[Marin-d] from cat woods: leaving the Green Party

[Marnie Glickman]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Cat Woods <cat801 at mindspring.com>
> Date: October 2, 2008 11:45:16 PM PDT
> To: GPUS list <natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org>
> Subject: [usgp-nc] leaving the Green Party
> Reply-To: "The natlcomvotes \(aka National Committee Votes\)  
> listserv is for decision-making and management of GP-US affairs." <natlcomvotes at green.gpus.org 
> >
>
> WHY WE ARE LEAVING THE GREEN PARTY
> October 2, 2008
>
> We, the undersigned delegates to the National Committee of the Green  
> Party of the United States (GPUS), are hereby exiting the Green  
> Party. The movement to democratize the Green Party, which began four  
> years ago, has failed. Furthermore, there is no provision in the  
> structure of the party to provide recourse to its members when  
> entrenched leaders overstep their authority or violate the values  
> and rules of the party. The structure of the party allows grassroots  
> democracy – the will of its members – to be disregarded in the name  
> of “decentralization” while, at the same time, centralizing the  
> result of its undemocratic nomination process. The net result is  
> that state Green parties strong enough to have ballot lines are  
> controlled by an unaccountable small clique of people outside of  
> those states. When even the few reforms that have been adopted by  
> the national party can be ignored with impunity, we believe that  
> further effort on our part to work for reform would be a waste of  
> our energy and resources.
>
> In leaving the Green Party, we are not looking backward to the so- 
> called “Democratic” and “Republican” parties. We learned long ago  
> that the corporate funding and control of these two parties  
> precludes the possibility of becoming a vehicle for needed political  
> change. They long ago betrayed their ostensible constituencies and  
> values. This is, in fact, why we have spent so many years working to  
> make the Green Party into a real vehicle for change.
>
> We now believe that a new national progressive political party must  
> be formed – one that ensures democratic standards for its members as  
> part of its base structure, one with an explicit mission to pose an  
> electoral challenge to the corporate-controlled “two-party system” –  
> in order for greater justice, peace and ecological balance to become  
> achievable goals. We call upon those who believe in these goals to  
> come together to create an alternative that does not spin its wheels  
> and those of its members, that instead establishes a competent,  
> accountable and democratic structure that strengthens and inspires  
> its members toward those goals.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Cat Woods, Green Party member of 16 years, GPUS delegate, Marin  
> county council member
> Ann Tompkins, Green Party member of 8 years, GPUS delegate, former  
> Sonoma county council member
> Marilyn Ditmanson, Green Party member of 8 years, GPUS delegate,  
> former Butte county council member
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> If your state delegation changes, please see:
> http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html
>
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>
> For other information about the Coordinating Committee, see:
> http://gp.org/committees/nc/

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Marnie Glickman
Executive director
Green Change

www.greenchange.org
503.313.7919 w
707.313.7919 f
skype: marnieglickman

Green Change is a community of people with Green values:  justice,  
grassroots democracy, sustainability and non-violence.  We work  
together to share Green art, politics and culture.













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