Why I Vote Independent (my political rant)

I've been a registered Independent voter since I was able to register. When I was young, it was because it was a rebellious position to take. And because it seemed like an honest thing for me to do. There are things about being an Independent that really irk me. I can't vote in most primaries. I don't have many options when it comes to Independent candidates. I sure as hell wouldn't vote for Pat Buchanan! I don't like either the Republicans or the Democrats. Neither of them really do anything to truly help the people. Both parties seem short on grey cells.

Where are the pragmatic candidates??

At the risk of being laughed off the planet by my Navy and former-Ayn-Rand-fan buddy, I think I'm actually going Green. Here are the principles the Green Party says it stands for.

1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY Every human being gets a say in how their lives will be affected by government, and the Greens say they will work to increase public participation at every level. I'm for that. 25% of the voter population are my students' age. They don't understand why it's so important to vote, and the issues aren't pitched at them anyway.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY One of our favorite visiting professor jokes to pull was to ask the question "What is Social Justice anyway?" Most people can't answer very succinctly. And most people don't take into account how those answers can be pulled off. I realize now, that's not quite the point. The point is, as the Green party puts it, "All persons should have the rights and opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, barriers such as racism and class oppression, sexism and homophobia, ageism and disability, which act to deny fair treatment and equal justice under the law." It's up to intelligent debate to figure out some of the greyer areas of something like "benefitting equally from resources afforded us by society & the environment." But until we realize and find it unacceptable that only a few benefit at all, we will continue to have many social problems.

3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM Being responsible renters of the planet is something that we're going to have to face sooner or later. The Greens are obviously all about that. Hopefully, people will start listening to their ideas.

4. NON-VIOLENCE I like this one best, because it shows that the Greens realize that you have to be pragmatic about relations with other countries while still working toward a reasonable disarmament. "We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments. We recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace." Why can't the Dems come out and say that? Who in the hell could argue with something like that? (Besides, of course, fundamentalists.)

5. DECENTRALIZATION Centralization of wealth and power contributes to social and economic injustice, environmental destruction, and militarization. Therefore, we support a restructuring of social, political and economic institutions away from a system which is controlled by and mostly benefits the powerful few, to a democratic, less bureaucratic system. Decision-making should, as much as possible, remain at the individual and local level, while assuring that civil rights are protected for all citizens. I agree with the concept of what centralization does, but this was the grey area that Navy buddy and I loved to probe. Sounds good, I guess, but how are you going to pull that off? How exactly would that work? Most of the time, the representatives of the Greens who were debating the idea couldn't make the idea of decentralization and nonviolence coexist. And frankly, I don't think too many of their representatives knew that much about economics, or they probably would've suggested alternatives. But those were heady student days...

6. COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMICS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE The "living wage" goes here. We hotly debated this one. Mostly because we thought it would be exploited quickly. Who or what committee gets to decide what a living wage is, and how is that enforced? How do you set the value on something like quality child care? Or quality of life? It isn't going to be the same for everyone. One thing's for sure. Most people can't live off of what they make now.

I think that if we focused on one piece of the problem, for instance, lobbying for universal healthcare for pregnant mothers and newborns along with vaccinations, that would be cracking the door to other things. It's difficult for politicians to argue against the health of newborn babies and pregnant moms, although I'm quite sure many of them would give it a go. I think something like that would be socially acceptable in today's voting climate. And it goes a long way toward opening people's minds toward universal healthcare. Change rarely happens all at once.

7. FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUITY All for it. I especially like these two lines. "Human values such as equity between the sexes, interpersonal responsibility, and honesty must be developed with moral conscience. We should remember that the process that determines our decisions and actions is just as important as achieving the outcome we want."

8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY
"We believe it is important to value cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity, and to promote the development of respectful relationships across these lines." Agreed! They also want diversity in decision making bodies. They also include respect for biodiversity.

9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY "We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal well-being and, at the same time, to enhance ecological balance and social harmony. We seek to join with people and organizations around the world to foster peace, economic justice, and the health of the planet." That means realizing where your products come from. Realizing that we see things from a privileged First World perspective. Not comfortable things to think about, to be sure. But to close our eyes to the suffering of others, especially when some of our practices directly contribute to that suffering is indefensible.

10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY "Our actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals. We seek to protect valuable natural resources, safely disposing of or “unmaking” all waste we create, while developing a sustainable economics that does not depend on continual expansion for survival. We must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions." I like this because too often I think politicians get into office and only think about sustaining their paycheck for the next 2-4 years. Or paying back their buddies who got them there.

I like that the Green's goals are laid out so succinctly. Because I bought a John Kerry t-shirt once, the Dems used to call me from a telemarketing station constantly, trying to get me to donate. Once, I asked the girl on the line, "You know, there doesn't seem to really be much of a platform or agreement between the Dems. What are their core values?" You know what she said?

"Wait a minute, let me turn to that page."