wiki.occupyboston.org - User contributions [en]

Green Rainbow Party Platform Working Group

2012-08-26T22:16:04Z

Eyarden:

This page is for developing the Green Party Platform. Before participating in the edit, please contact volunteer@occupyboston.org. It's important for the editing group to have read through the background info and be up to speed on what the group is going. The group that started this intends to work this draft on their own before asking people who haven't been participating in the meetings to have a chance. We anticipate publishing an invitation for others to participate within a couple of weeks.

Meeting participants, please edit at will. If you want a lesson on how to use the wiki, please contact Brian or Terra. or write to volunteer@occupyboston.org to set up a phone tutorial time. Most lessons take about 5 minutes. Also, you can get "real time" help from the Occupy Boston techs, by choosing "Working Groups" on the left, choosing "OBIT" and then going to the online forum. They are speedy and great.

==Target Audience for this Document==
Potential and Existing Green-Rainbow Party Members. People interested in a sustainable future for human kind.

==NOTES to Wiki participants==
Terra: I put an inquiry in to OBIT admin to ask how to do "notes", rather than brackets, which appear to be rather cumbersome for a group this large. Please use brackets for now, or for huge notes, I'm creating a new page for each one...so debate there, and keep "the results of the debate" on the main page. If this convention doesn't make sense, please let's talk on email or something, or create a page about making huge notes.
BrianC: How about using the discussion page for dialog on the article? It's built-in; there's one for each article page - the link is in the upper menu bar, beside the 'page' tab.

== DRAFT Green-Rainbow Party Platform==

==1) Preamble ==

Green-Rainbow values rest on understanding the interconnectedness of everything on Earth, respect for life, its creativity, and the capacities of human beings. These [[Green Party Ten Key Values| Ten Key Values]] imply a vision of the common good and offer guidance on the pathway. [Terra: is this a note to "National"? a comment about the national platform? or should it be referenced as the opinion of the state-level platform?] [JH: Green-Rainbow means MA]

The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts, on the 10th anniversary of its founding, endorses the platform of the Green Party of the United States. [Joanna: no qualification?] [Danny: I think we need to discuss this more. For example, does this mean if the GPUS platform gets amended that we automaticallly endorse?]

The Green Party of Massachusetts and the Rainbow Coalition merged in 2002 on the basis of their [[Green Party Ten Key Values|shared values]] and aspirations (footnote on merger statement of 2002?). [Terra: do we want to say something about wanting a "strong [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Commons commons]]"?] [Joanna: Why here?]

While governments are strangled by special interests, we seek ways to bring the wisdom and energy of all residents of the Commonwealth to work toward a sustainable future.

As such, we seek methods to encourage and facilitate inclusiveness and transparency in government, including [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]]. [Joanna: this should be item in main body of platform.]

When economies are staggering from speculation in the financial system controlled by the powerful, we recognize the interdependence of all beings on earth and the role of local self-reliance, cooperation, and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable.

DISCUSSION: [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Issues_with_Favoring_Locally_Based_Economies Issues with Favoring Locally Based Economies]]

Where social relations are blighted by inequality, lack of opportunity and violence, we seek means to enable all to thrive together in peace. [Joanna: Who added 'together in peace'? That carries the idea away from what government can do to help all to thrive, aside from reforming law enforcement, maybe. The intro can't have many specifics or it loses its pace.] [BrianC: following phrase doesn't connect with preceding phrase][Danny: I didn't add it but I think placing of 'peace' is appropriate; it relates to mention of 'violence' 8 words earlier.],shifting to revenues from taxing resource use and accumulated wealth. [[Taxation Based on Accumulated Wealth|taxing accumulated wealth]]. [Joanna: If we think gov't has role in equalizing income and enriching opportunity, there is need for revenues to do it with, but maybe we can leave that unsaid. Alternative sentence: "WHERE SOCIAL RELATIONS ARE BLIGHTED BY INEQUALITY, ALIENATION, AND VIOLENCE [changed back to unfairness?], WE SEEK TO BUILD HEALTHY COMMUNITIES WHERE ALL MAY THRIVE."]

[BrianC: the phrase 'taxing accumulated wealth' isn't specific enough, as I see it. We should shift taxes from wages and sales to polluting resource use, specifically. [Joanna: Specific types of taxation should go in body of text under 'rational taxation'.] [Brian: Let's leave taxation out of this paragraph on peace and equality]. [Joanna: This paragraph was not intended to be about peace and equality, but about what government can do for society to which it answers.] [Danny: I think that 'peace' and taking care of the vulnerable need to be a part of the preamble. 'A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.' The concept of 'self reliance' does not make sense to the most vulnerable: prisoners, many hospital patients, etc.]

DISCUSSION:[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Issues_with_Using_the_words_Fairness_and_Unfairness Issues with Using the Words "Fairness" and "Unfairness"]] [ Joanna: unfairness gone.]

== 2) Proposed Platform text ==
[JH NOTE: CAN ANYONE SEE HOW TO GROUP THESE UNDER GO'VT, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY?]

At a time of severe cutbacks in spending, fiscal reform of State government operations requires [[full-cost accounting]] for all government approved projects to reduce ecologically destructive waste of natural resources and to increase employment. Continuous auditing of expenditures, both physical and monetary, must be instituted in such a manner as to prevent further transfer of wealth from the less to the more affluent.

[[(Elie: Change the above to read simply:)
Fiscal reform of State government operations requires full-cost accounting for all projects requiring government approval to reduce ecologically destructive waste of natural resources and to improve employment. Continuous auditing of expenditures, both physical and monetary, must be instituted in such a manner as to prevent further transfer of wealth from the less to the more affluent.]]

[[(this, using language developed by Brian, to be followed by)
Full Cost Accounting takes externalities into account, and places a limit on that which may be appropriated or owned. Air, drinkable water, and greater area of the earth's crust are the commons of all living things independently of human ownership, and any taking or damaging of this 'natural capital' is required by ecological accounting. The full cost can be measured by the economic activity required in the absence of expropriation by the use of private capital. And taxed accordingly for the common good, except where the activity is declared unlawful.]]

To remedy the harm caused by excessive and continuing growth in disparities of income, we seek legislation needed to achieve these goals; the eradication of poverty, the local assurance of a livelihood, freedom to pursue personal ambitions, and security of domicile. Among the means to these ends are; [[rational taxation]], (JH: will shifts in taxation from income to resources, land, wealth come here?} the institution of a state-owned bank, the establishment and funding of independent ecological research, and the development of a [[sovereign wealth fund]] which only invests sustainably.

Effective democratic deliberation and decision making at the local level -- town, city, ward, neighborhood, and also decisions whose ecological effect is largely regional, may require the formation of citizen assemblies in addition to those already instituted as local governments. Such consultative and decision making bodies should be chosen openly and freely by those most directly involved in their outcomes, protected from the undue pressure of competitive private corporations whose choices. and demands on our communities are driven by the need to maximize their own monetary gains.

Commonwealth law to protect the land held in common [Danny: I would footnote appropriate section of Mass. Constitution here] and also the fundamental necessities of life, water, air, and freedom of movement must allow for the sharing of resources within and between local polities. Encouraging local initiatives and local markets, whether cooperative or private, must replace the use of tax revenues to subsidize large corporate enterprises.

The Commonwealth, through its courts, is charged with the protections of all natural persons residing within the Commonwealth from invidious discrimination. Wherever this is in doubt, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to conduct a thorough investigation, and failure of that office to do so is an actionable offense.

All state institutions and private institutions must avoid policies that increase debt, [JH:whose debt?] especially debt that creates waste by jeopardizing social liberty or inhibiting the ability of persons to make reasonable choices as to employment, and other creative endeavors. Debt forgiveness may be necessary to protect the physical and social environment from the production of this waste. The use of local scrip should be encouraged.

Criminal law requires a careful examination of the use of violence to counter violence, as well as the testing of non-incarceration in the protection of the common good. The current prison system provides a glaring instance of unjust waste of human and physical resources. Imprisonment for non-violent but legally defined offenses remains an invidious practice that can no longer be ignored.

Growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not a requirement of good government. The Commonwealth and its self-governing communities should be left free to innovate, and improve the quality of life of their inhabitants through social interaction rather than increase of wealth. The institution of universally available health care at no cost to the patient remains one of the chief tools to reduce human suffering and reduce ecological waste in human affairs. [JH: ?] Health care accompanied by the required freeing of medical practice from the constraints imposed by insurance corporations, and removing the burden imposed on private employers provides a powerful tool for reducing the waste of non-productive overhead.

[[Elie: Perhaps the following editing clarifies the intent:
Growth in GDP is not a requirement of good government. The Commonwealth and its self governing communities should be left free to innovate, and improve the quality of life of their inhabitants through social interaction rather than increase of income and expendeture. The institution of universal health care remains one of the chief tools of reducing ecological waste that results from habits of commercially educed consumption. Health care accompanied by the required freeing of medical practice from the constraints imposed by insurance corporations, and removing the burden imposed on private employers provide a powerful tool for reducing the waste of non-productive overhead.]]

A program of educational reform in the public school system should be pursued at the local and regional levels. The only role of State government shall be to see to it that all schools are supplied according to the needs of the children they serve, that critical thinking and conflict resolution is encouraged and not stifled, and that teachers and staff are compsenated as valued proffesionals. This approach will entail increasing the resources to deal with poverty and its consequences for children. The content of compulsory education cannot be fairly determined by job markets. Principles of democratic education are well understood and need [but] to be applied. The Government should not encorage private education nor should it allow public charter schools run by corporate agendas.

To ensure maximal choice in representative government requires State financing of candidacy for public office, majority election, and should also allow for representation of opinion at least as effectively as representation and conciliation of conflicting interest. Preferential balloting for single office in both primary and general elections allows for responsible and democratic choice in a way that the current system denies. Political diversity in the Commonwealth as a whole should be represented in its legislative bodies; and districts of roughly equal population should be drawn on the ground of shared concerns of these populations.

Private corporations in the business of mass transportation, communication, and energy production [JH: and distribution] must be held fully accountable for the maintenance of their infra-structure and the attendant costs, especially the wasteful consumption of non-renewables [energy]. The utilization of the noted social resources [?] by households, government agencies, industry and commerce must be made as efficient and ecologically sound as possible.
[How about government being prepared to take on management of such enterprises where that would benefit common good, e.g. reverse privatization? How about facilitating municipal ownership]

Our politics emphasize social preparedness. No matter how advanced our technological means, we are not in charge of all planetary or local events. Hurricanes, epidemics, droughts, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes are no more selective in choosing their victim than a nuclear attack or accident. While climate change of a kind that raises sea levels may be anticipated, there are periods when geological events may assume catastrophic proportions. Healthy communities will show the greatest levels of caring and the least reliance on agencies of violence.

Obligation to protect the commons, land, air, water, ecosystems, and residents’ proper enjoyment thereof, embodied in Commonwealth law (Article 7 of Constitution), implies generous funding of environmental research and teaching at state universities, professional staff, long range regional planning, outreach programs, and local initiatives, and applying precautionary principle, especially to new technologies, e.g. nanotechnology. ][BrianC: this is a wonderful topic for inclusion in the platform; it has the general principal and some arenas where it applies.]

Why should we in Mass. use revenues to solicit relocation of big enterprises (including multinational) in MA simply as employers, when most new jobs are created by small businesses? What they do and how they do it matters... MA should be good citizen of the world... MA should examine implications of US internat'l trade treaties and tell DC what it thinks, e.g appoint people so that Trade Commission enacted to do this can function... Later...]

[Joanna note: I withdraw the alternative organization I had suggested, hoping that preface can carry the ideas of ecological wisdom, respect for diversity, etc. being relevant to everything, with special attention to government, economy and society. I tried to streamline preface. Right now, links and comments need to be digested to enable flow.]
[BrianC: One of the decisions we did come to was to use the three-part division of the platform when writing. I realize, with curiousity, that we're neglecting that decision.]
[Joanna: I hope the electronic text will imbed references as links (on paper in footnotes?)

Separate Platform project: Hope we can post some our our writing on vision and principles on G-R website. For sure, 2002 merger statement needs to be there to link to.]

==REFERENCE DOCS/LINKS for Participants==

[[Green Party Working Group Reference Docs]]

Green Rainbow Party Platform Working Group

2012-08-26T22:00:24Z

Eyarden:

This page is for developing the Green Party Platform. Before participating in the edit, please contact volunteer@occupyboston.org. It's important for the editing group to have read through the background info and be up to speed on what the group is going. The group that started this intends to work this draft on their own before asking people who haven't been participating in the meetings to have a chance. We anticipate publishing an invitation for others to participate within a couple of weeks.

Meeting participants, please edit at will. If you want a lesson on how to use the wiki, please contact Brian or Terra. or write to volunteer@occupyboston.org to set up a phone tutorial time. Most lessons take about 5 minutes. Also, you can get "real time" help from the Occupy Boston techs, by choosing "Working Groups" on the left, choosing "OBIT" and then going to the online forum. They are speedy and great.

==Target Audience for this Document==
Potential and Existing Green-Rainbow Party Members. People interested in a sustainable future for human kind.

==NOTES to Wiki participants==
Terra: I put an inquiry in to OBIT admin to ask how to do "notes", rather than brackets, which appear to be rather cumbersome for a group this large. Please use brackets for now, or for huge notes, I'm creating a new page for each one...so debate there, and keep "the results of the debate" on the main page. If this convention doesn't make sense, please let's talk on email or something, or create a page about making huge notes.
BrianC: How about using the discussion page for dialog on the article? It's built-in; there's one for each article page - the link is in the upper menu bar, beside the 'page' tab.

== DRAFT Green-Rainbow Party Platform==

==1) Preamble ==

Green-Rainbow values rest on understanding the interconnectedness of everything on Earth, respect for life, its creativity, and the capacities of human beings. These [[Green Party Ten Key Values| Ten Key Values]] imply a vision of the common good and offer guidance on the pathway. [Terra: is this a note to "National"? a comment about the national platform? or should it be referenced as the opinion of the state-level platform?] [JH: Green-Rainbow means MA]

The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts, on the 10th anniversary of its founding, endorses the platform of the Green Party of the United States. [Joanna: no qualification?] [Danny: I think we need to discuss this more. For example, does this mean if the GPUS platform gets amended that we automaticallly endorse?]

The Green Party of Massachusetts and the Rainbow Coalition merged in 2002 on the basis of their [[Green Party Ten Key Values|shared values]] and aspirations (footnote on merger statement of 2002?). [Terra: do we want to say something about wanting a "strong [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Commons commons]]"?] [Joanna: Why here?]

While governments are strangled by special interests, we seek ways to bring the wisdom and energy of all residents of the Commonwealth to work toward a sustainable future.

As such, we seek methods to encourage and facilitate inclusiveness and transparency in government, including [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]]. [Joanna: this should be item in main body of platform.]

When economies are staggering from speculation in the financial system controlled by the powerful, we recognize the interdependence of all beings on earth and the role of local self-reliance, cooperation, and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable.

DISCUSSION: [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Issues_with_Favoring_Locally_Based_Economies Issues with Favoring Locally Based Economies]]

Where social relations are blighted by inequality, lack of opportunity and violence, we seek means to enable all to thrive together in peace. [Joanna: Who added 'together in peace'? That carries the idea away from what government can do to help all to thrive, aside from reforming law enforcement, maybe. The intro can't have many specifics or it loses its pace.] [BrianC: following phrase doesn't connect with preceding phrase][Danny: I didn't add it but I think placing of 'peace' is appropriate; it relates to mention of 'violence' 8 words earlier.],shifting to revenues from taxing resource use and accumulated wealth. [[Taxation Based on Accumulated Wealth|taxing accumulated wealth]]. [Joanna: If we think gov't has role in equalizing income and enriching opportunity, there is need for revenues to do it with, but maybe we can leave that unsaid. Alternative sentence: "WHERE SOCIAL RELATIONS ARE BLIGHTED BY INEQUALITY, ALIENATION, AND VIOLENCE [changed back to unfairness?], WE SEEK TO BUILD HEALTHY COMMUNITIES WHERE ALL MAY THRIVE."]

[BrianC: the phrase 'taxing accumulated wealth' isn't specific enough, as I see it. We should shift taxes from wages and sales to polluting resource use, specifically. [Joanna: Specific types of taxation should go in body of text under 'rational taxation'.] [Brian: Let's leave taxation out of this paragraph on peace and equality]. [Joanna: This paragraph was not intended to be about peace and equality, but about what government can do for society to which it answers.] [Danny: I think that 'peace' and taking care of the vulnerable need to be a part of the preamble. 'A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.' The concept of 'self reliance' does not make sense to the most vulnerable: prisoners, many hospital patients, etc.]

DISCUSSION:[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Issues_with_Using_the_words_Fairness_and_Unfairness Issues with Using the Words "Fairness" and "Unfairness"]] [ Joanna: unfairness gone.]

== 2) Proposed Platform text ==
[JH NOTE: CAN ANYONE SEE HOW TO GROUP THESE UNDER GO'VT, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY?]

At a time of severe cutbacks in spending, fiscal reform of State government operations requires [[full-cost accounting]] for all government approved projects to reduce ecologically destructive waste of natural resources and to increase employment. Continuous auditing of expenditures, both physical and monetary, must be instituted in such a manner as to prevent further transfer of wealth from the less to the more affluent.

[[(Elie: Change the above to read simply:)
Fiscal reform of State government operations requires full-cost accounting for all projects requiring government approval to reduce ecologically destructive waste of natural resources and to improve employment. Continuous auditing of expenditures, both physical and monetary, must be instituted in such a manner as to prevent further transfer of wealth from the less to the more affluent.]]

[[(this, using language developed by Brian, to be followed by)
Full Cost Accounting takes externalities into account, and places a limit on that which may be appropriated or owned. Air, drinkable water, and greater area of the earth's crust are the commons of all living things independently of human ownership, and any taking or damaging of this 'natural capital' is required by ecological accounting. The full cost can be measured by the economic activity required in the absence of expropriation by the use of private capital. And taxed accordingly for the common good, except where the activity is declared unlawful.]]

To remedy the harm caused by excessive and continuing growth in disparities of income, we seek legislation needed to achieve these goals; the eradication of poverty, the local assurance of a livelihood, freedom to pursue personal ambitions, and security of domicile. Among the means to these ends are; [[rational taxation]], (JH: will shifts in taxation from income to resources, land, wealth come here?} the institution of a state-owned bank, the establishment and funding of independent ecological research, and the development of a [[sovereign wealth fund]] which only invests sustainably.

[[Elie: responding to comments made by both Joanna and Brian, and recognizing that an exposition of rational or ecological taxation would because of the needed flexibility to avoid undesirable consequences requires a lengthy paper. I have made the following alteration of the above paragraph:)
To remedy the political (social and economic) harm that attends excessive and continuing growth in disparities of income, we seek legislation needed to assist these goals: the eradication of poverty; local assurance of a livelihood; the freedom to pursue personal ambitions; and security of domicile. Among the means to these ends are; ecologically sound taxation; paying the cost for wasteful consumption of replaceable social resources -- especially human labor; conspicuous and competitive accumulation of wealth to prevent circulation; the institution of a state-owned bank; the establishment and funding of independent ecological research; and the development of a sovereign wealth fund to hold and grow the public capital for future generations.]]

Effective democratic deliberation and decision making at the local level -- town, city, ward, neighborhood, and also decisions whose ecological effect is largely regional, may require the formation of citizen assemblies in addition to those already instituted as local governments. Such consultative and decision making bodies should be chosen openly and freely by those most directly involved in their outcomes, protected from the undue pressure of competitive private corporations whose choices. and demands on our communities are driven by the need to maximize their own monetary gains.

Commonwealth law to protect the land held in common [Danny: I would footnote appropriate section of Mass. Constitution here] and also the fundamental necessities of life, water, air, and freedom of movement must allow for the sharing of resources within and between local polities. Encouraging local initiatives and local markets, whether cooperative or private, must replace the use of tax revenues to subsidize large corporate enterprises.

The Commonwealth, through its courts, is charged with the protections of all natural persons residing within the Commonwealth from invidious discrimination. Wherever this is in doubt, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to conduct a thorough investigation, and failure of that office to do so is an actionable offense.

All state institutions and private institutions must avoid policies that increase debt, [JH:whose debt?] especially debt that creates waste by jeopardizing social liberty or inhibiting the ability of persons to make reasonable choices as to employment, and other creative endeavors. Debt forgiveness may be necessary to protect the physical and social environment from the production of this waste. The use of local scrip should be encouraged.

Criminal law requires a careful examination of the use of violence to counter violence, as well as the testing of non-incarceration in the protection of the common good. The current prison system provides a glaring instance of unjust waste of human and physical resources. Imprisonment for non-violent but legally defined offenses remains an invidious practice that can no longer be ignored.

Growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not a requirement of good government. The Commonwealth and its self-governing communities should be left free to innovate, and improve the quality of life of their inhabitants through social interaction rather than increase of wealth. The institution of universally available health care at no cost to the patient remains one of the chief tools to reduce human suffering and reduce ecological waste in human affairs. [JH: ?] Health care accompanied by the required freeing of medical practice from the constraints imposed by insurance corporations, and removing the burden imposed on private employers provides a powerful tool for reducing the waste of non-productive overhead.

A program of educational reform in the public school system should be pursued at the local and regional levels. The only role of State government shall be to see to it that all schools are supplied according to the needs of the children they serve, that critical thinking and conflict resolution is encouraged and not stifled, and that teachers and staff are compsenated as valued proffesionals. This approach will entail increasing the resources to deal with poverty and its consequences for children. The content of compulsory education cannot be fairly determined by job markets. Principles of democratic education are well understood and need [but] to be applied. The Government should not encorage private education nor should it allow public charter schools run by corporate agendas.

To ensure maximal choice in representative government requires State financing of candidacy for public office, majority election, and should also allow for representation of opinion at least as effectively as representation and conciliation of conflicting interest. Preferential balloting for single office in both primary and general elections allows for responsible and democratic choice in a way that the current system denies. Political diversity in the Commonwealth as a whole should be represented in its legislative bodies; and districts of roughly equal population should be drawn on the ground of shared concerns of these populations.

Private corporations in the business of mass transportation, communication, and energy production [JH: and distribution] must be held fully accountable for the maintenance of their infra-structure and the attendant costs, especially the wasteful consumption of non-renewables [energy]. The utilization of the noted social resources [?] by households, government agencies, industry and commerce must be made as efficient and ecologically sound as possible.
[How about government being prepared to take on management of such enterprises where that would benefit common good, e.g. reverse privatization? How about facilitating municipal ownership]

Our politics emphasize social preparedness. No matter how advanced our technological means, we are not in charge of all planetary or local events. Hurricanes, epidemics, droughts, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes are no more selective in choosing their victim than a nuclear attack or accident. While climate change of a kind that raises sea levels may be anticipated, there are periods when geological events may assume catastrophic proportions. Healthy communities will show the greatest levels of caring and the least reliance on agencies of violence.

Obligation to protect the commons, land, air, water, ecosystems, and residents’ proper enjoyment thereof, embodied in Commonwealth law (Article 7 of Constitution), implies generous funding of environmental research and teaching at state universities, professional staff, long range regional planning, outreach programs, and local initiatives, and applying precautionary principle, especially to new technologies, e.g. nanotechnology. ][BrianC: this is a wonderful topic for inclusion in the platform; it has the general principal and some arenas where it applies.]

Why should we in Mass. use revenues to solicit relocation of big enterprises (including multinational) in MA simply as employers, when most new jobs are created by small businesses? What they do and how they do it matters... MA should be good citizen of the world... MA should examine implications of US internat'l trade treaties and tell DC what it thinks, e.g appoint people so that Trade Commission enacted to do this can function... Later...]

[Joanna note: I withdraw the alternative organization I had suggested, hoping that preface can carry the ideas of ecological wisdom, respect for diversity, etc. being relevant to everything, with special attention to government, economy and society. I tried to streamline preface. Right now, links and comments need to be digested to enable flow.]
[BrianC: One of the decisions we did come to was to use the three-part division of the platform when writing. I realize, with curiousity, that we're neglecting that decision.]
[Joanna: I hope the electronic text will imbed references as links (on paper in footnotes?)

Separate Platform project: Hope we can post some our our writing on vision and principles on G-R website. For sure, 2002 merger statement needs to be there to link to.]

==REFERENCE DOCS/LINKS for Participants==

[[Green Party Working Group Reference Docs]]

Green Rainbow Party Platform Working Group

2012-08-26T21:03:50Z

Eyarden:

This page is for developing the Green Party Platform. Before participating in the edit, please contact volunteer@occupyboston.org. It's important for the editing group to have read through the background info and be up to speed on what the group is going. The group that started this intends to work this draft on their own before asking people who haven't been participating in the meetings to have a chance. We anticipate publishing an invitation for others to participate within a couple of weeks.

Meeting participants, please edit at will. If you want a lesson on how to use the wiki, please contact Brian or Terra. or write to volunteer@occupyboston.org to set up a phone tutorial time. Most lessons take about 5 minutes. Also, you can get "real time" help from the Occupy Boston techs, by choosing "Working Groups" on the left, choosing "OBIT" and then going to the online forum. They are speedy and great.

==Target Audience for this Document==
Potential and Existing Green-Rainbow Party Members. People interested in a sustainable future for human kind.

==NOTES to Wiki participants==
Terra: I put an inquiry in to OBIT admin to ask how to do "notes", rather than brackets, which appear to be rather cumbersome for a group this large. Please use brackets for now, or for huge notes, I'm creating a new page for each one...so debate there, and keep "the results of the debate" on the main page. If this convention doesn't make sense, please let's talk on email or something, or create a page about making huge notes.
BrianC: How about using the discussion page for dialog on the article? It's built-in; there's one for each article page - the link is in the upper menu bar, beside the 'page' tab.

== DRAFT Green-Rainbow Party Platform==

==1) Preamble ==

Green-Rainbow values rest on understanding the interconnectedness of everything on Earth, respect for life, its creativity, and the capacities of human beings. These [[Green Party Ten Key Values| Ten Key Values]] imply a vision of the common good and offer guidance on the pathway. [Terra: is this a note to "National"? a comment about the national platform? or should it be referenced as the opinion of the state-level platform?] [JH: Green-Rainbow means MA]

The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts, on the 10th anniversary of its founding, endorses the platform of the Green Party of the United States. [Joanna: no qualification?] [Danny: I think we need to discuss this more. For example, does this mean if the GPUS platform gets amended that we automaticallly endorse?]

The Green Party of Massachusetts and the Rainbow Coalition merged in 2002 on the basis of their [[Green Party Ten Key Values|shared values]] and aspirations (footnote on merger statement of 2002?). [Terra: do we want to say something about wanting a "strong [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Commons commons]]"?] [Joanna: Why here?]

While governments are strangled by special interests, we seek ways to bring the wisdom and energy of all residents of the Commonwealth to work toward a sustainable future.

As such, we seek methods to encourage and facilitate inclusiveness and transparency in government, including [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]]. [Joanna: this should be item in main body of platform.]

When economies are staggering from speculation in the financial system controlled by the powerful, we recognize the interdependence of all beings on earth and the role of local self-reliance, cooperation, and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable.

DISCUSSION: [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Issues_with_Favoring_Locally_Based_Economies Issues with Favoring Locally Based Economies]]

Where social relations are blighted by inequality, lack of opportunity and violence, we seek means to enable all to thrive together in peace. [Joanna: Who added 'together in peace'? That carries the idea away from what government can do to help all to thrive, aside from reforming law enforcement, maybe. The intro can't have many specifics or it loses its pace.] [BrianC: following phrase doesn't connect with preceding phrase][Danny: I didn't add it but I think placing of 'peace' is appropriate; it relates to mention of 'violence' 8 words earlier.],shifting to revenues from taxing resource use and accumulated wealth. [[Taxation Based on Accumulated Wealth|taxing accumulated wealth]]. [Joanna: If we think gov't has role in equalizing income and enriching opportunity, there is need for revenues to do it with, but maybe we can leave that unsaid. Alternative sentence: "WHERE SOCIAL RELATIONS ARE BLIGHTED BY INEQUALITY, ALIENATION, AND VIOLENCE [changed back to unfairness?], WE SEEK TO BUILD HEALTHY COMMUNITIES WHERE ALL MAY THRIVE."]

[BrianC: the phrase 'taxing accumulated wealth' isn't specific enough, as I see it. We should shift taxes from wages and sales to polluting resource use, specifically. [Joanna: Specific types of taxation should go in body of text under 'rational taxation'.] [Brian: Let's leave taxation out of this paragraph on peace and equality]. [Joanna: This paragraph was not intended to be about peace and equality, but about what government can do for society to which it answers.] [Danny: I think that 'peace' and taking care of the vulnerable need to be a part of the preamble. 'A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.' The concept of 'self reliance' does not make sense to the most vulnerable: prisoners, many hospital patients, etc.]

DISCUSSION:[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Issues_with_Using_the_words_Fairness_and_Unfairness Issues with Using the Words "Fairness" and "Unfairness"]] [ Joanna: unfairness gone.]

== 2) Proposed Platform text ==
[JH NOTE: CAN ANYONE SEE HOW TO GROUP THESE UNDER GO'VT, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY?]

At a time of severe cutbacks in spending, fiscal reform of State government operations requires [[full-cost accounting]] for all government approved projects to reduce ecologically destructive waste of natural resources and to increase employment. Continuous auditing of expenditures, both physical and monetary, must be instituted in such a manner as to prevent further transfer of wealth from the less to the more affluent.

[[(Elie: Change the above to read simply:)
Fiscal reform of State government operations requires full-cost accounting for all projects requiring government approval to reduce ecologically destructive waste of natural resources and to improve employment. Continuous auditing of expenditures, both physical and monetary, must be instituted in such a manner as to prevent further transfer of wealth from the less to the more affluent.]]

[[(this, using language developed by Brian, to be followed by)
Full Cost Accounting takes externalities into account, and places a limit on that which may be appropriated or owned. Air, drinkable water, and greater area of the earth's crust are the commons of all living things independently of human ownership, and any taking or damaging of this 'natural capital' is required by ecological accounting. The full cost can be measured by the economic activity required in the absence of expropriation by the use of private capital. And taxed accordingly for the common good, except where the activity is declared unlawful.]]

To remedy the harm caused by excessive and continuing growth in disparities of income, we seek legislation needed to achieve these goals; the eradication of poverty, the local assurance of a livelihood, freedom to pursue personal ambitions, and security of domicile. Among the means to these ends are; [[rational taxation]], (JH: will shifts in taxation from income to resources, land, wealth come here?} the institution of a state-owned bank, the establishment and funding of independent ecological research, and the development of a [[sovereign wealth fund]] which only invests sustainably.

Effective democratic deliberation and decision making at the local level -- town, city, ward, neighborhood, and also decisions whose ecological effect is largely regional, may require the formation of citizen assemblies in addition to those already instituted as local governments. Such consultative and decision making bodies should be chosen openly and freely by those most directly involved in their outcomes, protected from the undue pressure of competitive private corporations whose choices. and demands on our communities are driven by the need to maximize their own monetary gains.

Commonwealth law to protect the land held in common [Danny: I would footnote appropriate section of Mass. Constitution here] and also the fundamental necessities of life, water, air, and freedom of movement must allow for the sharing of resources within and between local polities. Encouraging local initiatives and local markets, whether cooperative or private, must replace the use of tax revenues to subsidize large corporate enterprises.

The Commonwealth, through its courts, is charged with the protections of all natural persons residing within the Commonwealth from invidious discrimination. Wherever this is in doubt, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to conduct a thorough investigation, and failure of that office to do so is an actionable offense.

All state institutions and private institutions must avoid policies that increase debt, [JH:whose debt?] especially debt that creates waste by jeopardizing social liberty or inhibiting the ability of persons to make reasonable choices as to employment, and other creative endeavors. Debt forgiveness may be necessary to protect the physical and social environment from the production of this waste. The use of local scrip should be encouraged.

Criminal law requires a careful examination of the use of violence to counter violence, as well as the testing of non-incarceration in the protection of the common good. The current prison system provides a glaring instance of unjust waste of human and physical resources. Imprisonment for non-violent but legally defined offenses remains an invidious practice that can no longer be ignored.

Growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not a requirement of good government. The Commonwealth and its self-governing communities should be left free to innovate, and improve the quality of life of their inhabitants through social interaction rather than increase of wealth. The institution of universally available health care at no cost to the patient remains one of the chief tools to reduce human suffering and reduce ecological waste in human affairs. [JH: ?] Health care accompanied by the required freeing of medical practice from the constraints imposed by insurance corporations, and removing the burden imposed on private employers provides a powerful tool for reducing the waste of non-productive overhead.

A program of educational reform in the public school system should be pursued at the local and regional levels. The only role of State government shall be to see to it that all schools are supplied according to the needs of the children they serve, that critical thinking and conflict resolution is encouraged and not stifled, and that teachers and staff are compsenated as valued proffesionals. This approach will entail increasing the resources to deal with poverty and its consequences for children. The content of compulsory education cannot be fairly determined by job markets. Principles of democratic education are well understood and need [but] to be applied. The Government should not encorage private education nor should it allow public charter schools run by corporate agendas.

To ensure maximal choice in representative government requires State financing of candidacy for public office, majority election, and should also allow for representation of opinion at least as effectively as representation and conciliation of conflicting interest. Preferential balloting for single office in both primary and general elections allows for responsible and democratic choice in a way that the current system denies. Political diversity in the Commonwealth as a whole should be represented in its legislative bodies; and districts of roughly equal population should be drawn on the ground of shared concerns of these populations.

Private corporations in the business of mass transportation, communication, and energy production [JH: and distribution] must be held fully accountable for the maintenance of their infra-structure and the attendant costs, especially the wasteful consumption of non-renewables [energy]. The utilization of the noted social resources [?] by households, government agencies, industry and commerce must be made as efficient and ecologically sound as possible.
[How about government being prepared to take on management of such enterprises where that would benefit common good, e.g. reverse privatization? How about facilitating municipal ownership]

Our politics emphasize social preparedness. No matter how advanced our technological means, we are not in charge of all planetary or local events. Hurricanes, epidemics, droughts, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes are no more selective in choosing their victim than a nuclear attack or accident. While climate change of a kind that raises sea levels may be anticipated, there are periods when geological events may assume catastrophic proportions. Healthy communities will show the greatest levels of caring and the least reliance on agencies of violence.

Obligation to protect the commons, land, air, water, ecosystems, and residents’ proper enjoyment thereof, embodied in Commonwealth law (Article 7 of Constitution), implies generous funding of environmental research and teaching at state universities, professional staff, long range regional planning, outreach programs, and local initiatives, and applying precautionary principle, especially to new technologies, e.g. nanotechnology. ][BrianC: this is a wonderful topic for inclusion in the platform; it has the general principal and some arenas where it applies.]

Why should we in Mass. use revenues to solicit relocation of big enterprises (including multinational) in MA simply as employers, when most new jobs are created by small businesses? What they do and how they do it matters... MA should be good citizen of the world... MA should examine implications of US internat'l trade treaties and tell DC what it thinks, e.g appoint people so that Trade Commission enacted to do this can function... Later...]

[Joanna note: I withdraw the alternative organization I had suggested, hoping that preface can carry the ideas of ecological wisdom, respect for diversity, etc. being relevant to everything, with special attention to government, economy and society. I tried to streamline preface. Right now, links and comments need to be digested to enable flow.]
[BrianC: One of the decisions we did come to was to use the three-part division of the platform when writing. I realize, with curiousity, that we're neglecting that decision.]
[Joanna: I hope the electronic text will imbed references as links (on paper in footnotes?)

Separate Platform project: Hope we can post some our our writing on vision and principles on G-R website. For sure, 2002 merger statement needs to be there to link to.]

==REFERENCE DOCS/LINKS for Participants==

[[Green Party Working Group Reference Docs]]

Full-cost accounting

2012-08-26T20:47:15Z

Eyarden:

[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Green_Rainbow_Party_Platform_Working_Group Back to main GRP page]]
BrianC: Hi Terra, I think others, when saying 'Full Cost Accounting' mean something different. Below I'm pasting two paragraphs on it.
Terra: I can work on this with detail/references (or anyone else can). But until we get detailed references, here is my take on the need for "full cost accounting", which I view as both "cash flow detail" AND "balance sheet reporting".

Elie: This illustrates the problem of assigning titles to paragraphs. The paragraph applies several principles to a statement. In making the statement thatI wrote invoking more than one principle, the underlying value was Ecological Wisdom which among other things suggests that it is useful for the left hand to know what the right hand is doing and that continuous auditing of expenditures might provide triggers to let anyone who wishes to look know. So in addition to the concern with the role of government in generating excessive disparities of income, the relation between 'subjective' sociality and 'objective' is addressed and thus the opportunity given to any inhabitant of the polity, city, or state to sing, "It ain't necessarily so!"
Thus, continuous auditing is intended cope with what Terra describes as the current situation, and an additional following paragraph explicating full-cost accounting might strengthen the basic Party Platform. Ill try it in double brackets on the main pageReform. [end]

CASH FLOW DETAIL

Full-Cost-Accounting, in the cash-flow sense, IMHO, is to make sure that we (the public) can "drill down" to all and any government expenditure. To the checking account "check-level". In a format that's easily "managable" and "analyzable". Like Excel files.

Many government people (and legislators that go around saying that we should "trust our people" and not push for this) think that full-cost accounoting is already "done" now. Yes, they are right in the sense that we, you and I, can walk up to any Town Hall or state finance clerk and ask to see the records.

BUT what is missing is both online accounting and "real time" accounting, line item accounting, and check level reporting.

So what we get with this current system are these unbelievably convoluted paper copy or PDF reports that are impossible to decifer. Yes, SOME agencies have gone to Excel. But this is far and few between. AND it's only for some budgets, etc.

This lack of transparency/accessibility is to the advantage of many insiders.

The reports are so far past the point in time that you can actually DO anything about the expenditure or potential expenditure that it takes YEARS to dig through the mess, making it extremely easy for sneaky people to put one past the public.

I have a LOT of experience digging through this type of mess. My collaborators and I have long lists of successes uncovering nonsense that the public was outraged about.

So yes, full cost accounting, but in a way that allows the public to be able to monitor on a real time basis what the heck is going on. I don't mean real time, like every second. But yes, when a check is cashed, that should show up on an excel sheet somewhere, where we can analyze. Yes, the public should be able to see "actuals", as the budget-year progresses, so that we can see where money is "not" being spent...which are opportunities to re-examine budget priorities.

Ideally, and someday, I'd like actual "dashboards", which are super easy to create and modify, to allow online/real analysis by "regular people". Right now, I have to download unbelievably stupid messy Excel sheets IF I CAN GET THEM...or hand load paper copy or PDF info into Excel to be able to analyze stuff. Yes, I end up getting the info that I want. But it's a HUGE struggle and I have to torture people to get what I view as basic budget detail. I have a Masters in Finance, and years of public financial analysis experience. And I have tenacity and the "dangerous" lack of fear when it comes to getting the data. Those skills should NOT be required to get basic info. ANYONE...everyone should have access to the info. I post that kind of info onto my lists, when I do the analysis, but it really should come from the source...our government, our employees...

There is NO EXCUSE. It's cheaper to do it right. I could go on and on about this. the point is that we need this NOW.

BALANCE SHEET REPORTING

A basic financial tool for managing organizations is "the balance sheet". The balance sheet shows "assets" and "liabilities". As one looks over time, and at public policy shifts, the way that assets and liabilities are calculated changes. EACH DECISION that your legislator votes on shifts the balance sheet. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW both before and after, how these shifts will and did work.

Assets include everything that the organization considers "financial positives". For example, cash in the bank. Investments. And in the public realm, assets like "the commons"...land, paintings, etc.

Liabilities are "financial obligations". These include everything from future obligations for "existing debt", as well as things unique to the government realm. For example, future obligations for water infrastructure. Every time someone proposes a housing project, the future obligation for new populations increase...roads, water, etc. These future obligations are NEVER included in planning docs, except as "imagined increases". So the "imagined increases" are assumed as a "natural progression of growth", rather than as an "option" in our policy making. In this way, growth will NEVER be reconciled. We are just digging ourselves deeper and deeper into a debt and eco-disaster hole. [side note, we could develop a new balance sheet method, something akin to an eco-balance sheet, with measurements toward a healthy eco system, to show how votes either contribute to assets (healthy eco system) or detriment (toxins set loose in environment)]

Yes, we need to be "efficient" in how we calculate these "balance sheet" numbers, because we don't want to weigh down our government to "over report". But I believe this can be done efficiently, with most of it done automatically. Companies do it every day. The Government Financial Officer's Association has experts that know how to do these things. And I can help. The expertise exists to do this right. Voters need to know how the votes impact the dollars. We can't reconcile policy with finances, and thus our environmental/eco-systems, if we don't understand how the shifts are made relative to the voting. Currently, what happens is that we don't see the shifts years after the vote. This is sloppy policy making.

Further, where we DO get balance sheet impacts before the vote, they are NOT reconciled in a holistic fashion. So for example, where a developer proposes a shopping mall. The traffic engineer, paid for by the town planner who wants development (another story), says "no impact" to the traffic situation. BUT that is "FOR THE PROJECT", not including all projects currently on the table or allowed by zoning. Slopping planning. Allowed, encouraged by property/profit-oriented society.

Full Cost Accounting:
The dependence of human activity on the total environment places a limit on that which may be appropriated or owned. Air, drinkable water, and greater area of the earth's crust are the commons of all living things independently of human ownership, and any taking or damaging of this 'natural capital' is required by ecological accounting.
Treated as 'externalities' in current economic practice, and as the source of all wealth by classical economics, the full cost can be measured by the economic activity required in the absence of expropriation by the use of private capital. And taxed accordingly for the common good, except where the activity is declared unlawful.

Alternate: Full Cost Accounting takes externalities into account. Externalities are costs like the damage from pollution that can be avoided by some producers, but should be included in prices so that buyers face the economic cost of their actions as they decide to buy. For example, most automobile exhaust worsens asthma. If the price of treating that asthma were incorporated in the price of fuel at the pump, then a step toward full cost accounting would be completed.
Full Cost Accounting strives to include environmental, social and economic costs and benefits into our governmental and individual decisions.

Issues with Using the words Fairness and Unfairness

2012-08-26T16:10:17Z

Eyarden:

[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Green_Rainbow_Party_Platform_Working_Group Back to main GRP page]]

Ideas on how to rethink "fairness":

Potential new phrases as replacement for the word "fairness":

- A strong COMMONS
- Too much control by too few people

Terra:I think we should rethink using the word fairness, so as to think of the concept of A STRONG "commons" instead, and/or shift society away from "too much to private control of too few people". I don't want to scare people who are afraid of sustainability...because they seem, in my research, to fear people taking their money, property, whatever, in the name of "fairness". Their concept of fair is that if they "work harder" (in their definition), then they own more stuff. Perhaps use teh word facilitating? encouraging fairness in all of its forms? Critics are all over the concept of "periodic wealth redistribution". I think that we should embrace that, and make references to age old texts, like the Old Testament, which encourage humans to redistribute wealth every 50 years. I think I could get the Southern Baptists to go along with that. I have connections to national level disaster relief managers in Christian networks who seem attune to the need for redistribution. It's just a matter of "how" to do it...] [TF: this is to steer away from criticism that redistribution is about "oh, they just wnat to take your money away and give it to people who don't do any work".]

Joanna: Yes to a better word. But Green-Rainboe Party has been using the word "fairness" in the opposite sense. The Better Budget group spoke of an unfair MA budget because of who it benefitted.

BrianC: Have you all heard of the concept that if one arranges agreements so that either outcome position is equally worth accepting, then an agreement is fair? I've heard that even pre-verbal infants and non-human primates have strong allegiances to concepts of fairness, in that they/we will strongly object to divisions of goods they perceive as unfair, and will give up a lot to be fair with others when making choices. This allegiance to fairness is an opportunity for us in (re-)building society. Should we not throw it away until we've something better to negotiate agreement with? I support using fairness in our outreach; fairness is fundamental to us social beings - it's the basis of how we work together.
To those who fear working with others because others may talk of fairness, one might ask, how else would we agree to work together? What other concept but fairness should, could guide our coming to agreement on how to work together?
We need not only to embrace fairness, but define it, and explain to those who fear it that, for better or worse, there is no better way to forge a social union than to base it on fairness. Isn't fairness the root of civility and siblinghood?

Danny: I agree with 100% with Brian.

Elie: The meaning of 'fair' as with many words that have no objective reference will depend on context. But properly understood I can find no reason to eliminate it from our discourse. It is easier to explain with the less loaded word, 'interesting.' The locution, "X is interesting" is grammatically correct, predicating something about X. But from a logical point of view the sentence is meaningless in that it tell the reader nothing about X. If I tell someone that a movie I saw is 'interesting,' and she has not seen it, she knows nothing more than before I said it. Saying that something is 'interesting' is not similar to saying that something is 'soft.' If the person to whom I am speaking has seen the movie, she might learn something about what I find interesting and in time on further acquaintance would learn something about my attitudes and thus about what interests me.

But using the word 'fair,' is somewhat different. It is used frequently in such a way as to beg the question, rather than to inform. But it is also used in the sense of 'proportionate,' 'reasonable,' 'just,' 'correct' and even 'pleasurable' as an easily understandable predicate. And it is precisely in these ways that Brian is using it.

The fact that it is less a theoretical term than 'justice' need not cause us to abandon it. It can be used carelessly, as a counter in a conflict or a the expression of an attitude. So in the case pointed to by Joanna; the MA budget, unfair because of who benefitted by it, we have to exercise care. Unfairness becomes a complaint and is to easily used to strengthen the authority of the State to determine what is fair. If the State as an institution -- through the actions of its legislature and its bureaucracy is made the arbiter of what is fair -- then we get situations in which public school teachers can complain that the Budget is unfair because it allocated more money to social workers than to teachers. It is this usage to which Terra might be objecting.
I am not sure.

But the idea of redistribution to maintain a balance might be taken as an instance of a sense of fairness. The acceptability of the notion of redistribution is but one cultural recognition of the notion that excess is socially damaging. After all the capitalist mode of production is ethically predicated on the notion that accumulations of wealth properly invested are beneficial to everyone, increasing the wealth of the worker who is enabled to produce more goods, not only the possessor of a greater wealth. It will be important in our Electoral Platforms to consider cultural factors at all times. Here the chief use of the principle of redistribution is limited to reversing the current transfer of wealth from the less to the more affluent by the State by: the institution of a state bank, ecologically sound taxation, budgeting, and strengthening the commons.