Westmoreland County Green Party

#1. Why Write?

2007-06-21T09:31:00.000-05:00

As I began to look for a pencil just now, I found none that had points. Eventually, one was located and now I write. I write because I can no longer sleep. Everyone else in my house is asleep. The sun is coming up and the light stirs me. My teaching year over yesterday, I am anxious to document my observations to gain the insight and experience of others.

Normally a private person, within my family, the insight and reflection I seek can only be gained from the general public. My prior letters to the editor and submitted articles have not been printed in newspapers and journals of wide circulation. My two remaining options are the Internet and person to person.

My topics are my concerns for my community based upon perceived weaknesses. My nephew told me recently that I saw events ten years in the future that had indeed played out. I am a worrier by nature and these are the topics that concern me today.

Our natural world is being altered by man. Pollution and short sited land use practices are not sustainable. As a result, we take from the Earth and return contamination. We are polluting our own bed. It will kill us.

Second, American troops invaded the sovereign nation of Iraq four years ago. Our dependency on oil and natural gas leaves our nation dependent upon foreign sources. This dependency has driven our foreign policy to do anything to obtain these resources. As a result, the same American political leaders have put and place, and now removed, the same Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. Soldiers and sailors now die to allow oil companies to secure the third largest reserve of oil and natural gas in Iraq. They take record annual profits as their greed drives them to control oil, at the cost of American lives, to sell to us in the future.

Our economic system is not on stable ground. The wealthiest residents of our country make their money upon the backs of an expanding lower class. Our country no longer manufactures what we consume and we borrow rather than save and build. The federal government’s long term debt is $7,000,000,000,000.

The political system which has allowed these three problems to occur is symbolically democratic, but oligarchial in reality. The wealthy and politically powerful wave the democratic flag and quote “Founding Fathers” to maintain the appearance of a functioning democracy. A nation of special interests, our politicians do the will of wealth to secure funds to insure their own re-election.

Finally, American agriculture is our ace in the hole! When our balance of trade and federal debt finally crash, farmers and their friends will still be able to eat. Hopefully our soil and farming practices will remain viable to feed those of us who realize that relying on someone else for all your needs is a naïve way to live.

My hope is two fold: have any of you thought these thoughts? If so, what are your responses to mine? Secondly, I will share with you what my family and I have done in response to these concerns. Perhaps if others take similar actions, whatever they may be, these issues will be resolved. If they are resolved, I’ll be able to go back to sleep like everyone else.

Tom Bailey 6/20/07

New Website

2007-06-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

We are thrilled to announce a new official Westmoreland County Green Party website. The new site can be found at http://www.gpofpa.org/~westmoreland/ Receiving a much needed upgrade, the new site will offer much easier accessibility, as well faster connection speeds. Features of the new site include the ability for visitors to view an up to date calendar for upcoming events, as well as a photo gallery of past events we have participated in.

Finally, a huge thank you goes out to Chuck Steel and Blyden Potts for offering the opportunity to host our site on the PA Green Party's site.

If you have any suggestions or feedback on the site, please leave your thoughts in the comments. While the site is still a work in progress, we are always looking to improve it.

Ten Key Values

2007-06-06T11:43:00.000-05:00

1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY
Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives and not be subject to the will of another. Therefore, we will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them. We will also work to create new types of political organizations which expand the process of participatory democracy by directly including citizens in the decision-making process.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
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.

3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM
Human societies must operate with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature. We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. We support a sustainable society which utilizes resources in such a way that future generations will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation. To this end we must practice agriculture which replenishes the soil; move to an energy efficient economy; and live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.

4. NON-VIOLENCE
It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence. 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.

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.

6. COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMICS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
We recognize it is essential to create a vibrant and sustainable economic system, one that can create jobs and provide a decent standard of living for all people while maintaining a healthy ecological balance. A successful economic system will offer meaningful work with dignity, while paying a “living wage” which reflects the real value of a person’s work.

Local communities must look to economic development that assures protection of the environment and workers’ rights; broad citizen participation in planning; and enhancement of our “quality of life.” We support independently owned and operated companies which are socially responsible, as well as co-operatives and public enterprises that distribute resources and control to more people through democratic participation.

7. FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUITY
We have inherited a social system based on male domination of politics and economics. We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with more cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender. 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.

We believe that the many diverse elements of society should be reflected in our organizations and decision-making bodies, and we support the leadership of people who have been traditionally closed out of leadership roles. We acknowledge and encourage respect for other life forms than our own and the preservation of 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.

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.

Note:
There is no authoritative version of the Ten Key Values of the Greens. The Ten Key Values are guiding principles that are adapted and defined to fit each state and local chapter.

Any thoughts on which, if any, of these ten values we feel need to be focused on locally?