Green Rainbow Party Platform Working Group

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.

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 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 the government alone 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.

I. Healthy Society/Communities

We see Society as the place where people grow up and find the meaning of their lives, enriched by diversity, empowered by opportunity for all--a setting where each may thrive. Growing income inequality and transfer of wealth to the privileged, while blame is placed on the disadvantaged, are undermining our society. We propose measures to restore vitality to Massachusetts communities. These measures can be funded by savings from programs such as prisons, and by taxes on resource use, pollution, land value, and/or wealth accumulation.

1. Institute universal minimum income for all Massachusetts residents to meet basic needs (food, water, housing, utilities, health care and education), so that all may participate effectively in society. This program could be administered by the Department of Revenue and funded by a more progressive state income tax, supplemented by other designated taxes. After universal minimum income is phased in, remaining safety net services should operate on a more flexible emergency response basis.

2. Prioritize measures which provide ways to meet basic needs:

a) facilitate local food production and retail sales of healthy food in all communities.

b) assure adequate affordable housing, using regulations, rent control and eminent domain where indicated.

c) enact state managed single payer health care system.

3. Provide well-funded outreach and enrichment services to strengthen communities, such as early childhood education, day care, street programs, after-school programs, cultural programs, adult education. Some of these programs could benefit from liaison with ecological education and employment in II. 1) and 2) and emergency response programs in III. 5).

4. Reform public education to assure that all schools are democratically run, equally funded and staffed with qualified individuals who nurture students to the best of their ability to develop autonomy, competence, cooperation, critical thinking and caring. Public higher education should be available for all, without incurring indebtedness. The teaching of schoolchildren to be blindly patriotic and to glorify war, militarism, hyper-competitiveness and greed should be replaced with the teaching of humility, non-violent conflict resolution, acceptance of all types of peoples, and the ending of schools participation in military recruitment. The Government should not encourage private education nor should it allow public charter schools run by corporate agendas. The practice of standardized tests being a primary source of evaluation and a graduation requirement should end. Instead, schools should be intergrated into a community that supplies students with experiential learning.

5. Reform criminal justice system so that misfortunes and addictions are addressed rather than punished, so that priority is placed on prevention and rehabilitation, so that violence is not met with violence.

6. Assure that the above protections are extended to all natural persons residing within the Commonwealth, who are also to be protected from discrimination on the basis of sex, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, language, immigration status, criminal record, religion, belief system, criminal record or political orientation.

II. Ecological/Sustainable Economy [details in this section from wiki below & googledoc]

We see Economy as the way people use the gifts of nature to meet their human needs with cooperation, caring, and foresight in a mix of enterprises based on local and regional potential, in touch with distant regions, thinking globally and acting locally. The current strategy of seeking competitive advantage in the arena of global capitalism by favoring a limited set of businesses as employers is not achieving this. We propose reconsideration of how to develop sustainable economies. Measures taken can be funded by savings from superceded programs such as corporate tax breaks and shifts in fiscal management to public banks and sovereign wealth fund.

1. The Commonwealth is entrusted with protecting the commons [link to Article VII of the Massachusetts Constitution], 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. This obligation implies generous funding of environmental research at state universities, education, outreach programs, vigorous projects for ecosystem maintenance, regional planning for ecologically sound settlement patterns, and application of the precautionary principle, especially to new technologies.

We reject the belief 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. We uphold 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. For example, the existing practice of conducting medical experiments on primates should be banned. Methods of treatment of farm animals need close attention to determine acceptability.

2. Given its responsibility for protecting natural resources, the Commonwealth should work towards a steady state economy, rejecting the necessity 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 agencies entrusted with nurturing conversion to a sustainable economy via a mix of enterprises—private, public and cooperative--rooted in and responsive to their communities. The Commonwealth should institute ongoing programs which provide temporary employment in projects beneficial to communities and ecosystems, providing training, experience, and wages.

3. Wage labor in the Commonwealth must be compensated with wages adequate for living expenses 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.

4. The Commonwealth should create one or more public banking entities, saving expense on interest while managing revenues, disbursements, and pension funds. The latter can serve as the basis for a sovereign wealth fund--a source for community and ecosytem maintenance investments. A state-owned bank can also support local private banking. Local economies benefit from local currencies. State economies benefit by investing state funds locally.

5. The Commonwealth should take an appropriate level of responsibility for enterprises which serve the public, such as communications, utilities, transportation networks, in all cases where the long range public interest is served thereby. If federal law is a limitation, it should be challenged, for example, by local ordinance. Public ownership, state or municipal should be enabled, when indicated by public interest, e.g. municipally owned utilities.

6. 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—here and world-wide. For example, the Commonwealth should not allow production of weapons of mass destruction.

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

III. Participatory Democracy

We see Government as delegated by the people to assure equality and opportunity for all and to safeguard the commons--the gifts of nature and humans in community, using processes, structures, and programs designed to engage wide popular participation and to perform tasks entrusted to it responsibly. Democracy depends on participation of the people, directly or through their representatives.

1. The Commonwealth should set a high standard of civil liberties for all residents, whatever their legal status, for example, refusing to collaborate with federal anti-immigration laws and homeland security surveillance. The people need open sources of information and the opportunity to assemble in public spaces and exchange opinions. Voting rights should be broadly extended and should include the integrity of voter choice, best assured by traceable ballots, and regular auditing of election results.

2. To ensure the most representative government requires reasonable access to the ballot for candidates, 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 the interests of local communities and also the broad range of opinions on conduct of 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.

3. Transparency in government operations depends 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 that changes are needed. Instituting Full Cost Accounting, where applicable, will assist decision-making by indicating long term effects on the environment and population. Continual assessment of policies and revision where indicated are essential.

4. Democratic deliberation and decision making should be conducted at a level as close to the people as appropriate (subsidiarity), whether neighborhood, town, region, or world, and conducted in a manner to assure that all perspectives are heard. 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. Examples: participatory budgeting [Participatory Budgeting]. and economic development councils assembled from all affected sectors of society.

5. The Commonwealth maintains a militia, the national guard, whose activities should serve the interests of the people of Massachusetts. Rather than sending this militia overseas to engage in national wars, it should be employed in the direct interest of the people. The national guard could best serve by being prepared to respond to emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and epidemics. Given that the government does not have the capacity to deal adequately with severe emergencies, resources should also be directed to training citizen volunteers in every community for such emergency response. Such organization will help communities respond with the greatest levels of competence, caring and the least reliance on agencies of violence.

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

[Earlier version of proposals follows]

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