Why The Green Party Matters
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21st Century Insurance is a leader in their field, but they aren’t the only insurance company around. While they may be the best, there are plenty of other companies out there to choose from and you know that. However, what if you weren’t allowed to know about the best companies, or even the other lesser companies? What if you were only always given two companies to choose from no matter how good or bad they were? You wouldn’t like to be limited, now would you?
In the political system, we have the unfortunate time of being given only two parties to choose from. The Green Party is often not one of those big parties. It’s a shame because the world needs the Green Party and other parties just like it, but try telling that to the boys in Washington.
The simple thing is that the more ideas there are in Washington, the more we can find the path to positive change. With only two parties working for change, we are really losing out on a lot of interesting and helpful ideas.
What the Green Party provides is a platform for the sharing of ideas that are a little off the beaten path. They believe that there shouldn’t be the acceptance of money from big corporations and they are against the idea of a government that doesn’t work tirelessly for the people. We all agree that they should be working hard for the American people, but the Green Party is the only party that seems to base their entire political system around it.
The Green Party gives the American people another option. Another option is what will keep the rest of the political system honest. Without honesty, we are going to be staring at the same old broken system we have had in place for years.
Encouraging Local Politicians to Go Green
Being “green” is trendy right now, which means that many politicians are open to ideas promoted as green. While that is great news for the environmental movement, that doesn’t mean that local politicians always get what it really means to make green decisions. There are a few substantial ways that you can push local politics a little closer to your tree-hugging ideal.
Hiring a sustainability coordinator is a must-do for any mid- to large city. In Kentucky, that would include Louisville, Lexington, Frankfort, Paducah, Covington, Newport, Richmond, Bowling Green, and Berea, at a minimum. Other, smaller areas can hire someone on a short contract or part-time, but sustainability coordinators are important there, too.
These coordinators often work for a percentage of what they save the city in energy usage. They work to decrease energy use by putting better workflow habits into place, improving water and sewer lines, suggesting better vehicles, and making other changes.
In addition, a solid recycling program also is a necessity for all towns and cities. Good recycling programs can make money for cash-strapped local governments. It isn’t enough just to have recycling but push local politicians to work on a public education campaign about what can be recycled and how valuable it is to the Earth and the city’s bank account.
Green spaces hold a growing importance in our concrete world. New developments should have a minimum percentage of the land dedicated to green spaces, and the city should have spaces with trees and grasses as well. Being out in nature is excellent for our physical and mental health, and it encourages people to care for the environment.
These three ideas are just the tip of what local activists can help bring about in their cities. Working to create a greener tomorrow in Kentucky is a lengthy, but rewarding, process.
Helping Green Party Candidates Succeed
Helping a Green Party candidate get elected in a local or state election requires a savvy understanding of the Green Party’s principles and political campaigning. Because Green Party candidates are painted as the “other” in elections, campaigners must determine the best ways to make the Green Party candidates looks like qualified, respectable candidates to avoid the stigma that accompanies third-party candidates in much of the United States.
Stick with the standards that candidates from other parties use in campaign information. Provide a basic background, including education and work experience as well as one sentence about the candidate’s personal life. Use both printed literature and social networking to reach people. Though Green Party candidates believe in environmental sustainability, having a limited amount of literature available will help attract some more mainstream voters. Just be conscientious about what you print.
Harness the power of the internet! One of the disadvantages of being a third-party candidate is lack of funding compared to Democrats and Republicans. Politics is, at its core, about being able to reach voters. Facebook, Twitter, and candidate websites are easy, free (or inexpensive) ways to reach thousands of voters. Find a young, enthusiastic campaign volunteer who understands how to leverage these networking tools and make the most of them.
Push for inclusion in debates. If you think the local chamber of commerce, a frequent host in local elections, won’t include you, then begin to approach nonprofits or business owners who you think may be sympathetic to the idea of including all candidates. Ask these people to sponsor alternative debates or to push for the main debates to include all candidates.
Being confident about your right to participate in local election discussions and knowing how to use the benefits you have will help improve your chances of getting elected as a third-party candidate.
Investing Your Green in Gold ETFs
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Unless you are looking at a Chapter 13 filing and www.totalbankruptcy.com is your regular Internet stop, you should consider investing your money.
Regardless of your politics, consider what money managers advise people to do. Imagine all of your money sitting in a pile in front of them. Take out money for bills, money to pay debts, discretionary expenses, and the like. Whatever remains is for investment. Take out a tenth of this for riskier investments like the stock market, another tenth for no-risk investments like government bonds, and of what remains, a sizable portion can be used to hedge against inflation with gold purchases.
You can purchase gold in three distinct ways. First, buy gold bullion, as in bank-issued coins and bricks. Second, go for gold jewelry, and third, invest in gold ETFs. The first two gold purchases add an extra assurance to your investment, but at some costs. Among the costs are the fact that you can’t liquidate your gold easily, and you get a much lower price than spot gold prices, to say nothing of security and storage costs.
Buying gold ETFs takes away all of these costs, although, for the novice investor, it seems less secure. Gold ETFs are like stocks in that they’re bought and sold on the stock market. But they’re like mutual funds in that the company offering the ETF takes your money and invests it in gold. You do not have to worry about storage, security, or liquidating your physical gold. You usually get rates almost on par with the market, and unlike mutual funds that invest in risky stocks, investing in gold is usually held to be a very safe investment.
There are about 10 different gold ETFs in the U.S. market. Make sure to differentiate between a gold ETF and a gold mining company ETF. The latter are usually funds invested in a gold mining consortium.
The Right to Vote: What Happens When It’s Not Valued?
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The right of Americans to vote came in waves: it did not originally belong to all Americans. It was withheld from millions on account of their skin color or gender. But now, the right is there for all who hold the status of citizens.
Yet, whenever Election Day rolls around, only a fraction of those in the world’s superpower cast ballots.
Why is this? In fledgling democracies like Iraq, illiterate widows and poor farmers risk their lives by going to polling places which have in the past been a prime target for bombings. They proudly dip their thumbs in ink and show the world they made their voices heard in government that day.
In the country like Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, pro-democracy activists like Aung San Suu Kyi risk house arrest, imprisonment or torture with every speech they make. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak has been reelected so many times by a reported percentage of nearly 100 percent that he has now ruled longer than several Pharaohs.
What the people in these nations wouldn’t give for true representation of the people in government. It is likely perplexing to America’s troops engaged in warfare overseas that so many of their family members back home don’t take the time to vote.But what really happens when that right is taken for granted on such a wide scale? Someone else inevitably fills the gap. The entity that takes the place of grassroots voters, however, has an entirely different face than an individual walking into a ballot booth and casting his or her vote.
Special interest groups thrive where voters are dormant and nonchalant. Corporations and forces that crave power see a non-voting population as an opportunity. Power must always rest with someone. If the power is not in the hands of the voters—and it’s virtually impossible to be when hardly a fifth of all Americans vote regularly—then it will certainly surface in the hands of someone, or something, else.