When Green fades to Gray

» plantboy - weakness of the Greens

I was involved in the Green party when I was younger. In 1991 we elected the first green party mayor in the united states, ironically in Cordova, Alaska.

Since then I too have become dis-involved. The trend may arise from the frustration of those pragmatic folks out there who believe in social justice, environmental policy changes, etc. but realise that going through the current political system, esp. in america is absolutely hopeless. I mean how can you keep your values straight, and enter the dirt wad fight on the feild which requires questionable abilities to get lots of funding? The whole system is set up to corrupt anyone who plays ball. Besides, the Green party and similar groups are all very good at pointing out what is wrong, but seldom has any solutions. The energy of these groups has always gone into whistleblowing. The few environmentally/socially responsible corporations out there that popped up all over the place in the 80's and 70's became corporate sluts themselves since then. Look at Ben N Jerry's. It is all frustrating and hardly the kind of feeling I need to harbor in my life. If there were the possibility of a party that had the ability to maintain its values, be pragmatic and able to solve real life problems, and represent the similar values the Greens stood for at once then I might again vote. However, for now who the hell am I going to vote for? I see nothing on the scanner. No blips. When more of America will wake up, then I may be willing to work with some group. It doesn't have to be a formally political group either. If it were a group that could fund itself, and make some changes, why does it need to involve itself in politics directly?

Jared

-- posted by plantboy

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» Glenn34 - Re: weakness of the Greens

In response to message posted by plantboy:

DEAR Jared, hello from Ottawa and thank you for your thoughtful comments on my "Greens" article.
The disappointment is of course greater looking at what the Greens were there and what they became now.
It is always, "choose the lesser evil" with them, they never stand for anything anymore. Once an activist my self, I was always urging others to at least vote - today I don't do so myself sometimes. If I can fins some group that puts in time and effort for a cause (something I can no longer do easily myself, now with a family and trying to stay afloat), I support them. But I disagree with you on the Greens not having solutions. At least in the early years in Germany, they did. That's why the establishment got rather nervous. What next? One election at a time I suppose and looking for the next best thing.

By the way, i saw that you are knowledgeable in arid plants, etc. . I am preparing to write a new article on desertification from a policy perspective (convention etc.), but would really welcome some specific advice from you on any issues/matters that tend to be neglected in policy debates or that need to be better emphasized. Can you provide some feedback on this?

Thanks again,
Glenn Brigaldino

-- posted by Glenn34

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» plantboy - arid lands botany

I can certainly put in my two cents worth. I have studied arid lands botany for some 8-9 years, and have strong interest in desertification issues. I will look forward to the article. If you could email me the article personally that would be great as I am rather busy and don't always remember to check suite 101 articles.

sonic1@dellepro.com

-- posted by plantboy

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