Draft GPUS Platform Amendment 10 key values

[NOTE FROM MARNIE: I didn't edit any of the titles of the 10 key values, just the explanatory text.]

1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY

Everyone deserves to influence the government decisions that affect their lives. We believe decision making is best done at the local level. We work to increase public participation and transparency at all levels of government, and to ensure that our public officials are fully accountable.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

The heart of social justice is the equitable distribution of social and natural resources, both locally and globally, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to develop their innate gifts and talents, and to enjoy the pleasures of life on earth. Greens believe in equal rights for citizens, regardless of gender, race, age, religion, class, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, disability, wealth or health. Everyone, in this and future generations, deserves the right to basic material goods, including food, water, shelter, clothing and education.

3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM

Our human community is a part of nature, not separate from it. We must learn to live within the natural limits of our planet, to protect animal and plant life, and the conditions that sustain it. We respect all forms of life, including non-human species. We support a sustainable society that uses natural resources with wisdom, thrift, and with future generations firmly in mind.

4. NON-VIOLENCE

We always support non-violent policies and tactics unless there is an undeniably clear need for self-defense. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace. We support demilitarization and elimination of all weapons of mass destruction.

5. DECENTRALIZATION

Greens believe in local control. We seek to reverse the increasing concentration of wealth and power, both economic and political. Decision-making should, as much as possible, remain at the individual and local, and regional levels, while assuring that fundamental rights are protected for all citizens. Power should be centralized only as a last resort. We believe in local self-reliance, buying local, and the importance of strengthening local communities.

6. COMMUNITY BASED ECONOMICS

Greens aim to build vibrant local economies, to create jobs and provide a decent standard of living for all people while maintaining balance with nature. A Green economy provides meaningful work with dignity, while paying a living wage that reflects one’s true contribution. We work to reduce the rights and powers of corporations. Instead, we support expanding the rights and powers of individuals in our economy, including the right to basic economic security. We encourage employee ownership, workplace democracy and restructuring our patterns of income distribution to reflect the wealth created by those outside the formal monetary economy.

7. FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUITY

We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with more cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender. Human values such as equity between the sexes, interpersonal responsibility, and honesty must be developed with moral conscience. We should remember that the process that determines our decisions and actions is just as important as achieving the outcome we want.

8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY

We believe it is important to value cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity, and to promote the development of respectful relationships across these lines. We believe that the many diverse elements of society should be reflected in our organizations and decision-making bodies, and we support the leadership of people who have been traditionally closed out of leadership roles. We acknowledge and encourage respect for other life forms than our own and the preservation of biodiversity.

9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY

We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal well-being and, at the same time, to enhance ecological balance and social harmony. We seek to join with people and organizations around the world to foster peace, economic justice, and the health of the planet.

10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Our actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals and quality of life, not short-term profits and open-ended economic growth. We seek to protect the planet's resources and safely disposing of all waste we create. Economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions.