system runs everything by keeping it expensive to win or get publicity. Slowly but steadily throughout US history our leadership and priorities have increasingly become about money. Three branches of government were supposed to maintain balance of power, but corporate power has succeeded in corrupting all three (see. supreme court decisions allowing unlimited corporate contributions etc.)
As for grass-roots campaigns which rely on dedicated volunteers and not on money, –well we could go on & on about show these are successfully stifled or co-opted, misled and betrayed. It always comes down to money (note pleas for contributions) The corporate system is in charge of creating our money so always has more than those who have to earn it.
Getting money completely out of politics is the only answer, but how to get there from here? How do you even make the case, without money to start with? it’s a “catch 22:” It will take a lot of money to actually get money out of politics. Notice campaigns for publicly funded elections. Right. We’re gonna spend enough public money & hard-earned tax dollars to beat the corporate money machine. In your dreams!
I think a worthy goal might be to institute “instant runoff” voting.
This would restore democracy quickly, as soon as everyone understood they would not be “wasting their vote” when they gave as their first choice other than mainstream party candidates. It would break the two-corporate-party stranglehold very quickly, but of course to be instituted it would have to have the permission of the two party system, which would have to be more interested in true democracy than in keeping their power. Good luck!
–Louie Urban Kohler
Ashland Oregon
Excellent article
You guys are really up against it with such a strong, unrepresentative and unproportional 2 party system but you are in a unique position to really make a difference.
I’m a member of the Scottish Green party and here in Scotland, the UK and Europe at large we are really beginning to see the benefits of a long long period of hard work. We are well on our way to Green government eventually in Germany and are making breakthroughs at all levels of British government (including the first Green council in the UK!).
Energising supporters can be difficult but every gain galvanises those who worked for it and attracts more to the cause. The key is to think small at first and target efficiently. Start thinking like a serious party and campaign like a serious party and quickly, people will begin to notice. Effective targetting is a must, at a local level. Build yourselves some strong bases of support to work from.