Philosophy at Core of Greens

Do you agree with these statements?

-A system based on inequality and exploitation is threatening the future of the planet on which we depend, and encouraging reckless and environmentally damaging consumerism.

-A world based on cooperation and democracy would prioritise the many, not the few, and would not risk the planet’s future with environmental destruction and unsustainable consumption.

I did and still do.

It's the above that led me to get involved in the Green Party - where I sensed the spirit of activism in a political place.

Everyone I've stood beside from the Party, has made me even more sure; because activism plays many roles in many arenas and just because not every Green is holding a tree safe, blocking fracking trucks or linking arms to prevent harm... doesn't mean there isn't the same intent, drive and determination.

I've met people who so believe that we can get change, live better, be fairer and create the good stuff ...that they walk mile after mile, sticking leaflets in letter boxes (grazing knuckles, dreading dogs), attend countless meetings and outreach events to raise awareness and give every spare moment to pushing what they believe is the solution. That's activism too.

I think it matters not so much WHAT your activism involves... just that you ARE acting... not just accepting or bickering from the sidelines. There's a role for everyone in this emergency where we have to turn the environment safe, within 11 years!

I've witnessed a lot of politics and most of it lacks a moral core - not everything about ANY Party is perfect but when the Philosophical Basis is solid (so the Party is accountable) it's a fine start to doing politcs without the dirt and bluster.


Some best-bits from Green Party of England and Wales PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS:

PB101
"Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

PB102 Like all creatures, humankind depends upon a healthy natural environment for its survival. Yet it is human activity, more than anything else, which is threatening the environment and, ultimately, threatening the future of life on Earth as we currently know it.

PB103 Conventional political and economic policies are destroying the very foundations of the wellbeing of humans and other animals. Our culture is in the grip of a value system and a way of understanding the world which is fundamentally flawed.

PB106 The pursuit of economic growth as a force driving over-exploitation of the Earth must cease to be an automatic aim of human societies. We should instead aim to develop sustainable economies, which improve well-being focused on human values rather than consumerism. Traditional measures of economic activity, such as GDP, should be replaced by new indicators that measure progress towards this aim.

PB108 As human beings, we all have the potential to live co-operatively and harmoniously with each other, and with reverence and respect for the complex web of life of which we are a part. Yet it has become increasingly obvious that this potential cannot be realised while basic human needs remain largely unmet.

PB109 By basic needs we mean not only the physiological needs of food, water, air, shelter and sleep, but also psychological needs. These include the need for love, respect, autonomy, security, and meaningful activity within our communities.

PB110 The fact that many people's basic needs are not met has far reaching consequences. This is expressed as anxiety, insecurity, and aggressive behaviour towards others, and exploitation of their environment. These personal factors give rise to and are then perpetuated by, social institutions which actively encourage oppression, pollution, resource depletion, poverty and military conflict.

PB111 The Green Party therefore places both personal and political change at the heart of its response to the ecological crisis and is committed to creating a society in which individuals, through their ability to satisfy their basic needs more fully, are then able better to contribute to future sustainability. This principle is reflected in the radical Green agenda both for changes in values and lifestyles, and for reformed social, economic and political structures.

PB411 We reject the view that wealth can be measured solely in monetary units, a view which allows its adherents to think it consists primarily of the results of human labour. This error has caused successive governments to pursue objectives which appear to increase the nation's wealth while in fact they reduce it. Symbols of wealth, like money, reinforce the error and dominate political decision making. Economic growth is a poor guide to human welfare.

PB412 New economic ideas, institutions and organisations are needed to reduce our dependence on such symbols. Economic policy should be directed not to maximising the forms of wealth that can be measured in monetary terms, but to ensuring that the needs of all are met.

PB442 The Green Party does not believe there is an automatic moral obligation on all people to obey their governments. It seeks to maximise the extent to which obedience to laws is based on consent and minimise the need for conformity through deterrence. We believe there are occasions when individuals and groups in society may openly, and peacefully, protest at an unjust law or practice through civil disobedience.

PB443 We seek a society in which people are empowered and involved in making the decisions which affect them. We advocate participatory and democratic politics. Leadership should always be accountable, consensus-driven and moral. We reject the hierarchical structure of leaders and followers.

PB501 We do not believe that there is only one way to change society, or that we have all the answers. We seek to be part of a wider green movement that works for these principles through a variety of means. We generally support those who use reasonable and non-violent forms of direct action to further just aims.

Surges, Purges & Mandates...

So where on earth are we now...

First I think it matters to remember how we ended up in this divisive mess... our country and its citizens laid low by austerity and the type of ugly politics that boos and bays across the Chamber and is rigged to pull in just two directions.

Failed and failing industries of the past, coming to the end of their usefulness (and our ability to survive their pollution, poisons and toxins)... but with inadequate investment and provision in technologies and jobs to replace them. Yet the fossilised power brokers of the past are clinging in a death grip to their empires and government has apparently been hijacked for their use.

Seems each Party and voter has different interpretations of every election recently; with talk of surges, purges and mandates... but no word, no hint about the climate.

Is 'in or out' really the most pressing issue we are facing? Or simply appears so because it's a side-show that's crazy and watchable and has only a few outcomes possible that are somewhat imaginable - whereas environmental issues are unwieldy, terrifying, time-sensitive and would force us to get up from our screens and actually ACT for the sake of our children.

Should we stay or go? With just 11 years of intensive work ahead of us to prevent dangerous tipping points for climate and continued ill-health and death from dangerous air-quality, further species extinctions and loss of nature that we depend on to survive... how much does it bloody matter?!

We need to re-focus to stand a chance and we need to accept that being cut in two over borders and Party political manoevering... is the most dangerous use of our time right now.

We need allies more than we need walls and we need to work together as individuals, groups, Parties, governments, countries, nations... everyone

What next? More action or more petty yet volatile feuds... choice is down to each of us and we can show our intent by what we do - more than what we say.

Find a way to fight for clean air, safe water, fertile soil and a future our children can look forward to - not one they fear.

And as to the politics? It will play out this drama, twist, turn and contort us as a nation and all we can do is attempt to ride out the storm whilst maintaining a clear focus on what matters most.

And maybe ...add in a whole heap more tolerance and understanding that we each, all of us... have been subject to messages and media that confused and divided us, that it's NOT US, it's 'them' (those abusing power and seeking to keep tight hold of it) and that at our deepest core - we all just want our families to be safe, nourished, housed and able to thrive... we're just interpreting the threats differently.

Crying for Argentina...

A delegation of Argentinian officials and businesses came to London today to talk fracking investments. The energy sector is getting to frack Argentina and the risk falls to the UK tax payers to the tune of £1bn - 'our' government is backing the credit with OUR money! Naturally, a protest formed - this from the organisers, Reclaim the Power:

From Lancashire to Sussex communities in the UK are already fighting the menace of fracking. But Big Oil companies like BP and Shell prefer not to frack near home - “to avoid the wrong kind of attention”, in the words of BP’s CEO Bob Dudley. Instead, they’re trying to exploit one of the world’s biggest shale gas reserves, Vaca Muerta, in Argentinian Patagonia. Exploiting the gas and reaping the profits - while polluting farmland and taking over ancestral Indigenous lands.

The UK government has announced a taxpayer-backed credit line of £1bn for business in Argentina and invited BP and Shell among others to bid. This is what the Argentinian delegation will be discussing in London. 

We’re getting together in solidarity with Patagonian communities like Vista Alegre and the indigenous Mapuche community Campo Maripe, who are fighting fracking on their land.
We’re getting together to say NO to UK companies fracking in Patagonia and NO to UK government financing this exploitation.

~

We wanted to join the group but couldn't get to London - we sent our message of solidarity instead:

~

Thank you so much for being in London today to make a stand against the aggressive industries that threaten further extinctions and the very future for our children that we are striving to protect.

The damage being done by the fossil fuel industry in this country is already causing pollution levels that are harming our children and across the world, we're exporting this knack for harm to other countries; we need to stop.

Today this delegation of Argentinian officials and businesses is in London to talk fracking investments... at a time where the industry and its investments are failing and falling further into debt! And at a time where we are facing  the biggest emergency in history - an environmental crisis. Are they quite mad?

We Nanas and other Protectors across the UK have held this industry at bay for 8 years now but would be devastated if all that work was for nothing and the damage was inflicted on our friends in Argentina instead!

We note that the big players like BP and Shell have avoided conflict in the UK by letting the fracking be done by operators from other countries... sneaky and underhanded and a way of avoiding bad press in your homeland! We've met, admired and watched in awe as activists fight for Vaca Muerta, in Argentina - where both farmland and importantly...  Indigenous lands are facing ruin by this industry that brings with it pollutions, poisons and toxins for the air, land and water... as well as earthquakes and vast amounts of noise, light and traffic!.

The UK government as always is shaking the pom-poms as cheerleaders for this dying industry and using our money to do it! Big incentives including a taxpayer-backed credit line of £1bn is the subject that will be drooled over today - the danger from this isn't just environmental - we KNOW this industry is built on debt and going nowhere and yet our government sees it as a gamble worth taking!! Much like the game of Russian Roulette they're playing with our children's lives.

To the Patagonian community Vista Alegre and the Indigenous mapuche community Campo Maripe, the UK Nanas send you our thanks, our solidarity and our love for all that you are doing in the face of such a powerful and driven opponent that is the energy sector. We will do all we can to target our corrupted and inept government as well as the dangerous UK companies that are doing this to you - please know that this is not what we believe our country is about... we want international co-operation to ensure our shared air, water and oceans are safe for all earth inhabitants.

We are shoulder to shoulder with you... there's no distance between our hearts x

~

A Crisis of Environment...

There's a lot of denial about but...

There is no denying that industrial processes have brought pollution to our air, toxins to our waters, poisons to our soil... and that the dumping of waste and plastics has become catastrophic for our eco-systems, wildlife, oceans and nature.

There is no denying that we have lost many species to extinction and that the linked chain of life-forms is disrupted with the loss of pollinators etc.

There is no denying that the atmosphere that surrounds the earth is finite and that much like filling a garage with car fumes... enough toxins in the atmosphere will kill us.

There is no denying that all the above is as a result of what we saw as 'progress' and that if our children are to have clean air, safe water and fertile lands and seas... then we must halt the direction this 'progress' has taken us in and find a better way.

This should be enough for governments to refuse toxic industries and promote/invest/train staff for... innovative, renewable ones. But they're not.

That's insane.

The most important thing, is to breathe...

A genuine question:
What issue in the world is more important than protecting the resources we rely on for survival?


...

It took me nearly a lifetime to look at politics and do anything about the danger that it is. The power and control of our education, environment, international relationships, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture etc etc etc - is in the hands of politicians and they are evidently prone to corruption, selfishness and greed. 

How do we know this?

Enforced austerity that didn't need to be the answer, underfunding and privatisation of OUR NHS and other services (Post Office, transport etc) paid for by our parents and theirs... the use of war long before any real diplomacy has been tackled, the use of Private Finance Initiatives to trick our public services into debt for the profit of the lenders... and the biggest, most important evidence of all that politics and politicians as they stand today - have failed - is that our children are already gasping for clean air:

[The UK is currently failing to meet its current targets on limiting air pollution. This means that many pollutants that can affect asthma, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulates - from traffic fumes, factories and industrial sites - continue to put people with asthma at risk.]

Our children are literally being choked and starved by politicians who are not succeeding or in many cases... even trying, to save them and their futures. Politicians who promote or turn a blind-eye to extracting more fossil fuels that we know can't ever be burned because what we've already got, if burned... will be too much for the atmosphere to handle.

Today saw children of YouthStrike4Climate unite with Mothers rise up to march in London and demand action. We've seen environmental groups, anti-frackers, anti-nuclear and NGOs demanding action in ever louder voices... yet here we are, watching Nigel Farage, fearing Tommy Robinson and chatting Brexit.

The media is another thorn in the side of our children - in denying the topics that need to be fully heard.

There ARE good politicians but they are lost in a sea of bad ones and at the whim of their parties that all prioritise economics and jobs in one way or another, over the environment.

I came to Green Party of England and Wales when I recognised the shared priorities and determination (they've been telling the truth and raising the alarm since their first day as a Party - unwavering, regardless of 'popular opinion' and doggedly attached to truth). This part of the introduction to the "Philosophical Basis of the Green Party" resonated with me:

[We believe that:
A system based on inequality and exploitation is threatening the future of the planet on which we depend, and encouraging reckless and environmentally damaging consumerism. A world based on cooperation and democracy would prioritise the many, not the few, and would not risk the planet’s future with environmental destruction and unsustainable consumption.]

No one party will ever be all things to anyone but this, for me... is as close as it gets for someone who can't get back to 'normal life' until we fix the environmental emergency and get an honest system of government that will give our children a voice and a chance.

Social justice, fair play, transparency and people who actively get things done... are other reasons I joined. The EU elections are coming up on 23rd May - I sincerely hope that we get more Green MEPs because in Europe, there are European Greens that form a powerful lobby for change and getting the environment to the top of the agenda.

...
The question I asked "What issue in the world is more important than protecting the resources we rely on for survival?" ...surely can't have any answer other than "none".
We can't do/care/save ANYTHING if we can't first drink the water and breathe the air. Whatever else we're doing - we need to be doing something to save our environment and nature... and that includes wrestling power from the corrupt politicians and putting it into the hands of the better people.


We'll also need to continue to be outside frack sites, on runways, in trees, in political chambers, in the press, on the streets, in the unions, in education and marching on a worldwide scale until change happens. What's the alternative?

Tina Louise Rothery at May Day 2019 rally

Local Elections 2019

What point in a vote? I know so many who ask this and now it feels even more futile than ever. I felt/feel the same BUT the thing is, we know that all the control is in the wrong hands and as flawed as the system is - we need to work like activists do - to get power out of the hands of the corrupt if we're to have any chance of a future for our children.

Today is your chance to vote in LOCAL ELECTIONS - no it won't change the face of government - but if we can infest our Local Councils with decent Councillors who actually fight for their communities... rather than the ones who do it to hold on to power in a self-serving exercise ...then we have improved a thing for the better. Why wouldn't we do this? Local Councillors have the power to challenge absurd planning applications, stall ludicrous plans by government at a local level and rally to get policy changes by pressuring together.

Where you are, hopefully there will be a Party or Independent on the list that is what your Council needs. I'm lucky that I can tick a Green box today and in a time of Climate Emergency declarations - there is a logic and wisdom in choosing from a Party that has always been right about the problem and sought to address it... when everyone else was simply going through the motions in an attempt to win your votes.

If you have no-one worth voting for or remain insistant that your vote won't change anything (actually on a LOCAL level it can)... then you can still go to the polling station and make clear your choice is NONE of the offerings and that in itself - a spoiled ballot - is counted and makes clear, you weren't simply 'not bothered' but actively choosing none-of-the-above.
To all the genuine candidates running today - particularly those I know as activists for social and environmental justice... I hope you win because it's a win for the planet and a win for the future and a win for wisdom.