There is no future except that which we define for ourselves. Those who would have us live in this two party system would have the world pay the price. It can be said today that other options have been tried. It remains for the construction of a national independent third party to build a presence in all states and at all levels of government. It remains for us to determine our destiny.
This third party can and must be built from the ground up. Building upon successes it will bring new volunteers forward and deepen the ability of the people to be heard. It will provide a contrast to the corruption and sycophancy of the duopoly. It will bring forward the energy and understanding of the people whose humanity has been so callously disregarded.
In choosing the political arena as the battlefield, we look to our friends and neighbors to rally with us. We look at the concerns and needs of people so that we can win victories and redress the outrages and grievances that are so routinely dispensed. In working to deepen our base of support we must learn to listen and follow. We do not have the luxury of continuing as we have in the past. Symbolic opposition is no solution. Now we begin to see clearer who stands with us, and who stands against us.
Now we see new alternatives that have been buried beneath the tons of dollars used to sponsor the predation of the planet and its species and resources. Elections are presented not as beauty contests, but as political struggles that center around our future and our children's future. Policy alternatives are presented and debated and re-formulated to address real problems. No longer are sound bites and spin the masters of political debate. Substantive solutions evolve and demonstrate their potential.
By uniting, people learn who truly represents them and who uses them to enrich themselves. Participation reinvigorates the populace at large and engages those who had given up in the belief that things would always remain the same. Concessions give shape and strength in the struggle that creates its own movement and imagination.
Political parties are but one manifestation of organization. Other forms also take root and people find new ways of addressing the matters of our lives. Organization that is based on addressing the tasks of the day and the problems of yesterday will provide accountability, consistency and fairness. Empty rhetoric that attacks "leadership" or "hierarchy" seeks to tie the hands of political organization capable of working with people to win concrete concessions.
In between elections, third parties need to continue to represent their constituents. The party should speak for those without elected representatives in the securing of rights and liberties. It should address issues impacting on the general welfare of the community and promote the common good. It should go to elected officials and represent those who seek positive changes. It should promote public education that increases participation of the people. It should participate in planning processes that require input from diverse stakeholders and effectively present the interests and concerns of others so impacted. It should seek concessions, no matter how big its voter base, but never concede ground to the two parties by withdrawing candidates or playing hide-and-seek.
As the parties win elections, it is important that they initiate and support legislation that will open up the electoral system. It is important that they begin to provide new models that are environmentally friendly. And, it is important to get officials from the duopolies to join in and learn the value of the third party strategy to their communities. Already, many mayors in the US have united to implement Kyoto despite failure to do so by either Congress or the President.
By building this political movement, other things will begin to open up. But, as is being demonstrated in Latin America and elsewhere, the political strategy has the best chance of success and the biggest opportunity for significant change in 30 years. It is breaking new ground for the future and expanding the agenda.
TO GREEN OR NOT TO GREEN
As it stands the Green Party US stands as the popular vehicle for third party political movement for power and change. It alone represents a cohesive base that has built local campaigns through a concerted effort. It alone stands with the name that personifies opposition to current regime and can demonstrate a willingness to oppose collaborating with the duopoly. The Green Party US is the name associated with Nader. It is the name associated to opposition to the war. It is the name associated with ecological restoration.
It stands as an organization that has been built in states across the nation and has run candidates at all levels of government. In Alaska, to Maine to Florida, to California, to Minnesota its name rings out among the young and the restless. It has been heard of in San Francisco, Santa Fe, Portland, New Paltz and Minneapolis in local elections and campaigns. It has faced election laws and worked to change them throughout the US. San Francisco broke through the structural inequities and defeated the efforts to prevent IRV, and it has seen public campaign financing in Maine.
It stands as the voice of national opposition through the presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004. It has run Presidential candidates since 1996 and increased its electoral space in the national constituency. It withstood four years of blistering criticism of it election efforts in 2000 by ABB apparatchniks. It remains able to create a new dynamic in the campaign of 2008.
It stands as the opposition to efforts by Democrats and Republicans to deny independents and third parties the right to ballot access and campaign finance. It has reached out to new blocs of voters in supporting electoral reform. It has worked with Republicans in opposing new regulations for major party status and voter identification in New Mexico and with Democrats in demanding a recount of the presidential election in Ohio and New Mexico.
Within the Green Party US lies the capability of expanding and building an independent third party. It has the potential of representing a broader base of voters and defining its platform without ideological pre-conceptions. The reality of the international ecological crises and the marginalization of significant segments of the American population present an opportunity to promote an agenda that corresponds with current political situation in the US.
