Blog #6

Blog #6

I was extremely shocked about how bold Green Democracy readings were. While extreme,  they do show the need of something that the green party values attack, a strong central government. The readings mentioned that communities are not all created equal in the United States; for example, some communities are “poisoned” without government taking any form of preventive action. Also environmental regulations have not benefited all areas minorities are affected by this. When I read these, it still screams for the need of a more powerful federal government to enforce and protect the populous.  I know many Green party candidates understand this because quite often in their platforms, the idea of a stronger more productive government is mentioned.

I was also shocked to see how much the readings focused on racism, to the point that it became obsessive and unrealistic at points. From the studies I have done, it’s not so much that the world is racist and trying to negatively impact these communities. It’s also not minorities vs whites. It mainly comes down to the rich against the poor. These communities are not targeted for being Black or Latino. They are targeted for being lower income and weak voting turnouts. Communities that prevent or change such negative situations do so by politics, whether voting or lobbying.  The minority lower income areas might see longer periods of harmful actions due to less political action. If we look at polling data, in nation elections, African Americans and Latinos each make up 10% of the vote totaling to 20% compared to whites who make up around 70%. These numbers get worse in state elections and local elections. We also see wealthier individuals vote significantly more than lower income citizens.  Lower income African Americans and Latinos vote less than lower income Whites. When we taking voting out of the main picture, all that we are left with is that wealthier citizens can afford safer areas, and statistically speaking, there are more wealthy whites in American than minorities. This is why the problems in the reading occur. So I believe the readings are looking at these situations completely wrong. Its not a race issues, it’s a voting and income issue.

My group came out with a rough outline about the ways in which to teach our subject. One area we will have to discuss in detail is the Green Party platform, since it is one of the most important topics within green democracy.  Also I believe it could be useful to show the legislative green democracy alongside the radical activists like Earth First! To truly know a topic, one must know all the angles, positives and negatives.