The Green Party that we know today officially began in 2001; however, it started as the Values Party in New Zealand in the 1970’s (Green Party- Our History). The party concentrated on “environmental sensibilities and non-violent anarchism (Green Party- Our History).” From there the party branched out into different political parties, the main one being the Green Party. It first appeared in Europe, …show more content…
The Green Party’s central beliefs lie in their 10 Key Values, as mentioned above. The first idea that they stand for is a grass roots democracy. Grassroots are “ordinary people regarded as the main body of an organization's membership (Google Definition).” They strive to “increase public participation at every level of government” and to directly include citizens in the decision-making process (Green Party- 10 Key Values). Equality is a huge part of the Green Party. They stand for social justice, equal opportunity, feminism, gender equality, and respect for diversity (Green Party- 10 Key Values). Overall, ideally, they would rid America of labels and everyone would be given equal chances and opportunities. They would also be accepted in society and treated with respect, despite differences. The Green Party’s stance on the military and the use of violence is to “work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments (Green Party- 10 Key Values).” The party agrees that without any form of military, other governments would take over the United States, therefore, self-defense is necessary and it is our duty to defend other helpless nations. The party would also like to decentralize the government, giving more power to state and local governments. This would also help to decrease national debt. What makes the Green Party so different from many