Snow, Elections, the Upper Midwest and Bio-Regionalism
This morning I woke up to this beautiful site after a night of snow fall in Eastern Iowa. I spent the Thanksgiving weekend with family on the lakes between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. One relative said she voted straight ticket Green Party, first time ever voting Green for her. She didn’t know anything about the candidates, but felt voting Green was the thing to do this year.
I saw some old old friends from when I was a child that I was getting dangerously close of losing touch with. One, who used to always vote either Libertarian or Socialist (but out of principle never voted for Democrats or Republicans), told me he actually voted for Obama, but also voted for Wendy Barth, Green Party candidate for Congress.
The other old friend I visited with didn’t say who he voted for (and I never ask anyone, they just usually tell me), but he went on a long diatribe about Nader, pretty much the standard argument from Democrats that he was an egotistical maniac, that the “no difference between Bush and Gore” was bullshit and that Nader was to blame for the Iraq War and the “mess we are in now” thanks to 2000. I’ll paraphrase the discussion:
Me: “Nader ran this year and didn’t “spoil” your election, what’s the difference?”
Friend: “People came to their senses and aren’t falling for that bullshit anymore after 2000…”
Me: “Nader ran in 2004 as well but your Democrats didn’t win then, what’s the difference between 04 and 08?
Friend: “Kerry was a horrible candidate, that’s what the difference is.”
Me: “So if Democrats run a decent candidate, they can beat the Republicans, but if they run someone like Gore or Kerry they lose?”
Friend: “Gore wasn’t nearly as bad as Kerry, well he wasn’t stellar but still…”
Me: “So it isn’t the Green Party or Nader that determines your election outcome, it is the quality of your candidate…”
I love Iowa, I still consider it my “home” even though I have lived in Wisconsin for the last four years. I got involved with the Green Party when I moved to Wisconsin, and there are many differences in the political landscape between Wisconsin and Iowa. At the same time though Iowa and Wisconsin have a lot in common based on agriculture, climate, alternative energy, culture, etc., and Iowa and Wisconsin Greens could learn a lot from each other through networking. Same for Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan and perhaps other states as being part of the “Upper Midwest” – similar history, shared “bio-region”.
This last summer we held a “Great River Green Gathering” at Wyalusing State Park where the Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi on the border of Wisconsin and Iowa. Some Greens from Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin came for a weekend of camping, talking, playing, and networking. Everyone there felt we should do it again, and so we are hoping that the Second Great River Green Gathering can attract many more regional Greens.
We’ve already reserved the same indoor group camp site and lodge at Wyalusing State Park for 2009, and will try to reserve the closest outdoor group camp sites as well. The dates are August 21-23, 2009, so if you are thinking about coming mark your calendar early.
What could come of a “bio-regional” Gathering of Greens in the upper Mississippi River region? Illinois and Michigan recruited and ran a lot of candidates in 2008, others could learn from them. Wisconsin and Minnesota have a good number of elected Greens, others could learn from them. All five states have gubernatorial and other state wide races in 2010 – is there the potential for running on a common theme?
Fritjof Capra and Charlene Spretnak in the 1984 book “Green Politics” wrote this about bio-regional green organizing:
“Ecodecentralists believe bioregions are the answer to “Decentralize to what?” They want us to see where our water, our food, our energy, and our products really come from and to understand the natural carrying capacity of our area in order to develop an economy in balance with the ecosystems and minimize dependence on imported food and fuel…”
I believe that Bio-regionalism will have a major impact on future Green Party political activism on both a macro and micro scale. The challenges that states from the same region share trump artificial state borders, and Greens from neighboring states can benefit from increased networking and communication because together the sum is stronger than the parts. Potential bio-regions in the US include: New England, Appalachia, Southern Atlantic, Gulf Coast, South Central, Ohio Valley, Upper Midwest, High Plains, Middle America, South West, Rocky Mountains, Pacific Coast.
Amid these large bio-regions lay many smaller bio-regions. Many local chapters are already named after small bio-regions – in Wisconsin we have the Lake Winnebago chapter, Between the Lakes chapter, Ahnapee River chapter, Four Lakes chapter, St. Croix Valley chapter, etc.
“All Politics is Local” they say…
You’re a good photographer, Ron.