What does “Community-Based Economics” Mean?
The 10 Key Values are what defines most completely what the Green Party’s position in on a variety of issues. Within any specific issue, these values are the guiding force. The sixth of the key values is a belief in community-based economics. Unlike some of the other values, such as social justice and gender equality, community-based economics is not as intuitive. So, just what does it mean to have community-based economics?
Locally-Owned Businesses
Supporting locally-owned businesses through tax incentives or grants is a key idea to supporting community economics. Because more of the money from local shops goes to the local economy than is true for online or chain-store shopping, the Green Party platform calls for more support for local businesses, which will create better educational and civic opportunities for people within that community.
Industry Decisions
The Green Party wants to empower people in each community to determine whether or not they want a certain business in their area or not. Don’t want a landfill? That should be okay. Opposed to Wal-Mart? Again, that should be a decision made at a local level to create the most sustainable economic model for the community. Decisions should not be based on corporate needs.
Living Wage
The living wage is a concept that the Green Party has tried to introduce into society in many communities. A living wage is enough pay to afford to live in decent housing and to have food and clothing appropriate for the climate. The goal of community-based economics is to determine a local wage that is enough to support these basic economic needs.
These basic economic principles will support each community’s needs and help the people within that community to live better, more productive lives. The Kentucky Green Party’s goal is for communities across the Commonwealth to be able to implement these economic strategies.
The Living Wage Concept
The idea of a living wage is key to creating the society that the Green Party wishes to see. A living wage is enough money that someone who is working a full-time job – 40 hours in Kentucky – can afford decent housing that is properly heated and cooled, clothing, food, and other basic necessities. In most places, the living wage is
significantly higher than the legal minimum wage.
In Frankfort, Kentucky’s capital city, the legal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. According to Penn State University’s living wage calculator, the living wage for one adult is $7.29 per hour while that number increases to $14.49 for one adult and one child. That means that anyone with one child making less than $14.49 an hour won’t be able to afford basic care items without assistance.
The basic idea of living wage campaigns is to use these numbers to demonstrate to local and state leaders that the current minimum wage being required simply isn’t enough to allow families to support themselves.
One of the keys to the living wage project that make it a player in politics is that the living wage is based on working adults. The people who do not make a living wage are working, which makes them more sympathetic to folks who may oppose government “handouts” in other arenas. The living wage issue isn’t about welfare or having extra money to spend at an online casino; it’s about equality.
A University of California study of workers at the San Francisco Airport showed that turnover dropped by almost 70 percent when the administration there enacted a living wage because pay rates rose by an average of 22 percent. That meant that employees were less likely to leave, saving the airport significant money in hiring and training new employees. Overall the living wage concept is beneficial to communities, business owners, and workers.
Personal Responsibility for the Planet
A key political issue for the Kentucky Green Party, and Greens around the country, is to promote a sustainable lifestyle. In addition to using politics to get legislative changes, there are ways to benefit the environment by making good economic choices as well.
Choose Restaurants Wisely
When you are planning a night out, don’t just go to any old restaurant. Instead choose somewhere with good environmental practices. Avoid places that serve with mostly paper goods. Try to pick restaurants with as little waste as possible. By choosing these restaurants, you are using your money to share your political values.
Shop Locally
The benefit of local goods is that the items don’t travel across the country- or even across the ocean – to get to you. Instead they are made by someone in your community. By making a commitment to purchase items from these places, you are supporting local business owners and also reducing the environmental impact of your purchases.
Felled Wood Furnishings
Felled wood companies are cropping up in many areas. These companies use only wood that has already fallen, rather than cutting down new trees. Felled wood furniture is handmade and has as little environmental impact as possible for furniture.
Pass on the Plastic
Many items come in plastic or wood. While plastic may be cheaper, the cost to the environment is tremendous. Plastic is a synthetic material that will take an unknown amount of time to degrade in our landfills. Many plastic items, such as toys, can be used very long either, which means that you will need to replace these items more often. Opt for natural products made with quality fibers, wood, or even metal for a better environmental impact.
While you should continue to push your politicians to vote for climate change, you can speak with your personal financial choices in the meantime.
Creating Justice Inside Prisons
While there is much work to be done to keep people from going to prisons in the first place, just as much work is needed to keep people from prisons, there is political work that can be done on the inside of prisons as well. The Green Party works hard to speak for prisoners rights since it is rare that the rights of prisoners are at the fore of discussions in politics.
Education
Within prisons, it is vital to make sure that education is available. Everyone within the prison system should have the opportunity to improve his or her educational level to help with job prospects once outside jail. In addition to GED programs and college classes, prisons can make vocational skills available because these programs teach work skills that can be used immediately upon release.
Food
Food is another issue within the prison system. When prisoners rioted at Northpoint Training Center in central Kentucky in 2009, food was one of the primary issues. Both inmates and guards had complained about the quality of the food, claiming it had bugs in it frequently. People who are serving jail sentences still have the right to adequate and clean food and water.
Medical Care
Getting quality healthcare within the prison environment is an important but often overlooked issue. Prisoners should have access to basic care, and they should be given medications they need to control chronic conditions. Alabama and South Carolina remain as the two states that segregate prisoners living with HIV/AIDS from the general population, and that is just one of many medical-related prisoners rights issues that advocates have addressed in the past decade.
Working to make sure that prisoners have adequate care and access to things that will improve their lives is one way that politics can benefit society by investing in people who are struggling.
Combating the Gender Gap in STEM Fields
STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, industries tend to be well-respected, highly-paid fields of study. Despite new, mounting evidence that girls do, in fact, perform as well as or better than boys in math and science early in education, the trend remains that girls are far less likely to enter these fields, which means women are shutting themselves out of many high-paying jobs.
One of the goals of the Green Party is to advocate for gender equality, and a major concern right now is increasing the number of girls who are going into these highly-specialized fields.
Politicians can help this process along by offering grants for programs to encourage girls participation in these fields. Three faculty members at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia put on a summer camp in 2002 that worked with girls who wanted to go into math and science careers. Increase funding for these types of programs can be an excellent way of helping girls retain their self-confidence.
At a local level, politicians can call on members of the community to mentor girls who are strong in math and science fields. Despite an interest and talent in STEM fields, many girls simply don’t know any women in those fields. They have no one with whom to identify, and female engineers, accountants, and software developers can help solve that problem.
Local leaders also can encourage participation in local science fairs and other events. Some communities sponsor boxcar derbies, boat races, and other engineering-based competitions. They are an excellent way to promote innovation and creativity among community members, but adding a push for female entrants could give some girls just the push they need to enter the competition.
Gender equality means not just access, but sometimes encouragement, of girls into certain fields. Doing so can only benefit the community as a whole.
The Green Party Hopes to see Equality at the UN
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In the Green Party Platform one can find principles and tenets about the United States and its role as an international neighbor. Among these tenets is a simple, yet important one: “Pre-emptive invasion in prohibited by international law.”The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq did not please Greens. Although it was unarguable that the then-dictator of Iraq, the infamous Saddam Hussein, was a tyrant who did not deserve to be in power, that same argument could have been made for dozens of rulers in the world at the time.Where the Green Party differentiates from others is that it specifically outlines the role of the United Nations, and how the United States should respect the UN’s role in international diplomacy.The Green Party is known for its preference of diplomacy over force. It recognizes that the United Nations is an institution of international law whose treaties the US is bound to uphold after signing. Many Americans aren’t aware that the Green Party has a very detailed platform outlining when, and in what circumstances the United States should become involved in international force. First and foremost, the platform says the United States “is obligated to render military assistance or service under U.N. command to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions.” This means Despite the fact that Greens opt for peace over war any day, they see a military presence as sometimes inevitable in cases of genocide or other acts against humanity. One point the platform outlines in its Foreign Policy section. It states that the veto power currently held by the five permanent members on the UN Security Council should be repealed.This fits right in line with the overall Green value of grassroots government, because now the five most powerful nations can veto the resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly. This has happened time after time, and always has the same result: the powerful walk away unscathed and unaccountable for their actions.
Ways to Fight Homelessness on an Individual Level
Fighting homelessness is a problem at all levels of our society. There are no places without homeless people in them. Many of those people are termed “chronically homeless,” meaning that they have nowhere safe and inside to stay routinely. Others are homeless only for brief stints. Still others find places to sleep with friends or family, but they have no permanent residence.
Outside of legislative action, how can be who are committed, as the Green Party is, to eliminating homelessness help?
First volunteer your time. Homeless shelters, both emergency shelters and transitional living facilities, need people to do all sorts of work. There are staff volunteers who help residents but also there are people who take care of the shelters websites, fundraising, publicity, maintenance, personal improvement classes, and perform other services. Give of yourself to help your community.
Donate money and goods when you can. If you do not have the time to donate, you can give hats, gloves, and boots in the winter months. Donate some money each month or year to a shelter of your choice. Shelters often need donations of cleaning supplies, toiletry items, and clothing, so ask around to find out what your local shelter needs.
Vote often. Local measures on issues such as sleeping in public places and funding for shelters matter tremendously to you right where you are. On a larger scale, federal votes on aid for veterans and mental health insurance coverage matter in helping keep people from being homeless. Be sure that you find out what candidates positions are on these issues and that you hold them accountable for making the best choices once elected.
Green Party candidates work actively to help end homelessness, but Greens can coalition with people from other parties who share these goals. Homelessness is an issue that should break party lines.
The Media’s Role in an Election Year
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The Historical Rise and Fall of “Third Parties”
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The Historical Rise and Fall of Third Parties
Third parties, whether in the United States or other nations where a two-party system dominates, only gain strength when one of the two major parties fails somehow. This failure could be due to a division, a lost identity, or a breakdown of leadership. Many times, upon seeing this weakness, the third party will make a strategic move to win the disenfranchised electorate over.
Experts say, however, that the danger of a third party is its short-lived nature in the spotlight: it makes a smashing debut on the grand stage in its first election, bringing refreshing ideas to a weary populace. By the next election, however, the two major parties have had time to regroup and focus their efforts directly on the people the third party had won over. In the past, this has involved the major parties tweaking their own platforms and agendas to “follow the pack.†The end result is that the third party fades away into the background, and the two major parties once again take the lead on the stage.
It should be noted, however, that although third parties do tend to rise and fall quickly, the mark they make on the major parties is almost always evident. Their principles become part of one, or both of the two dominating parties. Their slogans are echoed in the banter of politicians who claim the ideas as their own.
In many countries around the world, the norm is a plurality of political parties; groups are born and die on a regular cycle. The United States, however, has had two dominating parties for so long, it will take persistence, organization, grassroots efforts, and awareness for a third party to hold its own. It will also take the creation of a new identity among voters; just like faith, education and work comprise who people are, so, too does politics. Voters must be convinced that the political party they belong to is a part of who they are.
Public Defenders in America Find Themselves Overloaded
In 1966, the United States Supreme Court determined that when a person is arrested and charged with a crime, he or she must be read the “Miranda Rights.†Those are the now-familiar string of sentences, beginning with “You have the right to remain silent.†Further down the line goes something like this: “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you.â€
The attorney who is provided to an indigent criminal is known as a public defender. But America’s public defender offices are in crisis. The attorneys representing the accused are, in many states, overworked and underpaid. Some public defenders have reported taking on hundreds of cases at a time. Now, some public defenders are even closing their doors to new cases while they catch up on current ones.
The end result? Justice is delayed, if it arrives at all. It is delayed for the alleged criminal, obviously. Many of the accused sit in jail waiting for an attorney to be appointed to them. Once they have an attorney, the attorney is often swamped with so many other cases, he or she doesn’t have more than a few minutes to glance at the case before meeting the client, often for the first time, in the courtroom.
Justice is also delayed for victims and their families.
When the public defenders office cannot do its job, one of the underlying principles of the United States “justice for all” suffers.
It will take money appropriated by the state legislatures to fix this problem. It may take private attorneys working together with the state and local courts to ease the load, too.
Since public defenders are held to the same licensing standards as private attorneys, they feel their careers are on the line if they don’t cross all their “T’s†and dot all their “I’s.†And that, they say, is impossible to do when you can’t see your desk from the hundreds of files sitting on top of it.
