10 Key Values (edited and inclusive version)

Here is an edited version of the 10 key values. These are more inclusive in nature but still contain the general structure of the original 10 key values.


About the Green Party

INTRODUCTION

A Call to Action

The Green Platform presents a fresh vision for our country. We have created a grassroots process that invites submissions from everyone. The Green Platform is an evolving document, a living work-in-progress that expresses our commitment to creating wise and enduring change in specific policies and in the political process itself. The Green Party is committed to values-based politics, as expressed in our Ten Key Values. These values guide us in progressively changing the current system into one that foster honesty and cooperation among all human beings.

Platform Preamble

Never has our country been in a better position for progressive change as evidenced by the increasing number of voters who opted for third party candidates in the 2006 mid-term elections. Americans across the board are looking for fresh ideas that will transform the business-as-usual atmosphere into proactive solutions. Realizing that our actions will influence and be judged by future generations, we ask how we can draw on the best of our traditions, calling forth a spirit of ingenuity and grassroots participation to achieve a free, peaceful, democratic, just, and responsible society. A society that actively responds to the social, political, economic and ecological challenges of today while keeping our focus on the needs of future generations. We submit a bold vision of our country’s future, a Platform on which we stand:

- Our Ten Key Values as a guide to a politics of vision and action,

- A creative, pragmatic plan for a prospering sustainable economy, and

- A plan to restore and protect a healthy, diverse environment and to cultivate a sense of community at all levels, from the local to the planetary.

INTRODUCTION

We propose a vision of our common good that is advanced through an independent politics that works through a democratic structure and process that empowers all human beings and reaches across lines of division to bring together our combined strengths as a people.

We, the Green Party, see our political and economic progress, and our individual lives, within the context of an evolving, dynamic world. As in nature, where adaptation and diversity provide key strategies through which life flourishes, a successful political strategy is one that is diverse, adaptable to changing needs, and strong and resilient in its core values. A political strategy that understands mainstream thought patterns and that proposes solutions that appeal to the majority of voters and are structured in such a way that our Ten Key Values shine through.

- A Participatory Democracy rooted in community practice at the grassroots level. One which is completely transparent at every level, from the local to the international.

- Social Justice and Equal Opportunity which emphasizes personal and social responsibility, accountability, and an informing ethic of Peace.

- Ecological and Economic Sustainability practices which balances the interests of a free market economy and community-based economics with effective policy mechanisms to care for the Great Economy in which we are embedded: the ecosystems of the Earth.

The Green Party Platform provides solutions to the challenges facing our country including the responsible actions needed to implement them. Looking to the future with hope and optimism, we can truly implement constructive governance that allows and encourages the restoration of our ecological life-support systems, our economy, and the social fabric of humanity to the point of creating sustainable abundance for every human being. Our common destiny brings us together across our nation and around the globe. We act in service to the present, to our children and to the future generations of the entire Earth community with a deep understanding that the actions that we engage in today will determine the successful social atmosphere of tomorrow.

10 KEY VALUES1.

GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY - Every human being has a right to participate in the decisions that affect his or her life and the freedom to express their points of view. Therefore, we will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them. We will change and enhance existing political organizations to expand the process of participatory democracy which will directly include all individuals in the decision making process.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY - All human beings have the right to benefit equally from the resources afforded to us by the environment as well as the opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded to us by society in general. Every human being has the inherent right to benefit completely from the ‘fruits of their own labor’. We will consciously create an atmosphere that fosters a transformation of ourselves, our organizations, and society at large to understand and implement these most fundamental truths on our move towards a true ownership society.

3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM - Human societies operate with the understanding that we are part of nature. We will implement and maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. We support a sustainable society that utilizes resources in such a way that future generations and the planet in general will benefit from the practices of our generation. To this end we will foster practical forms of agriculture that replenish the soil through organic methods. Methods which respect the integrity of natural ecosystems. We will implement resource use policies that encourage the free market into sustainable resource use patterns.

4. PEACE - We will develop new patterns and enhance effective conventional patterns that promote peace and cooperation. We will re-pattern our military to aid in the process of Peace. We will work with other countries to establish a committed timeline for the recycling of weapons. As the only remaining superpower, we recognize that becoming a sustainable, peaceful, diverse, creative and economically abundant social example for other countries to follow is of prime importance. We promote peaceful methods of resolution, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace.

5. DECENTRALIZATION - We will restructure social, political and economic institutions towards a system that is geared for the political involvement of all human beings at a local level. While we understand the need for the centralization of certain policies, we remain committed to fostering complete public involvement in decisions that directly affect individuals and the communities in which they live.

6. COMMUNITY BASED ECONOMICS - Create local and national policies that encourage employee ownership and workplace democracy. Develop new economic activities and institutions that allow us to use new technologies in ways that are humane, freeing, ecological, resource accountable, and responsive to communities and individuals. Establish a guaranteed basic income for all human beings that is funded by resource usage revenues generated by policies which engage and aid all free market activities in their move towards sustainable levels of production. Encourage community economic models which motivate consumer activities towards local businesses. Provide a new outlook concerning “work,” jobs” and “income” that reflect a changing and sustainable economy. Restructure our patterns of income distribution to reflect the wealth created by those outside the formal monetary economy - parenting, housekeeping, home gardens, community volunteer work, etc. Encourage superior efficiency and technological innovation through the implementation of resource use policies. Restructure our public revenue generating system by shifting from a personal productivity based generation system to a system which generates the needed infrastructure funding through resource usage fees.

7. GENDER EQUITY - We will seek out and implement cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender. Human values such as equity between the sexes, interpersonal responsibility, and honesty will be fostered in all facets of our society.

8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY - As human beings we all develop in unique ways based on culture, education, values, social paradigms, etc… In our diversity we find our strength. A diverse population brings important traditions, experiences and values which society as a whole can use to grow in a manner that is both cooperative and empowering. We will foster the understanding that the underlying fabric of unity which manifests through diversity is the common thread of humanity that we all share. We will honor and encourage participation from all human beings at every level of society. We acknowledge and encourage respect for life forms other than our own. We encourage the preservation of biodiversity.

9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITIES - We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal well-being and, at the same time, to enhance ecological balance, social harmony and sustainable activities. We seek to unite people and organizations around the world into a cooperative social structure in order to foster peace, health, economic justice, and restoration of the earth’s natural ecosystems.

10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY - Our actions and policies are motivated by long-term goals. We will protect valuable natural resources through resource use policies that encourage sustainability, by safely disposing of or recycling all the waste that we create and by developing an economic model that works for every human being as well as the ecosystem. We will assure that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions. The quality of life for all human beings, present and future, and the health of the planet in general are the focus of our present and future thinking.

by Scott Root (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Friday, March 9, 2007 at 10:46:41 AM