“Give Peace a Chance” was in my mind as a title, but the strong youth movements happening now inspired me to change it to “Give YOUTH a Chance!”
The campus encampments and uprisings are reminiscent of the sixties, but as NPR reported, “Two of the main differences: the U.S. doesn’t have boots on the ground in Gaza, and American college students aren’t facing the draft.” Without the danger of being drafted, today’s young people could quietly stand aside and avoid risking legal and academic consequences. Instead they are standing strong FOR a permanent ceasefire and justice in Gaza and standing AGAINST death and destruction in Gaza, and beyond. Thousands upon thousands have refused to quit.
“Divide and conquer” just might not be working as well as it used to. Young people are not swallowing it. The rich and powerful who want to keep power and control in their own hands keep trying to corral the rest of us into some “middle” ground, and convince us that to be FOR Palestinians (or, historically, to be for “women’s liberation” or “black power”) is to be AGAINST Israelis (or, historically, to be “man haters” or “anti-white”). Significantly, pro-Palestinian protesters carry signs affirming that “Anti-Zionism is not Anti-Semitism.” Many of the protesters and organizations are Jewish, and no, they are not “self-hating”.
Young people especially have also stopped believing that the two titanic political parties are on their side. They are part of the momentum growing across the country for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Youth know they face worse economic opportunities than prior generations, and they know there are alternatives: free higher education and healthcare (Europe and elsewhere), and foreign aid that consists of doctors and healthcare (Cuba) rather than weapons and warfare. Biden, instead of calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, is increasing the vast resources sent to perpetuate death and destruction. So that’s Biden! Meanwhile Trump has been convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, and yet runs for president, promising a bleak future.
Where to turn?
An obvious solution — that a majority of people want — is another national party that is viable and entirely independent of the billionaire class and their corporate money! In our obsolete two-party system, that’s called a “third party.” The good news is that such a political party exists and — like today’s youth — the Green Party has refused to quit. Despite dirty tricks.
DIRTY TRICKS — In the name of being Democratic?
First, two recommendations, and then details about dirty tricks that try to keep people from realizing that millions of people could vote Green, in California and around the country, and not “spoil the election” (the phrase itself is a lie that’s been told over and over).
Recommendation #1. Mark your calendar and register for the Green Party of California’s event “Jill Stein Community Organizing Kickoff” happening on Saturday, June 29, at 3:00–4:30pm Pacific Time. We’ll hear from Jill Stein and from her amazing campaign team about how we can give people, planet, peace and our YOUTH a chance! More information is at the registration page here.
Recommendation #2. Check out Jill Stein’s website to get more information about the only national presidential candidate that you can vote for in November who is a pro-peace, anti-genocide, pro-worker, pro-choice, and climate action candidate. You can sign up and receive email updates. I find the emails fascinating to dip into whenever I can. They cover daily stories on ballot access, movement successes, debates, media coverage and more. It’s like a real-time course on the state of our democracy. Check it out here.
Dirty Trick: Ballot Access Hurdles
While the Democratic and Republican Party presidential candidates are automatically placed on the ballot in all 50 states, third parties and independents must jump higher and higher hurdles to achieve ballot access state by state. New York has become one of the hardest places to get on the ballot in the “free world.” As a recent Jill Stein campaign email reported,
“Outrageously, after taking control of NY state government, the Democratic Party took advantage of the must-pass Covid relief budget bill to quietly triple the number of signatures we need to collect — right in the middle of a global pandemic, without public attention or discussion. This despicable maneuver shows that while the Democrats preach about ‘saving democracy’ they’ll stop at nothing to remove grassroots choices from your ballot.”
During the last week of May, the Jill Stein campaign team and supporters submitted tens of thousands of signatures to New York State. Now, the ballot access petition review process begins, which leads us to …
Dirty Trick: Gathering Intel and Managing “3PI”
Biden’s Democratic National Committee (DNC) publicly posted — and then deleted — a notice that they’re hiring political operatives to infiltrate their competition and find ways to take them off the ballot. The following is an excerpt of the job posting.
Independent & Third Party Project Manager
… will be tasked with overseeing & managing 3PI related work in their respective states …
Gathering on-the-ground intel to inform our overall landscape assessment of independent and third-party candidates, including: Ballot access progress; … Volunteers for petition review and other legal-adjacent support for potential ballot access challenges …
Responsibilities:
* Following RFK Jr., Cornel West, Jill Stein candidate events in the region and sharing intel in real time …
* Recruiting volunteers to attend third party & Independent candidate and campaign events to report back on campaign activity.
Despite dirty tricks aimed to kill off competition and kill off positive plans for the future, nevertheless youth organizers, worker organizers (from Amazon to Starbucks), and independent political party organizers — like the Greens — refuse to quit. Thank you for not quitting in all the ways you do not quit.