So, you had this synergy of mainstream politics then, reflecting what was
coming out of an independent political party and a social movement; same thing
with women's suffrage, where they had the women's party. Likewise in the labor
movement where they had the Progressive Party, the laborer, the socialist, a
variety of other parties as well as the movement on the ground.
The political party, the
independent political party can articulate the vision, the message and the
agenda in a way that is harder for social movements to do because that's not
their job. Their job is to be inclusive and broad and energized on the ground;
not to be doing the process thing, the intensive process thing of boiling down
the message and creating a specific list of priorities. That's not the interest
really of Occupy. They're more diverse than that. So, that's where an
independent political party comes in and we can help drive forward that agenda
and move it into the political limelight where it takes on a life of its own
and that's how we can move forward. We've been there on the ground with Occupy
and supporting them all the way.
Rob: Now,
you've mentioned a bunch of historical connections between movements and
parties. The platform for the Green Party is, I believe, called the Green New
Deal.
Jill: That's
right.
Rob: Now,
that is evocative of course of Roosevelt's New Deal.
Jill: Exactly.
Rob: So,
that was the Democrats they were associating that with. That worked back then. Do
you think it will work now?
Jill: Well,
before the Democrats picked it up, it was being pushed by independent political
parties, including the Progressive Party. And it's really a case in point of
how an independent political party won the day. You can win the day, even if
you don't win the office. So, they weren't in the presidency, but they
succeeded in driving their agenda forward. Had they not been there to force
that agenda forward, would Roosevelt ever have taken it up? There was a social
movement and there was incredible unrest among working people and the unemployed,
but to have had the agenda articulated and pushed forward at the political
level was extremely helpful and it made it very hard for Roosevelt to resist it
because it was out there as an entity unto itself. And I think it's a great
example of how we can move forward now, by having that agenda. The unrest on
the ground is not going away. It's only going to get bigger.
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