Gender Equity and The Green Party

I consider myself a 4th wave feminist, which means that I believe that all social injustices are interconnected. I’m also a social worker who believes in systems theory, meaning that no problem can be fixed independently. Classism, racism, and sexism cannot be demolished by only working in one domain. Our understanding of political issues can’t be reduced to just working on racism without taking into account the classism and sexism that is undoubtedly attached to racism. So we can’t work on fixing sexism without taking time to look at how we can fix class and racism in order to establish an egalitarian society.

The Green Party’s ideology is organized into Four Pillars which are then broken down into 10 key values. Feminism and Gender Equity are part of the key values, and it was this value which caused me to switch parties from blue to green. See, Greens don’t just want Gender Equality, they want Gender Equity, and that’s an important distinction.

The Four Pillars of the Green Party

What is Gender Equity?  It’s the idea of allocating resources and positions of power to those who are underrepresented. Part of the Green Party’s bylaws is that there has to be equal gender representation whenever possible. This is true for the Lackawanna County Greens, where I’ve been secretary for the past two years- of the executive committee there are two men and two women. This happened organically, but the value of gender equity is important because it at least recognizes that historically it has been very difficult for women to be elected to any position of power. Gender Equity widens the gap and welcomes and values women.

The Green Party on 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 which 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.”

The Green Party cares about the process (one reason why we don’t take corporate money). We care about integrity. We care about having a moral standing in face of deception and sensationalism. We care about intersectionality and are established on these values which makes the Green Party the the best party for 4th wavers to introduce their objectives, especially on the local level, to help create a more peaceful planet.

My 2017 Goals

After meditating on the subject, I decided to share my goals for 2017 in order to be held accountable throughout the year. So, if you read this, please do not hesitate to call me out on my bullshit this year.

2017 Goals and Intentions

I will be the best version of myself. I hope to do this by being mindful of each situation, each interaction, and each thought I have. I know this is impossible, but this is the overarching goal of the whole year.

I hope to rid myself of toxic people and spend time with the small, but close, kind, and loving people I have in my life. I don’t need to waste my time on people who make me feel bad.

I just found this pic online, and boy, what a good way to think about saying “no”

I’m going to try to say “no” more. I say yes to so many things, which then stresses me out when my schedule is crammed. I become miserable and hold resentments towards the people WHO ASKED ME whether or not I could help with such and such. When I do say no to different thing, I often experience so much guilt and self-hatred for not being the best helper person in the world that I’ll beat myself up for days/weeks.

I will mediate everyday in some way.

I will have my two research papers published. I am the author of one research study that I’ve been tirelessly working on for the past 5 months (I’m currently taking a break of analyzing data to write this blog post), and am the sole research assistant for a professor at my university- we’re working on a quantitative study which is really exciting. My dream is to get these published, and I will. I’ve never had anything published, let alone a scientific research paper (who would’ve thought?) and I really hope I can make this happen.

I want to write more. Write more music, write more blogs, write more research papers, write more personal stories, journal more, write poems, write lyrics to songs that yet have to be born. I also will write these in a way that is most pure, and for the sole audience to be me when I’m writing. If I want to share them with others, I will, but the real reason is to strengthen creativity in this therapeutic process.

I am going to take advantage of as many moments as I can to be happy. I don’t want to get too personal, but my whole life has been a struggle with this subject, and I vowed in 2016 to try and experience as much happiness as possible, and I did a pretty good job. So I plan to keep this up this year.

I want to be the best friend/fiancé (or wife?!)/daughter/sister/daughter-in-law/dog-mom etc. I want the closest people to me know that I can be depended upon. That I will do what I can to make sure they have the same amount of happiness I have.

I want to be happy and feel fulfilled at whatever job I get after I graduate. I will not be scared away by the idea of relocating or being inadequate or whatever.

I will practice yoga, I will go running, and exercise on a regular basis. My goal for January is to complete Yoga with Adriene’s Yoga Revolution videos on YouTube. I have done each day so far. If you see me this month, please ask whether or not I did a yoga practice today.

This will be the hardest.

I want to eat healthier. Everyone who knows me and Ed know how much we love pizza. I really really want to limit myself with food like this and start eating balanced meals. I expect this to be one of the most difficult goals because I love sugar, cheese, and bread so much it brings tears to my eyes. This also means that I’ll probably have to, like, meal plan, and shit that sounds awful to me. BUT I WILL PREVAIL AND FREEZE FOODS AND THEN REHEAT THEM LATER AND EAT THEM AND NOT JUST LET THEM SIT IN MY FREEZER.

I also want to help the world more. I want to donate the things I don’t need and volunteer. I am really busy all the time, but somehow I can find myself sitting on my phone for 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon when I could easily be doing something beneficial for the greater good.

Green Party of Lackawanna County, I will do as much as I can to help you grow!

I want to be as politically capable as possible. I want to be as educated as I can about the issues that matter most, and really do all that I can to help promote the Lackawanna County Green Party and our efforts. This includes writing more political blog posts, and continuing to do so in a way that allows others to question and challenge my beliefs. I also want to write political posts in such a way that does not come across as intimidating to read, nor pretentious. I think so many people get overwhelmed by politics, and I hope to use this blog to show that it’s not as complicated as it seems.

I also am going to try to love myself. This sounds stupid, but its so hard! One way that I will do this is by not wasting so much of my life on social media (especially Instagram). I like social media to stay up to date with friends, but I often find myself going down these rabbit holes which result in total self hatred because I don’t look like the girls who post pictures of their beautiful faces, beautiful bodies, and beautiful lives. I know its all fake, but that doesn’t take away the feeling of shittiness that accompanies an Instagram binge.

Okay. I think this is a good start. If you read this, what are some of your goals for the year? Do you feel confident in your goals? If you see me out, please feel free to ask about how I’m doing accomplishing these things. One reason why I just confided all these personal junk is to be held accountable! Honestly, next time you see me eating Doritos ask me wtf am I doing

In Defense of the Green Party

In Defense of the Green Party:

Full Disclosure: If it matters, I am a registered member of the Green Party but the following is in no way affiliated with the Green Party of the United States, or any political party. This is my own opinion, and only my opinion.

I feel scared to openly admit that sometimes, that I’m a registered Green Party member, and that’s a weird thing. So I want to break down how I feel about the democratic process, in a brief nutshell:

What I want and value: love & world peace & fairness & equality in the world. I know that’s huge and subjective and metaphysical, and I don’t know how to get there, but I do know that the Green Party’s Platform aligns best with what I believe in. Concerning the real, the big, issues, I think that we need a whole transformation. I don’t know if it should come in the form of a revolution, but we need a freaking big change. And listen: Everyone, one day, can be alright. I truly believe that. We’re all in this together, we can make it work. What we need to do is to put our heads in collaboration conjunctively, and figure it out. But that can’t happen when we are constrained to a two-party system.

So, here’s what’s up. The shit that we see on mainstream media and a lot of the internet is only a piece of the pie. The “Can you believe what she just did?”, “Oh, you won’t believe what Trump just said!”,  “So-and-so is back up 2 points in the polls!”, “So-and-so drops 2 points in the polls!”.None of that matters. Seriously, it doesn’t, but it makes up everything that a lot of people know, and that’s a real big problem.

Listen, there is anger on all sides. There’s a lot of hate and darkness, and it exists everywhere. You can’t get away from it. It’s smeared all over the place. Hate is fear is fear is hate.

So here’s what I want: I want to vote for someone. That’s how I’ve always felt about doing my civic duty and casting my ballot. I always want to vote FOR someone. Because that’s where my true values lie. I want to live in accordance with MY values. I want MY goals to come true. And not to come off too cozy (or snotty), but I think I have pretty good values. And that’s what it all comes down to, ya’ll. No matter what my party affiliation may be, I’m always going to vote where my heart and conscious are. And right now, that happens to most closely lie within the construct of the Green Party.

 

What I Learned from Spending One Day w/ the Green Party

Monday evening I attended the first meeting of the Lackawanna County Green Party. I’m not a registered Green Party member and am still part of the Young Democrats of Lackawanna County. However, after last night’s meeting, I sincerely am rethinking my political affiliation…

I have been learning about the Green Party only over the past month. I became interested when Jill Stein started showing increased polling and saw mainstream political articles sternly lecturing Bernie supporters that they better not support Stein. I did believe that Stein could hurt our country by aiding Trump by basically taking votes away from Clinton. This is a valid fear, however the mainstream media extremely exaggerates it. CNN, MSNBC, Politico, The Hill, WP, and NYT all have had some type of article where they demonized Bernie supporters who may be thinking of not supporting Clinton. In my opinion, this is a pretty shitty way of getting Bernie supporters to back the establishment that we have been fighting against.

So ANYWAYS. Monday night: I was at the Green Party meeting and Mr. Carl Romanelli spoke about his experience over the past 16 years as a Green Party member in NEPA and his run for US Senate in 2006. He spoke about the Green Party’s history which started in Germany in the 80s and spread throughout Europe. He also spoke about the Green Party’s history in NEPA and some of their accomplishments in the area, such as making the 7 Tubs in Luzerne County a public area.

I also met Jay Sweeney from Falls Township who is running for PA State Rep for the 112^th District. Sweeney also has been active in the Green Party for the past 16 years and graciously gave me a copy of “The Green Pages”, the National Newspaper for the Green Party, which I wasn’t even aware of.

There were a lot of good take-aways from the meeting. Romanelli compared political parties to religion in the idea that almost everyone is born into one, but only through self-reflection and research can someone find the best fit. I see this a lot in some of my friends. They were raised a certain way, and to think differently, or attempt to explore different viewpoints is sacrilegious. Something else that Romanelli said which resonated with me was “America doesn’t so much need new ideas or pure hearts- we just need a new way of looking at things”. I agree with this wholeheartedly. I think a real change of perception, and a close examination of American values are crucial to our country’s fate of being the “land of the free”. A friend of mine, Alex Lotorto, explained the Green Party as the party that puts all social movements on the ballot.  I’ve been saying recently that I wish there was a “Progressive” party, and I think I found that affiliation last night.

look at these threatening people…

After the meeting I took a petition to get Jill Stein on the ballot in November in PA, and walked to a local bar to participate in their weekly trivia night. I thought this would be a good opportunity to gather signatures since this bar gets pretty busy. The first person I asked questioned me a lot, and asked me why I would try to get Stein on the ballot since it might help Trump. My response, which is my conviction, is that I really want to vote FOR someone, not AGAINST someone. I also want headway for the Green Party. WE NEED A THIRD PARTY. Things aren’t black and white. I’m fed up with establishment politics and am ready for a real change. I explained this in so many words.

Then I approached another friend who refused to sign it, saying that it would help Trump. I tried explaining that I see this effort as a way of gaining recognition for the Green Party, but she still didn’t want to sign. She said this was the first time she stood up for something, so I get it and respect her, and anyone else’s, refusal.

After an hour and a half into the night, I asked the woman next to me if she wouldn’t mind signing. This was a mistake. If I ever saw distinct party lines, it was within this conversation. She first accused me of not knowing what I was talking about, and that the Sanders’ campaign doesn’t teach its supporters how to answer questions. NOTE: She didn’t ask me any questions- this accusation was the first thing she said to me. I told her I respected her opinion and was happy to listen to her. She then continued to lecture me on not voting for Clinton because I should be supporting our first women president. This is an argument that I have a real issue with (ironically enough, I was asking for her help to get another WOMAN presidential candidate on the ballot) and deserves a blog post of its own. I can understand where this feeling comes from, but I can’t stand behind someone who I don’t believe in. This woman continued to question my intelligence and belittle me, and then reduced the Green Party to just a pro-marijuana group. I was happy to get out of the conversation as soon as possible.

This is the issue though. People are afraid of the unknown. America has had a two party system forever, adding a third (or a fourth! or a fifth!)  is a hard concept for people to swallow. But this is the route we need to go. Issues aren’t black and white, and our parties are as polarized as ever. There isn’t room right now within our political system for a revolution, which I believe is what we need. Our elected officials don’t live in the same reality of their constituents. There needs to be a change, and I believe supporting third party candidates is a good place to start. I haven’t changed my party affiliation yet, but the more and more backlash I get from within the Democratic Party makes me very tempted to do so. As someone who cares about real issues, not the surface value entertainment the media dishes up as news, the Green Party’s platform carries real weight.

Is a Stein-Sanders Ticket a Fairy Tale?

once upon a time, there were two progressives who wanted to beat the big bad wolf and the evil witch…

So I’ve been learning more and more about the Green Party Presidential Candidate hopeful, Jill Stein, and she seems pretty great.

She recently wrote an open letter to Senator Sanders, in which she applauds his campaign’s progressive agenda, his “inspiring grassroots movement”, and makes note of the unfair attacks from the establishment and media against him. She ends the letter by inviting him to speak with her about “collaborative ways to advance the effort and ensure the revolution for people, planet, and peace will prevail”.  Sanders still hasn’t responded to this invitation, but I’m curious if he might after the DNC in Philadelphia hands over the nomination to Clinton. Sanders campaign has demonstrated a sense of integrity since the beginning- and since Sanders promised supporters he would take his campaign all the way to the convention, I believe he will do so, and that this might be delaying him from speaking with Stein.

Stein’s platform lines up very closely with Sanders. Her “Power to the People Plan” includes creating millions of jobs from transforming the country’s dependence on fossil fuels to renewable energy, end poverty by providing helpful social programs to increase social mobility, creating a single payer healthcare system, providing free education, including college education, break up big banks, increase minimum wage to $15 and hour, and make GMOs transparent. Because of this progressive stance, it’s easy to understand why Sanders supporters would embrace a Stein-Sanders ticket with open arms.

I mean, is this a crazy thought? Would it be impossible for a Stein-Sanders ticket to materialize? I don’t think so. This could be a way to get around the outdated, bought and sold, two party system and start a real revolution of the people. Sanders has said that he will not run as a third party candidate, but he never said (to my knowledge) that he wouldn’t accept a running partner position.

This would cause an even bigger problem than the DNC is worried about now with the #StillBernie and the #BernieorBust movement. These diehards would certainly give their support to a Stein-Sanders ticket, and people who are on the fence about who to vote for if the options are Clinton-Trump (meaning, do I write in Sanders? or compromise to vote against my own convictions and choose the lesser evil, which arguably is Clinton), such as myself, would be so relieved to see this ticket as a viable option.

There are still things that Stein needs to accomplish before she can seriously think about getting Sanders on her side. She still needs to get on the ballot for a lot of states, including PA. If she hopes to gain media attention and be invited to debates, she will have to receive at least 15% of the electoral vote which can be difficult if she doesn’t have Sanders supporters already.

So for all you naysayers, just let me have this daydream. I don’t want to give up on the hard work I, and so many of my new friends, have done for the Sanders campaign. If I allow myself to give up on my own ideology, then ultimately the entire establishment has won.