Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Card-Carrying Green

It's pseudo-official - I am now a card-carrying Green. The signup was essentially uneventful, but telling in that I immediately met with frustration.

After signing up, paying my $37 or whatever, I was sent to this page. I chose to 'Volunteer' and was sent to this page, which told me:

Note on joining the Green Party:
Membership in the Green Party is through our state parties. ...


Now, I really don't know what this message is supposed to mean. I can take a few guesses, but it is not at all clear to me, and I consider myself to be fairly informed politically, now. If one of the targeted folks for the Green Party is newbies, then we have to help them along a lot more than this.

This message, in and of itself, is not the problem - the problem is with the numerous frustrations that someone seeking to find on the Green Party is likely to encounter. For instance, Googling 'green party' gives us this:

Green Party of the United States | Homepage
Official homepage of the Green Party and the Green National Committee.
www.gp.org/ - 38k - Cached - Similar pages
PLATFORM - Green Party Committees - PRESS RELEASES - STATES
More results from www.gp.org »

The Greens/Green Party USA
Official homepage of The Greens/Green Party USA.
www.greenparty.org/ - 16k - Cached - Similar pages


I still don't know who 'The Greens/Green Party USA' are, but it doesn't seem like a great thing that there is a splinter group from the main Green Party with a nearly identical name. Aren't Greens supposed to be able to resolve their problems peacefully? If they can't bring a splinter group back into the fold, how in the world are they going to stop a war?

The problem I've seen, in my limited experience with the Green Party, is that splinter groups are all too common - not because there are a bunch of people who just have to have their own party, who are perfectionists, but because the founders and people who still control the Green Party US are unwilling to concede to any change - even if it is for the best of the Party.

The saga continues...

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