GPMI Platform
Below is the GPMI's 2006 platform summary. For the printable PDF version of the platform summary, click here. For the complete platform, please click here.
GPMI 2006 Platform Summary
We urge you to look at our complete platform. (This is only a summary, which leaves out some items and oversimplifies others.) The platform is our idea of how the 10 Key Values of the Green Party can apply to individual issues, and lead us all to our goals of
Peace, Jobs, & Justice
Peace and Non-Violence: Violence is morally wrong and logistically ineffective, because it treats the symptoms of problems, not the root causes. The Bush regime has led our nation on a path to permanent war--and the Democrats have been complicit every step of the way. 9-11 is no reason to support Israels crimes against Palestinian humanity; no reason to fight a war for oil in the name of a war on terror; no reason to abandon our own civil rights and the protections of due process in the name of national security.
We are principled advocates of non-violence. This goes beyond simply not supporting violent solutions such as war or police brutality. It involves learning, using, and advocating nonviolent solutions domestically and internationally.
We do not advocate banning guns. We call for responsible use and licensing. We believe oversight of police forces should go to an independent elected board in every community.
We support a nuclear-free Great Lakes Basin. We want to end manufacturing and research that supports chemical and biological warfare.
Economic Sustainability: This is our goal for the whole economy, and we believe extending democracy into the workplace is the way to get there. The people employed in any industry should have some ability to control it. Corporations should be held accountable by every level of government. We are opposed to trade agreements (WTO, NAFTA, MAI and so on) which have the opposite effect. We support decentralized cooperative and community economics over corporate globalization; human rights over corporate rights; public utilities over privatization. On specific hot-button issues: we are for a living wage and for development of public transportation; against factory farming, antibiotics in animal feed, and genetic engineering of food crops.
Environmental Sustainability: Sustainability in the production of energy and goods is essential. Nuclear power should be eliminated. Spent nuclear fuel should be processed into its safest form (vitrified) before it is shipped on any public right-of-way. Energy sources such as solar, wind, and biomass should be developed to substitute for fossil fuels, while strategies to conserve energy are promoted.
Pollution should be eliminated wherever possible, without regard for short-term costs to polluting enterprises. We hope people will learn to consume less, recycle more, and enjoy the earth without damaging it. We are for preservation of biodiversity, environmental justice for poor communities, and specific animal rights.
Social Justice: We advocate affordable housing and affordable child care. We support universal health care, including nursing-home care where needed, and explicitly affirm a womans right to have an abortion. Political, social, and economic equality between men and women is a fundamental Green value. Health care and insurance should not be connected to employment status.
Public money should be spent only on public education--no vouchers or other schemes to divert taxes to private schools. Public schools should educate students on the subjects of health and sex. School funding should not depend on property taxes, but should be equal statewide.
We support civil and human rights and oppose discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, sexual orientation, or other ways of separating a group from ordinary humanity. Courts and prisons should work for healing and rehabilitation.
Taxes should be simple (without loopholes), understandable and progressive, taxing profits and capital gains as ordinary income. Tax policy should support environmental protection.
The War on Drugs has caused at least as much harm to the society as drug use. It should be abandoned. Funds spent on drug enforcement should be used for medical programs to treat addictions. Most drugs should be decriminalized (and taxed).
Grassroots Democracy: We support citizen involvement in all levels of decision-making. We urge broader access to the ballot, easier voter registration and an election day holiday. We believe Instant Runoff Voting and Proportional Representation would allow a greater variety of views to be expressed in elections. Real campaign-finance reform and public financing of elections is essential. Broadcast media should provide free air time for all candidates. Soft-money contributions and advertising during election campaigns should be eliminated.
We support workplace democracy including the right of workers to unionize. We do not support any form of privatization. Public resources and services should be publicly owned, democratically controlled, and managed for the common good.
Summary approved by:
Green Party of Michigan State Central Committee
548 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
e-mail:
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