OntheWilderSide

On the national Green Party list, every once in awhile, we get in a cycle of self-reflection. The piece below is from a post that les evenchik made on a national Green Party list. With his permission, I edited it in hopes of crystallizing one definition of green politics. -KW
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Towards a definition of “green politics” and how we express ourselves as greens.
From the perspective of Green Party and GP-US politics

By les evenchick
Green Party member from Louisiana

It should be our task as greens to take the initial attraction people have to being green and supporting environmental improvements, to show that real environmental improvements require considerations of social justice, non violence, and grassroots democracy. Greens also understand that all of these concerns are best explored in a sound ecological manner.

The Green Party stands for much more than simply improving the environment. That is why affiliation with the Green Party of the United States (GP-US) requires acceptance of either the 4 Pillars or 10 Key Values –  sets of principles which include social and economic justice, non-violence, grassroots democracy and ecological wisdom.

Green is not a subset of some larger political ideology, especially not as defined by our party’s principles and values. Some people would say that green=radical left/socialist. But, that is not accurate. Neither does green represent simply “liberal values.” And, it should be noted that recruiting on the basis of liberal values will gives us a liberal party, not a green party.

Other people have described the greens as “progressive.” Now some progressives may legitimately be greens, just as some socialists are also greens, and even some conservatives are also greens. But real green philosophy goes beyond all those ideologies.

My view is that green politics absorbs what is correct in all, prior political ideologies and rejects what is not. So green includes the best of  socialist/radical/liberal/progressive/conservative/libertarian thought.

Green is, or should be, a higher level synthesis of previous politics.

Green is a distinct enough idea and an important enough idea on its own, that as greens, we should promote ourselves prominently as greens in all elections we take part in.

-end

Would be honored if anyone wanted to repost. Please note on the piece:
By les evenchick/with input from Kimberly Wilder

Filed under: 3rd party, election, elections, grassroots democracy, green, Green Party Websites, News, Peace, Political Websites, progressive politics, social & economic justice, third party, To Study Up On Nonviolence, US Politics Tagged: | Four Pillars, Green Party Websites, kimberly wilder, les evenchick, progressive, progressive politics