I am currently registered as "Decline to State," after having been registered in the Green Party for many years. I voted for Ralph Nader in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential elections, for Cynthia McKinney in 2008, and Jill Stein in 2012. Voting for a Democrat to keep a Republican out of the White House is not an acceptable compromise for me. Participating in the current political system at all is the compromise. I believe that protecting what remains of the Earth's resources should be the primary goal of every government. We are not masters of the Earth, we are a very part of its living body. I believe in the Wiccan Rede, "An it harm none, do as ye will." I am strongly pro-free speech and opposed to arbitrary restrictions on personal behavior based on the dominant culture's religious or moral views. I believe that workers should own their own companies, and stock ownership by outsiders should be forbidden. I believe in a universal health care system and a guaranteed living wage. I believe we should have a maximum income level — something very generous, say 10 million in 2015 dollars annually — above which one should be taxed 100%. We have too many riches concentrated among too few people while millions lie starving and dying. I do, however, believe that people should be able to own private property. I don't believe that pure Communism is tenable or even desirable. People have different needs and are naturally selfish for self-protection; we shouldn't try to make everyone the same. I am also adamantly pacifist, against violence for any reason other than direct personal self-defense. A bloodless revolution may not be possible, but I for one will not be taking up arms. Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach is a book that comes close to my ideal vision of the future. Other visionaries I admire in that regard are Starhawk (The Fifth Sacred Thing) and Ursula K. Le Guin (A Fisherman of the Inland Sea). |
Washington D.C., September 2002. |
Last modified August 6, 2015