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This page is superceded by:
http://grp.kingpine.info/mediawiki/index.php/Fundamental_Platform
---------------------------------------------------
ALL INFO BELOW IS HISTORICAL.  The real time work being done on this project is at the new link above.
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.
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.


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==1) Preamble ==
==1) Preamble ==


The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts recognizes the interdependence of all beings on earth and the role of local self-reliance, cooperation, and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable.


The Ten Key Values of the Green Party rest on understanding the interconnectedness of everything on Earth, respect for life, its creativity, and the capacities of human beings. The Green Rainbow Party, formed in 2002 by merger* of the Green Party of Massachusetts and the Rainbow Coalition on the basis of shared values and aspirations, is the Massachusetts affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.


We recognize that the [[precedence]] of citizens, in duty to their national and local interests, have risen up to challenge what they consider an unjust government... and form legitimate and just governments.
Ecological wisdom recognizes that living systems thrive with diversity and complexity, as does human society, which evolves with conscious attention. The Green-Rainbow vision rejects the mythology of imperialist economic globalization. A healthy economy is not the product of  a separate business sector seeking short term profit. A sustainable economy results when people meet their needs wisely and equitably.  Conservation of resources enables healthy economies.
To counter exploitation and waste of Earth and human resources, driven by the dominant economic system, the expanding human population, and dilution of reason by mass propaganda, the Green-Rainbow Party proposes to institute measures which will give the people power over our future. This is achievable only when some humans stop treating others as prey and we recognize that we all are in it together.




We seeks vital societal structure to ensure fairness and to nourish feminism and diversity.  The Green-Rainbow party believes that this structure is impossible when:


== 2) Proposed Platform text ==


* illegitimate imperialist and colonist governments subjugate human, ecological, and democratic rights to the "rights of commerce";
I. Healthy Communities
 
* governments are strangled by special interests;
 
* economies suffer from excessive speculative risk and centralization of power;
 
* financial systems and democracies are controlled by the monied elite;
 
* social relations are blighted by inequality, lack of opportunity and violence;
 
 
As such, we seek ways to...
 
* reach out to the legitimate threads within all governments and weave from them a fabric of civility and peace


* bring the wisdom and energy of all living beings and their cultures together to help us evolve our systems to be socially, fiscally, and environmentally sustainable.
Healthy communities, enriched by diversity, are places where people grow up and find meaning in their lives, where, empowered by equality and opportunity for all, each may thrive.  Growing income inequality and excessive transfer of wealth to the already wealthy undermine our society and the shared understandings on which it is based.  We propose measures to restore vitality to Massachusetts communities, to be funded by savings from superseded programs and shifts in sources of revenue. To these ends we propose to:


* enable all to thrive together in peace.
*   institute universal minimum income for all Massachusetts residents, to enable effective social participation,
*  prioritize measures to meet basic needs: facilitating local food production and sale of healthy food in all communities, assuring adequate and affordable housing, enacting universal health care for all.
*  provide for well-funded outreach and enrichment services to strengthen communities, such as early childhood education, day care, street programs, after-school programs, adult education, attending to particular needs, and support for the arts.
*  reform public education to assure that all schools are funded equitably, run  democratically, staffed with individuals who nurture students to develop autonomy, competence, cooperation,  critical thinking, caring, and an appreciation for diversity.
*  stop running schools by corporate agendas and measuring success by standardized tests. Instead, schools should be integrated into their communities for wider experiential learning.
* replace teaching schoolchildren to be blindly patriotic and glorifying war, militarism, hyper-competitiveness, and greed with the teaching of humility and non-violent conflict resolution.  End schools’ participation in military recruitment.
*  provide public higher education, without incurring indebtedness.
*  reform the criminal justice system so that misfortunes and addictions are addressed rather than punished, giving priority to prevention and rehabilitation, not incarceration.  


* shift from taxing income and sales to taxing resource use and [[Taxation Based on Accumulated Wealth|taxing accumulated wealth]]. [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Talk:Green_Rainbow_Party_Platform_Working_Group#Preamble.2C_Taxation.2C_Accumlated_Wealth See discussion]]
We must ensure that these provisions apply to all people residing within the Commonwealth, without discrimination on the basis of sex, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, language, immigration status, criminal record, religion, belief system or political orientation.


* establish a strong "commons" to protect public assets from being used for excess profit. [[Green Party Discussion About Commons]]


In summary, Green-Rainbow values rest on understanding the interconnectedness of everything on Earth, respect for life, its creativity, and the capacities of human beings. Our [[Green Party Ten Key Values| Ten Key Values]] imply a vision of the common good and offer guidance on the pathway. Formed in 2002 by the merger of Massachusetts Green Party and the Rainbow Coalition on the basis of their [Green Party Ten Key Values|shared values]] and aspirations, (footnote on merger statement of 2002?)The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts supports the values espoused by the Green Party of The United States and Green parties worldwide. (dated xyz_).[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Talk:Green_Rainbow_Party_Platform_Working_Group#Preamble.2C_Endorsing_National See discussion]]
II. Ecologically Sound Economies 


  [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Talk:Green_Rainbow_Party_Platform_Working_Group#Preamble.2C_Mentioning_Commons_in_Preamble See discussion]]
Ecologically sound economies are systems devised to meet human needs with cooperation, caring, and foresight in a mix of enterprises based on local and regional potential, in touch with other regions, thinking globally and acting locally. In seeking competitive advantage in the arena of global capitalism by favoring a limited set of businesses as employers, Massachusetts fails large sections of its population. We propose to develop an ecologically sound economy.


== 2) Proposed Platform text ==
The Commonwealth is obliged to protect the commons, the fundamental necessities of life, land, water, air, ecosystems and the enjoyment thereof.  Fulfilling this obligation requires generous funding of environmental research at state universities, education, outreach, regional planning, vigorous programs for ecosystem maintenance, and application of precautionary principle, especially to new technologies. We reject the belief that other life forms exist only for our use and enjoyment.


Few conditions inhibit the liberty and opportunity of individuals and cause more suffering to people than the blight of [[poverty]] and the excessive and continuing growth in disparities of income. We seek legislation needed to achieve 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]] which includes the taxing of wealth, land value tax (see GPUS platform, Fair Taxation 14), and tax on pollution and non-renewable resources; the institution of a state-owned bank; [the establishment and funding of independent ecological research. JH: this item repeated later;] the development of a [[sovereign wealth fund]] which only invests sustainably and; providing each and every individual in the commonwealth guaranteed income to meet basic needs.
Given its responsibility for protecting natural resources, the Commonwealth should work towards a steady state economy, rejecting the ideology of wasteful growth, encouraging enterprises based on ecological principles, meeting human needs in a sustainable manner, with emphasis on cooperative processes and local decision-making. Reducing use of energy from fossil fuels and developing alternative energy sources needs the highest priority. Rather than relying solely on private enterprise to offer employment opportunities, the Commonwealth should maintain programs entrusted with nurturing conversion to a sustainable economy by a mix of enterprises—private, public and cooperative--rooted in and responsive to their communities. The Commonwealth should offer employment in projects beneficial to communities and ecosystems, providing training, experience, and wages.


Wage labor in the Commonwealth must be compensated with livings wages adequate for a worker and dependents, while allowing for apprenticeships and entry level jobs to introduce young people to employment.  Rights of workers to organize and union contracts must be protected. Introduction of a universal minimum income will likely reduce the distinction between remunerative labor and socially desirable work, and facilitate introduction of a 30 hour work week, allowing residents more time to spend with family and community and to make choices which best correspond to their aspirations.


In order to meet people's basic needs [JH: is this p  hrase needed?] and reduce [JH: drop tis adjective: ecologically] destructive waste of natural resources, our State government must require  [[full-cost accounting]] for all government projects. This 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. Full Cost Accounting takes the potential harmful effects of policies into account, and places a limit on that which may be appropriated or owned. Air, drinkable water, and the 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.
To eliminate the transfer of wealth from the taxpayer to privately owned banking corporations, the legislature must create a publicly owned state bank. The resulting savings can serve as the basis for a sovereign wealth fund--a source for community and ecosystem maintenance investments.  A state-owned bank can also support local private banking; the economy of the Commonwealth benefits by investing funds locally.  Local economies benefit from local currencies.  


The Commonwealth must assume an appropriate level of responsibility for enterprises which serve the general public, such as communications, utilities, transportation networks, in all cases where the long range public interest is served thereby.  Public ownership, state or municipal, should be enabled, when indicated by the public interest.


Effective democratic deliberation and decision making at the local level -- town, city, ward, neighborhood, and also decisions whose ecological effect is largely regional, requires the formation of citizen assemblies in addition to those already instituted as local governments. for example,
The Commonwealth charters corporations and allows them to do business here; it should regularly review corporate charters and exercise its powers to assure that they act in the public interest—in Massachusetts and world-wide.  
[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]]. 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.


[Joanna try at above paragraph: Effective democratic deliberation and decision making should be conducted at a level as close to the people as appropriate (subsidiarity), ranging from neighborhood to town to region to world. Citizen assemblies, chosen openly and freely by those most directly involved in their outcomes, should exercise appropriate powers, in coordination with representative assemblies instituted as governments. Example: participatory budgeting.]
International treaties, negotiated by the federal government, such as the WTO, NAFTA and prospective TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership), can affect the economy of Massachusetts adversely.  An International Trade Commission to study such effects was enacted, but no commissioners have been appointed. When appointed, the commission must advise the state and federal governments about the harmful effects of such trade treaties, which override labor and environmental protection.


Our obligation to protect the commons as embodied in Article VII of the Massachusetts Constitution (footnote or link to Article VII here) obliges us to protect the fundamental necessities of life, land, water, air, ecosystems and the enjoyment thereof and must allow for the sharing of resources within and between local polities.  [JH: The previous sentence might be formulated differently. The following sentence might go elsewhere. A participatory Government encouraging local initiatives, and local markets, and cooperatives, must replace the subsidization of large corporate enterprises.] This obligation to preserve our common resourses implies generous funding of environmental research and teaching at state universities, professional staff, long range regional planning, outreach programs, and applying precautionary principle, especially to new technologies.


III. Democratic Governance


We reject the belief that our species is the center of the world, and that other life forms exist only for our use and enjoyment. Our species does not have the right to exploit and inflict violence on other animals simply because we have the desire and power to do so. Our ethic upholds not only the value of biological diversity and the integrity and continuity of species, but also the value of individual lives and the interest of individual animals.
Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men: Therefore the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity and happiness require it.


The Commonwealth must protect the civil liberties of all residents, whatever their legal status.  People require easy access to information, the opportunity to assemble in public spaces, and to exchange  opinions.  Voting rights should be broadly extended and must respect integrity of voter choice, as best assured by traceable ballots, and the careful auditing of election results.
   
   
The Commonwealth, through its courts, is charged with the protections of all natural persons residing within the Commonwealth from invidious discrimination, whether it be on the basis of sex, color, national origin, illness or disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age,  language, immigrant status, criminal record, religion, belief system or political orientation. 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.
Representative government requires that candidates for elected office have reasonable access to the ballot. The greatest assurance of honest representation demands voter rights for residents, state financing of candidacy for public office, election by majority, and preferential/ranked choice for all candidates in primary and general elections. In a bicameral legislature, it should be possible to represent both the interests of local communities and also the broad range of opinions on conduct of state-wide affairs. 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.
 
 
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 and is cruel and inhumane.  Imprisonment for non-violent but legally defined offenses remains an invidious practice that can no longer be ignored.  
Transparency in government operations relies on open hearings, legislative procedures which can be followed by the public, official reporting of legislative actions, and easy access to records. Continuous auditing of government expenditures can enable critical scrutiny, reducing waste and providing evidence for improvement. Instituting Full Cost Accounting, where applicable, will assist decision-making by indicating long term effects on the environment and population.  Continuous tracking of policies, assessment and revision where indicated, are essential.


Holding to the principle of subsidiarity, democratic deliberation and decision making must be carried out  as close to the people concerned as possible, and conducted in a manner to assure that all perspectives are heard.  Citizen assemblies, chosen openly and freely by those most directly involved in outcomes, should exercise appropriate powers, in coordination with representative assemblies instituted as governments.  Participatory budgeting and economic development councils should be open to all affected sectors of society.


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.
The Commonwealth maintains a militia, the national guard, which could best serve by being prepared to respond to emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and epidemics.  Given that government has not the capacity to deal adequately with severe emergencies, resources should also be directed to training citizen volunteers in every community to help with emergency response.  


                          ~ END ~


[[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 expenditure. 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 professionals. 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.
Links we need:


[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]].


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.
[[Full Cost Accounting]]


[[poverty]]


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]. Corporations that produce harm to people such as polluters and military contracters shall have their charters revoked.
[[rational taxation]]  
The utilization of the noted social resources [fossil fuel?] by households, government agencies, industry and commerce must be made as efficient and ecologically sound as possible.


[[sovereign wealth fund]]


[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]


[[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]].


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.


[Danny: Some other topics that deserve mention of at least a sentence each: 1)Respect for diversity both in our society and within the party. 2)Feminism, in our society and in political representation. [[Feminism]] 3)Support of workers rights and unions 4)A plan to to encourage use of renewable resources 5)The closing of nuclear power plants and biolabs in Massachusetts. 6)Ceasing the production of weapons in Massachusetts. 7)Bringing the National Guard home from deployment abroad. 8)Rights of immigrants, specifically Massachusetts law enforcement should refuse to cooperate in the enforcement of federal racist anti-immigration law, including arrests and raids.]


Why should we in Mass. use revenues to solicit relocation of 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  on MA and tell DC what it thinks, e.g appoint members so that Int'l  Trade Commission enacted to do this (Chapter 23A, Section 13S) can function.
JH: Can we use this summary of ecological design?
 
 
[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?)
 
 
JH: Can we use this summary of ecologica design?
waste equals food,  
waste equals food,  
use only available solar income,  
use only available solar income,  
Line 115: Line 108:
love all the children?
love all the children?


 
As such, we seek methods to encourage and facilitate inclusiveness and transparency in government, including [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]].  
As such, we seek methods to encourage and facilitate inclusiveness and transparency in government, including [[http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Participatory_Budgeting Participatory Budgeting]]. [T: this is Terra's comment moved from the Preamble, as suggested by JH] [JH put this in body of text as example of citizen's assembly.]
 


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

Latest revision as of 13:05, 21 September 2012

This page is superceded by: http://grp.kingpine.info/mediawiki/index.php/Fundamental_Platform

ALL INFO BELOW IS HISTORICAL. The real time work being done on this project is at the new link above.

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

Notes and discussion are on the discussion tab above. If you want a discussion on a topic, please install a new discussion topic on the discussion tab and install a link on this page to the topic. You can get the link by choosing "edit" for that topic and then "save" and then the link will be in your browser window.

DRAFT Green-Rainbow Party Platform

1) Preamble

The Ten Key Values of the Green Party rest on understanding the interconnectedness of everything on Earth, respect for life, its creativity, and the capacities of human beings. The Green Rainbow Party, formed in 2002 by merger* of the Green Party of Massachusetts and the Rainbow Coalition on the basis of shared values and aspirations, is the Massachusetts affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.

Ecological wisdom recognizes that living systems thrive with diversity and complexity, as does human society, which evolves with conscious attention. The Green-Rainbow vision rejects the mythology of imperialist economic globalization. A healthy economy is not the product of a separate business sector seeking short term profit. A sustainable economy results when people meet their needs wisely and equitably. Conservation of resources enables healthy economies.

To counter exploitation and waste of Earth and human resources, driven by the dominant economic system, the expanding human population, and dilution of reason by mass propaganda, the Green-Rainbow Party proposes to institute measures which will give the people power over our future. This is achievable only when some humans stop treating others as prey and we recognize that we all are in it together.


2) Proposed Platform text

I. Healthy Communities

Healthy communities, enriched by diversity, are places where people grow up and find meaning in their lives, where, empowered by equality and opportunity for all, each may thrive. Growing income inequality and excessive transfer of wealth to the already wealthy undermine our society and the shared understandings on which it is based. We propose measures to restore vitality to Massachusetts communities, to be funded by savings from superseded programs and shifts in sources of revenue. To these ends we propose to:

  • institute universal minimum income for all Massachusetts residents, to enable effective social participation,
  • prioritize measures to meet basic needs: facilitating local food production and sale of healthy food in all communities, assuring adequate and affordable housing, enacting universal health care for all.
  • provide for well-funded outreach and enrichment services to strengthen communities, such as early childhood education, day care, street programs, after-school programs, adult education, attending to particular needs, and support for the arts.
  • reform public education to assure that all schools are funded equitably, run democratically, staffed with individuals who nurture students to develop autonomy, competence, cooperation, critical thinking, caring, and an appreciation for diversity.
  • stop running schools by corporate agendas and measuring success by standardized tests. Instead, schools should be integrated into their communities for wider experiential learning.
  • replace teaching schoolchildren to be blindly patriotic and glorifying war, militarism, hyper-competitiveness, and greed with the teaching of humility and non-violent conflict resolution. End schools’ participation in military recruitment.
  • provide public higher education, without incurring indebtedness.
  • reform the criminal justice system so that misfortunes and addictions are addressed rather than punished, giving priority to prevention and rehabilitation, not incarceration.

We must ensure that these provisions apply to all people residing within the Commonwealth, without discrimination on the basis of sex, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, language, immigration status, criminal record, religion, belief system or political orientation.


II. Ecologically Sound Economies

Ecologically sound economies are systems devised to meet human needs with cooperation, caring, and foresight in a mix of enterprises based on local and regional potential, in touch with other regions, thinking globally and acting locally. In seeking competitive advantage in the arena of global capitalism by favoring a limited set of businesses as employers, Massachusetts fails large sections of its population. We propose to develop an ecologically sound economy.

The Commonwealth is obliged to protect the commons, the fundamental necessities of life, land, water, air, ecosystems and the enjoyment thereof. Fulfilling this obligation requires generous funding of environmental research at state universities, education, outreach, regional planning, vigorous programs for ecosystem maintenance, and application of precautionary principle, especially to new technologies. We reject the belief that other life forms exist only for our use and enjoyment.

Given its responsibility for protecting natural resources, the Commonwealth should work towards a steady state economy, rejecting the ideology of wasteful growth, encouraging enterprises based on ecological principles, meeting human needs in a sustainable manner, with emphasis on cooperative processes and local decision-making. Reducing use of energy from fossil fuels and developing alternative energy sources needs the highest priority. Rather than relying solely on private enterprise to offer employment opportunities, the Commonwealth should maintain programs entrusted with nurturing conversion to a sustainable economy by a mix of enterprises—private, public and cooperative--rooted in and responsive to their communities. The Commonwealth should offer employment in projects beneficial to communities and ecosystems, providing training, experience, and wages.

Wage labor in the Commonwealth must be compensated with livings wages adequate for a worker and dependents, while allowing for apprenticeships and entry level jobs to introduce young people to employment. Rights of workers to organize and union contracts must be protected. Introduction of a universal minimum income will likely reduce the distinction between remunerative labor and socially desirable work, and facilitate introduction of a 30 hour work week, allowing residents more time to spend with family and community and to make choices which best correspond to their aspirations.

To eliminate the transfer of wealth from the taxpayer to privately owned banking corporations, the legislature must create a publicly owned state bank. The resulting savings can serve as the basis for a sovereign wealth fund--a source for community and ecosystem maintenance investments. A state-owned bank can also support local private banking; the economy of the Commonwealth benefits by investing funds locally. Local economies benefit from local currencies.

The Commonwealth must assume an appropriate level of responsibility for enterprises which serve the general public, such as communications, utilities, transportation networks, in all cases where the long range public interest is served thereby. Public ownership, state or municipal, should be enabled, when indicated by the public interest.

The Commonwealth charters corporations and allows them to do business here; it should regularly review corporate charters and exercise its powers to assure that they act in the public interest—in Massachusetts and world-wide.

International treaties, negotiated by the federal government, such as the WTO, NAFTA and prospective TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership), can affect the economy of Massachusetts adversely. An International Trade Commission to study such effects was enacted, but no commissioners have been appointed. When appointed, the commission must advise the state and federal governments about the harmful effects of such trade treaties, which override labor and environmental protection.


III. Democratic Governance

Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men: Therefore the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity and happiness require it.

The Commonwealth must protect the civil liberties of all residents, whatever their legal status. People require easy access to information, the opportunity to assemble in public spaces, and to exchange opinions. Voting rights should be broadly extended and must respect integrity of voter choice, as best assured by traceable ballots, and the careful auditing of election results.

Representative government requires that candidates for elected office have reasonable access to the ballot. The greatest assurance of honest representation demands voter rights for residents, state financing of candidacy for public office, election by majority, and preferential/ranked choice for all candidates in primary and general elections. In a bicameral legislature, it should be possible to represent both the interests of local communities and also the broad range of opinions on conduct of state-wide affairs. 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.

Transparency in government operations relies on open hearings, legislative procedures which can be followed by the public, official reporting of legislative actions, and easy access to records. Continuous auditing of government expenditures can enable critical scrutiny, reducing waste and providing evidence for improvement. Instituting Full Cost Accounting, where applicable, will assist decision-making by indicating long term effects on the environment and population. Continuous tracking of policies, assessment and revision where indicated, are essential.

Holding to the principle of subsidiarity, democratic deliberation and decision making must be carried out as close to the people concerned as possible, and conducted in a manner to assure that all perspectives are heard. Citizen assemblies, chosen openly and freely by those most directly involved in outcomes, should exercise appropriate powers, in coordination with representative assemblies instituted as governments. Participatory budgeting and economic development councils should be open to all affected sectors of society.

The Commonwealth maintains a militia, the national guard, which could best serve by being prepared to respond to emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and epidemics. Given that government has not the capacity to deal adequately with severe emergencies, resources should also be directed to training citizen volunteers in every community to help with emergency response. 

                          ~ END ~



                   ********************

Links we need:

[Participatory Budgeting].

Full Cost Accounting

poverty

rational taxation

sovereign wealth fund 


[Participatory Budgeting].


[Danny: Some other topics that deserve mention of at least a sentence each: 1)Respect for diversity both in our society and within the party. 2)Feminism, in our society and in political representation. Feminism 3)Support of workers rights and unions 4)A plan to to encourage use of renewable resources 5)The closing of nuclear power plants and biolabs in Massachusetts. 6)Ceasing the production of weapons in Massachusetts. 7)Bringing the National Guard home from deployment abroad. 8)Rights of immigrants, specifically Massachusetts law enforcement should refuse to cooperate in the enforcement of federal racist anti-immigration law, including arrests and raids.]

JH: Can we use this summary of ecological design? waste equals food, use only available solar income, respect diversity, love all the children?

As such, we seek methods to encourage and facilitate inclusiveness and transparency in government, including [Participatory Budgeting].

Separate Platform project: Hope we can post some our our writing on vision, e.g. Brian on economy, 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

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