Mac Greens

from the Macalester Public Knowledge Base

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The Greens are a student-run, activist-political organization that works to forward the Green Party's 10 key values: grassroots democracy, ecological wisdom, feminism, social justice, nonviolence, community-base economics, personal and global responsibility, respect for diversity, decentralization, and future focus. Macalester Greens work closely on projects with other student organizations of similar vision.

Website: http://macalester.edu/macgreens/about.html

Macalester St. Olaf

[edit] About

The Mac Greens strive to promote a Green consensus based upon the 10 Key Values (click for details) at Macalester College. We aim to achieve that goal through education, demonstration and electoral action. We believe in a Green movement that is social and political, combining activism and new culture formation with a true alternative in electoral politics. In Minnesota, this movement is already building momentum. As of June 2002, the MN Green Party has two members on Minneapolis City Council, one Minneapolis Parks Commissioner and one Duluth City Councilperson. Over 5% of Minnesotans voted for Ralph Nader, bringing the MN Greens major party status and public financing. The party has 23 local affiliates, a campus greens organization in the works, over 1000 people showed up at its first statewide caucuses and we held the first ever Green statewide endorsing convention May 18, 2002. Nominated were four candidates for statewide office, with many more local candidates to come. Check out www.mngreens.org for more information.

[edit] Why Green?

People identify as Green or support Green candidates for many reasons. Generally, though, it is the principled nature of the Green Party that attracts supporters. We hold our values above the pursuit of power, above winning elections and above popularity. This is not meant to devalue immediate outcomes. The goal is to maintain the future vision that puts immediate outcomes in the perspective of historic struggles. The Green Party is not necessarily about being a radical leftist or a vegan or never learning to drive a car (though we may value those characteristics). The Green Party is about forging a better world for future generations.

[edit] The Difference

The Green Party does not accept money from corporations or Political Action Committees. We use the consensus decision-making model for party meetings (see the consensus page) to include all voices. We support issues that the Republican and Democratic parties only pay lip service to, if that. These include proportional representation, instant run-off voting, single-payer, universal healthcare, abolition of the death penalty, free or reduced college tuition, labeling and banning of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), the repeal of NAFTA, WTO and others combined with a new vision of globalization, effective public transportation, the abolition of prison terms for many nonviolent crimes, and many others.

For more information, please see the Resources page. If you are interested in joining the Mac Greens, or opening a dialogue with the group, visit Join.