[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]Green Party to Obama: Whether Continue reading

The Occupy movement is an example of a case where demanding the impossible instigates real incremental change to be possible. When the Occupy movement emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, many in the media refused to acknowledge that it had a coherent set of demands or solutions. Over time, the reporting of the movement diverged widely from the reality of the various occupations across the country. Each encampment, itself an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, conducted a General Assembly where direct consensus-based democracy occurred. It was through this process that demands were articulated and solutions proposed. But since direct democracy is a very rare phenomenon at this time in the United States, the media and various pundits refused to recognize it as a valid method for organization and expression, let alone as a way to put forth demands and solutions. Corporate power, and the limiting of real democracy through a representative form of government, has made direct democracy seem to appear as a foreign element in the American tradition. However, as historians such as Howard Zinn have shown when discussing the various social movements of this nation, direct democracy has been one of the main methods for self-organization. And as David Graeber has demonstrated, direct democracy even preceded ancient Greece in one form or another in various tribal societies. In other words, there is a long history of this type of political organization but it has been excluded from the narrative of the West for so long, or pacified by being converted into the republicanism of the state, that it does not have the chance to speak in the language that many are used to. Current forms of power have made that impossible. Therefore, the demands made by the Occupy movement would at first seem impossible, or so out of step with the status quo that it could be targeted as being idealistic, utopian, or naïve. Divorced from the master narrative of the republican form of government and capitalist economy, the ideas of ending corporate personhood and ending corporate funding of electoral campaigns on their own seem both practical and concise. It is when it is outside of the structure of meaning and its corresponding structure of power that it can be defined as impossible. But the sudden rise of this movement is an example of how new ideas can be injected into the existing system so that the system itself transforms and realigns what it considered possible and impossible. In order for the possible to even begin, there must be a demand for the impossible. Continue reading

People's State of the Union: A Green New Deal for America from Jill Stein for President on Continue reading

A teach-in on Progressive Taxes, Single-Payer Healthcare, and Independent Campaigns for Public Office Sunday, February 12, 2-5pmArtRage Gallery 505 Hawley Ave., Continue reading

Green Party to President Obama: Hands off Iran; work for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and restore good Continue reading

Governor Cuomo’s agenda for 2012 is designed to maintain the power and wealth of the 1%, promoting austerity rather than Continue reading

The Green Party will host a live online chat during President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address on Jan. Continue reading

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"] Continue reading

A public conversation with Green Party Presidential Candidate, Dr. Jill Stein and journalist, Matt Rothschild ... watch at http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus

Economic democracy can be very useful as a starting point and toolbox for the world that the Occupy movement is fighting for. 1. The Occupy movement is unique in that it uses an internal democratic process through the General Assemblies alongside the nonviolent civil disobedience of the occupation sites themselves. This internal democracy is the method used to discover grievances, demands, and solutions which is very vital to the identity of the movement and its subsequent actions. It is a bottom-up process that is shaped by its participants. The internal democracy is also an example of prefiguration which means, in the words of the I.W.W., “creating the new world in the shell of the old”. Prefiguration is distinct from either revolution or reform and that is why it can be difficult for the status quo to pin down and stereotype this movement. Economic democracy can be a potential solution that can be developed through the General Assemblies, and can be quite helpful as a starting point in the overall discussion as to how to deal with the inherent problems of the existing economic order. But economic democracy is also prefiguration in that the participants shape and control the enterprises they are within. It can be very easy for the General Assemblies to transition to democratic forms in an alternative economy since the process is similar and follows parallel principles of organization. Continue reading

Disillusioned Voters Gear up for Corporate Party Transfer Day on December 17thNapa, California—December 11, 2011On December 17th, those dissatisfied with Continue reading

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images"] Continue reading

The Green Party of NY State slammed Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature's proposed tax bracket reshuffling as a major Continue reading

The race for the 2012 Green Party Presidential nomination has begun!Two candidates for our nomination - Jill Stein and  Continue reading

Ian WilderGreen Party of Suffolk Secretaryat Black Friday Demonstration A number Continue reading

As the Occupy movement exists so does the Green Party, sharing an affinity of peace, ecology, justice, and democracy. For two months, there has been a new expression of the will of the people. Occupy Wall Street, along with hundreds of other occupations across this nation, is vital to the future for two reasons. First, it is important as the articulation of the immense dissatisfaction of those who still find themselves unable to survive in this failing economy. A gigantic income inequality, the inordinate power that corporations have over our democratic process, and the calls for austerity that push more people into poverty with less economic rights all demonstrate that the status quo is untenable. Second, through the direct democracy of the General Assemblies that are practiced at each occupation, we find that new alternative political and economic forms are viable and possible. This new democracy from the streets is how the grievances, demands, and solutions of the protesters are formulated rather than prefabricated by corporate backers such as the Koch brothers. What is being seen is the actualization of ideas from Buckminster Fuller and Mario Savio. Fuller proposed that the best way to convince someone would be to create a working model that makes the old system obsolete. Savio stated that when the machine becomes so odious it becomes necessary to put bodies upon the gears to make it stop. This prefiguration and nonviolent civil disobedience makes this a special moment in American history. The movement is made up of hard working people who played by the rules but the economy failed them. Truly, the U.S. is at a pivot point of change in its history. Continue reading

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Occupy Wall Street protesters walk towards Foley Square after New York City police in riot gear Continue reading

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by sebastien.barre via Flickr"] Continue reading

Close Election Sends Strong Progressive Message -  A message from Howie HawkinsWe received 48.2% of the vote on election night, Continue reading

The New York State Green Party celebrated the strong runs of candidates around the state, including former gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins Continue reading

Robert ClementeMayor of UticaHowie HawkinsSyracuse Common Council, 4th District, 1,072 Votes   48.093%Cecile LawrenceTioga County Legislature, 3rd Disstrict, 35% Continue reading