[Sosfbay-discuss] Greens are Progressive and Populist (was Re:Humanists; was Re: Dems won't try ...)

Thu Mar 29 11:36:58 PDT 2007

"Humanist" has an overly-specific meaning if we were looking for a term
to apply to Greens in general.  Humanists reject the transcendent (ie.
faith) and focus on human reason and human self-determination.  There
are a number of Humanists in the GPSCC and for myself I feel very
comfortable hanging with Humanists and I share many of their values. 
However being a person of faith that term wouldn't describe me unless I
said I'm a Christian-humanist and even that wouldn't quite do it for
me.  I'm definitely a humanitarian though! :-)  Among other things I'm
a Celtic-Christian-existialist Green Humanitarian. :-)

Progressive works for me.  Liberal does not because I'm not in
agreement with the tenents of Liberalism (or Conservativism for that
matter).  There's a vast difference IMO between Liberal and Progressive
and the two are by no means synonyms.  Liberals can be Progressives,
yes, but Progressive covers a much broader group of both Moderates
(like myself) and further left than Liberal types.

Greens are also Populist.  We are for The People! We have our roots in
earlier Progressive Populist movements in the US and around the world. 
Greens are a unique species that are not easily identified on the
reductionistic left-right spectrum.  The increasingly popular move in
Political Science to represent parties in a two dimensional space that
includes a Y axis to show Populist/Libertarian v Totalitarian
tendencies puts us closer to the Populist/Libertarian end.

We are fairly similar to the Libertarian Socialists (like the
Zapatistas) except we're explicitly dedicated to nonviolence whereas
they are not.  We are truly the children of the nonviolence movement of
MLK and Gandhi IMO.

Impeach for Peace!

Drew

--- Duende <egroups at duendevision.com> wrote:

> 
> On Mar 28, 2007, at 12:50 PM, Gerry Gras wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> > Duende wrote:
> >
> >> I'm uncomfortable with the label of liberal
> >
> >
> > "Liberal" became a 4 letter word for me after Gore attacked
> > Nader in late October, 2000.  Now I have mixed feelings.
> >
> >> or even progressive anymore.
> >
> >
> > I'm still ok with "progressive", but I think I see your point.
> >
> >> I'm more prone to use the label "humanist".
> >
> >
> > I have been a member of the local humanist organization
> >      http://humanists.org/
> > and the national organization
> >      http://www.americanhumanist.org/index.html
> > for years.  At least 3 other GPSCC members have participated.
> 
> I met a guy who was a Humanist and recommended that site. I never  
> checked it out since he was such a fundamentalist in his atheism that
>  
> I was a bit turned off about what he was trying to tell me.
> >
> >> Let me define
> >> humanist as someone concerned with the survival of the human race
> >> (self) and realizes that this survival requires cooperation as
> >> opposed to competition. A humanist recognizes or at least
> >> acknowledges the interdependence of all living thing and sees his
> >> survival as linked with the survival of others.
> >
> >
> > The dictionary says:
> >      http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/humanist
> > The local humanist group says:
> >      http://humanists.org/hum_def.htm
> > The American Humanist Association says:
> >      http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/faqs.php
> >      http://www.americanhumanist.org/3/HumandItsAspirations.php
> >
> > None of these talk specifically about the survival of the human
> > race.  (I assume they prefer a more positive approach).  But I
> > think most humanists are quite concerned with the current state
> > and do recognize the interdependence.
> 
> I want to define humanist as recognizing that interdependence as part
>  
> of the mission statement..not as an aside that some members recognize
>  
> it.  Other wise we end up with species arrogance which has created a 
> 
> lot of suffering all the way around. The interdependance is a must  
> since our humanity is reflected in this.
> 
> And the repetition of the word  "supernaturalism" through out their  
> manifestos. it seems they're so afraid of fundamentalist religions  
> that it appears they've closed the door on spirituality and the meta 
> 
> physical as well. This limits the human experience as well as  
> possibilities.
> 
> 
> >
> >> Also, the word
> >> "humanist" make it pretty hard for the right to attack
> >
> >
> > I don't know about that.  The right has vociferously attacked
> > "secular humanists".  And the American Humanist Association
> > fights for separation of church and state and does other
> > things as well that the right would not like.
> 
> Ahhhh. They're stuck in their own anti supernaturalism dogma. Our  
> laws (state) are going to express our morality as a people. What they
>  
> need to do is inject their own morality (dignity for human kind) into
>  
> the laws rather than trying to take the "church's" out... mater of  
> fact make the churches morality which is supposed to be based on a  
> man who told us to love one another, make that morality the one  
> expressed in our laws.
> 
> I'll need to request that they qujit using the name of Humanist until
>  
> the can get over this personality clash :-)
> 
> 
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> Becoming the change that you want to see is a lot more than just
> >> recycling and riding a bike.
> >
> >
> > For sure!
> >
> > In fact, I believe in the assumptions held by those who talk
> > about "The Great Turning", namely that the human race is facing
> > an unprecedented situation, where things will get either much
> > worse or much better, there is nothing in between.  And to get
> > much better requires a lot of changes.
> >      http://www.joannamacy.net/html/great.html
> >      http://thegreatturning.net/
> 
> I'm definitely going to check out the sites on "The Great Turning".  
> There's definitely something in the air (other than pollution) This  
> is a time of great opportunity and I tend to feel that it's a time to
>  
> make great choices and it's not if I should use Linux or Windows  
> Vista. (OS X wins of course)
> 
> Peace
> 
> Duende
> 
> ____________________________________
> The basis of life is Freedom
> The objective of life is Joy
> The result of life is Growth
> - Abraham, 1989
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 

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