Revolted by Republicans? Disgusted with Democrats? Ready to go Green?

The Green Party exists here in the USA because Greens want to see big changes in the way this country operates, and we believe in the small-d democratic tradition of making the case for those changes in election campaigns. We see a world being looted, our life-supporting e3nvironment being degraded and destroyed, in the name of enhanced corporate profits. We think the American people are capable of voting out of office all the damned politicians standing in the way of a peaceful society that preserves and shares the wonders of the earth.

We are for Medicare for all, not just medical care for those with the proper credit card. We are for a people secure in their basic income and their individual rights, not a national security policy that tramples those rights and attacks anywhere in the world that it finds enemies it has created or imagined. We want a government that works for ordinary people, not for the businesses that can spend millions to hire lobbyists and give millions more to be spent on advertising campaigns which replace political campaigns.

We are for big changes that overturn business as usual in politics and in business. We see that the Democratic Party has been a major obstacle for all such changes. Not every Democratic candidate intends to be an obstacle. Many voters have marked their ballots for Democratic candidates hoping for better than they have gotten. No, it is just the party, the people in control at the top of the party organization, that have throttled all the impulses for change expressed by the lower ranks.

The Democratic Party has had many opportunities in the last half-century to be the vehicle for the changes we would like to see. It has not been that vehicle, and it is not now that vehicle. It is instead a vehicle for delay, for distraction, for compromise and caving in; for business as usual in spite of the desires of voters.

Greens have concluded the Democratic Party will never be a vehicle for change. It will be, as it has been, a vehicle to defuse demands for change, to keep those working for change within boundaries that business as usual can accept.

That's why the Green Party runs candidates against Republican and Democrat alike. They are more alike than they want us to notice, but we have noticed. That's why we are not concerned about spoiling any Democrat's election. If the Democrats were really concerned about "spoiling," they would have changed the election rules to require Instant Runoff Voting, a rules change which gives more power to voters and makes spoiling impossible.

We are for grassroots democracy, social justice, environmental wisdom, and non-violence. Those are our basic principles, the "Four Pillars" of the Green Party in the USA and the other Green Parties around the world. If you are revolted by Republicans and disgusted with the Democrats, but you feel that really should not give up on politics, you should consider participating in the Green Party.

We're looking for supporters, members, activists, campaigners and candidates. We have a ballot line for the 2008 general election, and we would like to fill it from top to bottom. We can select candidates for any partisan office in Michigan, from United States Senator to Township Supervisor.

If you are ready to work at undermining the two-party system that's preventing peace, democracy, social justice and environmental stewardship, then we are ready for you. Take a look at our web site, www.migreens.org, for more information on our platform, on local contacts, on meetings and events.