With the 2008 Presidential election approaching, I sometimes wonder, “Why do the mass media act like there are only two political parties in the United States?” Just because the Democratic and Republican parties are currently the most powerful, it doesn’t mean they’re the best. In fact, I think a strong case can be made to argue that they are far from ideal. However, that’s not my intention for this post.
Since this is the Eco-Friendly blog, I thought I should have a look at the Green Party. According to the Wikipedia page on the subject, the party operates on 10 Key Values. Three of them happen to relate directly to eco-friendly issues: 1) Ecological Wisdom; 2) Personal and Global Responsibility; 3) Future Focus and Sustainability. According to Wikipedia, Ecological Wisdom “refers in part to biomimicry (imitating the efficiency of nature’s services and bodily forms).”
Personal and Global Responsibilty mean reducing the harm that we are causing to the planet and its ecosystems. This seems to be a more scientific approach than Ecological Wisdom. Future Focus and Sustainability means shifting agriculture, technology, and other aspects of society towards a model that can be replenished on a long term basis. This has to do both with physical constraints (i.e. – limited natural resources) and energy shortages.
The other values are relevant and interesting. They include equal opportunity, social and economic justice, decentralization, gender equity, and respect for diversity. In the 2004 election, Green Party nominee David Cobb only received about 120,000 votes, or 0.10% of the popular vote. However, in 2000 Ralph Nader received over 2 million votes on the Green Party ticket. The presidential nominee in 2008 is Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. She might not take the cake this year, but I have a feeling that the Green Party will gain more attention in the future as the values they espouse become more and more commonplace in greater society.
