Okay, so this isn't technically a book, but it's long enough and interesting enough and important enough that I'm going to do a post about it anyway. The full document, outlining and explaining the Green Party's policies for the UK's general election of earlier this month, is freely available here as an 84-page pdf file. As an avid supporter of the party, I'd accrued a strong familiarity with their policymaking intentions, and I already had a substantial overlap between the visions and values underpinning them and the relevant aspects of my worldview. Of all the prominent parties in the UK the Greens alone are presenting concrete steps toward a complete philosophical overhaul of our broken system, showing the roads we might take to an alternative future for the way we construct our society and economy. I know it's a bit late to persuade anyone to vote for them now, since the predictable bunch of established interests held and even expanded their powerful grip on our unfortunate society. But today I'm having the weekend off uni work (following a horrific exam on Friday) and was feeling glum about the state of current events so I reread the manifesto in its entirety to remind me of some of the things I believe can and should be done, and the reasons why. I'm not going to list them or even overview them here. There's a link to the full manifesto above, go give it a read if you, like me, are disillusioned with the 'main parties'.
Political engagement is an act of freedom, an act of collective hope and progressive change. Environmental and international global peace is achievable, sustainable economic prosperity for all is achievable, social liberty that empowers and includes everyone is achievable. But we need to start voting for it, and we also need to push for the way we vote to change (check out the Electoral Reform Society, who do some great prominent campaigns to this end), and most importantly we need to realise that democracy is more than just voting. To be an active citizen is to be an activist; organise, educate, mobilise, protest, be involved in problem-solving and reproaching our leaders, we must as a society learn how to create and maintain stable communities, to challenge oppression of all kinds, to run markets and institutions in ways that benefit the most people rather than a few and without ruining the planet, we must be willing to learn new ways of thinking about and doing things and ready to implement them. And yes, this model of being an active citizen sounds like a lot of work, because unfortunately it is. Society is thoroughly messed up and since democracy is (ostensibly) the best form of government it falls to all of us together to try and get it back on track. But this transition is doable. Many are held back by selfishness, laziness, short-sightedness, or most commonly, the pressures of their own place in this broken world, from properly engaging with the struggle for justice. You probably won't agree with everything in the Green Party manifesto (even I don't) but you may agree with enough of their analysis of the wrongs of the world and the need to right them, and to do this, we need the widespread and active support and engagement of people, and giving that to humanity is far more important than giving your vote to any particular party.*
* Although the Green Party's policy aims make it the most consistent with the general struggle for justice, and so as an activist I do still urge you to support them.
Political engagement is an act of freedom, an act of collective hope and progressive change. Environmental and international global peace is achievable, sustainable economic prosperity for all is achievable, social liberty that empowers and includes everyone is achievable. But we need to start voting for it, and we also need to push for the way we vote to change (check out the Electoral Reform Society, who do some great prominent campaigns to this end), and most importantly we need to realise that democracy is more than just voting. To be an active citizen is to be an activist; organise, educate, mobilise, protest, be involved in problem-solving and reproaching our leaders, we must as a society learn how to create and maintain stable communities, to challenge oppression of all kinds, to run markets and institutions in ways that benefit the most people rather than a few and without ruining the planet, we must be willing to learn new ways of thinking about and doing things and ready to implement them. And yes, this model of being an active citizen sounds like a lot of work, because unfortunately it is. Society is thoroughly messed up and since democracy is (ostensibly) the best form of government it falls to all of us together to try and get it back on track. But this transition is doable. Many are held back by selfishness, laziness, short-sightedness, or most commonly, the pressures of their own place in this broken world, from properly engaging with the struggle for justice. You probably won't agree with everything in the Green Party manifesto (even I don't) but you may agree with enough of their analysis of the wrongs of the world and the need to right them, and to do this, we need the widespread and active support and engagement of people, and giving that to humanity is far more important than giving your vote to any particular party.*
* Although the Green Party's policy aims make it the most consistent with the general struggle for justice, and so as an activist I do still urge you to support them.
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