140 / Why on earth would you vote Greens?
I
vote Greens for two reasons: Firstly, every time Bob Brown is on tv he makes
immense sense, and ever since I read his book - Memo for a saner World - I believed he is probably the only politician we have with integrity. Secondly,
their policies are right.
What
endear the Greens to me is their comprehension that three crucial aspects in
our lives - economy/society/environment - are intricately intertwined, and they
act upon that all policies must be based on this understanding.
The
Greens advocate an economic rationality that the two major parties can’t wrap
their brains around: Climate Change offers opportunities to those countries
that embrace alternative energy policies, and embrace them early. The major
parties, in contrast, are stuck in the mindset that counteracting climate
change will cost too much and destroy the economy.
No
other party is willing to protect the environment the way the Greens do … for
instance, to the Greens it’s anathema to use fertile farming land for
development, whether it’s industry, roads or housing.
One
crucial point of difference to the majors is the Greens believe in steady state
economics - where the economy does not grow. For the major parties ongoing
economic growth is mandatory. For the Greens it’s not sustainable.
They
have many more good policy ideas - very fast trains between capital cities;
support for public transport over more road building; public dental
care; opposition to nuclear power & mining; to support the strengthening of
the UN - to name just a few.
But the greatest reason for me to vote Greens is
their pacifist convictions: NO WAR, get out of Afghanistan and don’t get into
another war. If Barak Obama says, “I don’t just want to end the war, I want to
change the mindset that got us into war in the first place,” then this change
has already occurred with the Greens.