Letters

We have met the crisis--and the crisis is us

This letter is in response to Peter Camejo's article, "The Crisis in the Green Party." [See www.greens4democracy.org.]

I have been in the military, so I have an understanding of how awesomely big and powerful this nation is. In my efforts to seek out Greens who are active and to activate those who are inert, it has not been possible for me to escape the stark reality that our opposition party is so small it is barely perceptible. The inability of such a small political group, dedicated to promoting the concept of democracy, to elect its own standard bearer without the consequence of party bifurcation is evidence of an organizational immaturity and of an abortively destructive lack of cooperation.

Rampant political cannibalism and counterproductive leadership have been endemic to the left. That is essentially why the right always wins. Those of us in the left who are able to maintain an optimistic nature should work together to create a viable Green Party, one capable of attracting larger numbers from the millions of those who are politically disaffected. We need to cultivate a leadership comprised of people who are possessed of a more even temperament and of a more considered thought process. We need to be more generous with each other. This can be done without sacrificing principles.

To grow and to become effective--to move off the street and into political office--the left must change both its ways and its means. Before we attempt to civilize the world, we must first civilize ourselves.

David J. Cyr
Delhi, New York

A great campaign

I wanted to take this time to congratulate David and Pat for running a great campaign on behalf of our party. You both showed great class in the way you conducted yourselves throughout the contest. Even though we are disappointed you didn't win, the Green Party came out stronger than ever based upon your tireless work. Thank you for standing up for Ohio's voters when the other parties would not. Thanks for standing up for people like me who are frustrated and angry over the direction this country is taking.

I have come to the conclusion that things can't get much worse politically on the national scene. I believe it is time to throw away the safe state campaigns and run full out in 2008. We need to look for a candidate with the national spotlight such as Michael Moore, with the eloquence of a Toni Morrison. It's obvious that the Democrats are no longer willing to be an opposition party--not that I thought they ever were. Recent votes on the (Morally) Bankruptcy Bill clinch the fact that they have shed the final protection due to lower- and middle-income America.

Although I want a strong candidate in future presidential elections, I will not be supporting Ralph Nader. Ralph is still my Public Hero #1, but I can't support the recent actions (in my opinion) to try to destroy what he helped create, namely our national party. I look forward to working with David and Pat in future endeavors that will help bring justice to this great country of ours!

Nick Mellis
New Jersey

U.N. is part of the problem

My comments apply to the recent editorial, "The nonviolence of U.N. Peacekeepers" by Dan Rodriguez Schlorff, Green Pages Editorial Board.

The editorial by Schlorff has several major defects. First of all, it is not just in Liberia that U.N. forces have been a threat to local children. The same occurred in East Timor and may be still going on. Secondly, the intervention in Chechnya was in support of Russian occupation policy and opposed to the fighters for independence from Russia.

U.N. involvement helped lead to the initial mass murders in Kosovo, and today they exercise dictatorial power over the country. The U.N. is currently engaged in selling off the assets of the land of Kosovo to the highest bidder.

In general, many Greens and leftists have major illusions about the U.N., which has always sought the peace of the status quo or of maintaining the power of oppressors.

The GP-US should oppose all support to military and so-called peacekeeping efforts of the U.N. The U.N. is a front for the capitalist class as a whole, and the fights one sees are factional fights within the capitalist class.

The locals always suffer.

Don't forget the U.N. failure in Rwanda, their holding of the phoney election that gave West Papua to Indonesia many years ago and their involvement in creating the current Iraqi puppet regime.

The U.N. is part of the problem and not part of the solution to the problems of the world.

Les Evenchick
New Orleans, Louisiana

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