Where Do the Greens Go Now? Letters on Unity.

• Author: Evenchick, Les

The "Unity" Proposal

As a new G/GPUSA person I am very disturbed by the reasoning both for and against the unity proposal.

I strongly support involvement in electoral activity, ran as an environmental candidate for Destin, FL City Council in 1990 (20% of the vote), ran for School Board this past election in New Orleans endorsed by the Greater New Orleans Green Party (3.44% of the vote on a $250 budget) and am coordinator of our local party's Election Committee trying to find a candidate for a special state House election. I note this because I do not favor the ASGP as an organization or the proposed conversion of the ASGP into a national party.

I am disturbed at my initial reading of Howie Hawkin's messages because reading his positions on democratic control in the past helped convince me to join the GPUSA last July. I do not see the ASGP leadership as having any real understanding of democratic control from the bottom. I have read their by-laws and do not consider them sufficiently democratic.

The ASGP steering committee is clearly reformist and Nader has proposed running candidates in 2002 only against non-progressive Democrats. This will create illusions that the Democratic Party. is reformable when it clearly isn't. The ASGP steering committee supports Nader's view as far as I can tell.

Going along with the unity proposal will guarantee that the large majority of US residents will once again have no real choice in 2004. Please note that of the Nader vote only about a fourth came from previous non-voters.

Unity is not an automatic good. I see ASGP as shell corporation that is trying to put meat on its bones, bringing the real activists under its domination by being the National Green Party. It is not clear to me that the coordinating committee of the ASGP actually controls the steering committee, it seems to me the other way around. A fellow New Orleans Green did an analysis of the Texas bylaws and found they are a top down structure. These are bylaws promoted by David Cobb, legal advisor to ASGP.

I afraid Howie and others who desire unity at apparently any cost do not know what they are up against. Without "unity" I believe there is a chance the ASGP state affiliates could reform the steering committee; but turning ASGP into a national party will prevent that and eliminate any chance of control from the bottom.

What kind of message do we send to Greens around the world if ASGP policies become US Green policies? Don't forget the history...