I need to found my own party, even if it will not show up in the poll:
Name of Party: GAIA (Green Anarchists International Association)
Approximate Political Category: Green anarchism/ Deep Ecology/ Social Ecology
National Security (Internal and External): On a larger scale, the use of force only serves to treat the symptoms of social wrongs, but not their causes. As such, it is a necessary evil in protecting citizens from harm, but contributes little to an actual solution.
The best way to keep desperate refugees from poor countries from trying to cross into our own (as in the case of Africans trying to enter the EU and Mexicans doing the same in the US) is to end the neo-colonialist exploitation of their countries of origin. Far too many countries have been reduced to mere thralls to the World Bank or some multinational corporations, and are independent in name only.
"Pre-emptive strikes", meaning military invasions of foreign territories without due cause, are illegal. We must deal with the aftereffects of the neo-con policies and try our best to help the Iraqi and Afghan population recuperate from the war - but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't withdraw our troops at the earliest opportunity.
The Guantanamo camp will be closed. It was a very obvious attempt at violating the very principles of law that have made the US a free country and a paragon of Western democracy to begin with.
Education and Health Care:
Education and Scientific Research must be our top priority. The best way to ascertain social justice is to make sure that a top-rate education is no longer an exclusive privilege or rich kids and a few working class geniuses that are funded so that the rich can feel better about keeping the poor people out for the most part.
Research needs more government funding in order to be truly independent. Privately funded projects will always tend to exhibit some unavoidable bias towards producing exactly the results the investor desires. Furthermore, we need to invest in research into renewable energy sources, for obvious reasons.
Universal health care is mandatory. It's insufferable that a wealthy nation does not take care of its citizens, and leaves people to suffer and die because they cannot pay for treatment on their own. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and thus, it is our moral duty to contribute to the well-being of our neighbours.
Furthermore, economic interests and public health do not go well together. The first focuses on profit maximization, the second on the welfare of patients - and those two are very often at odds with each other.
Social Issues: Social legislation should be kept to an absolute minimum, and social values are the domain of individuals and/or communities. If religion X feels that their members ought not to eat oysters, they are free not to buy and eat them, but that doesn't mean that all oysters are henceforth prohibited and mustn't be sold. The same applies to sexual taboos and so forth. The law is only concerned with protecting people from harm - and in most cases, social or religious taboos do not fall into that category.
Transport and Utilities: No natural monopoly should ever be in private hands, lest the owner exploits his position to milk those who depend upon it.
Public transportation ought to be owned by communities, as again, profit maximization and public interests tend to be at odds with each other. Furthermore, public transportations needs to become more attractive, losing its social stigma.
The Economy, Businesses, and Jobs: As it is, international politics are dominated by undemocratic institutions like the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank, while international banks and corporations concentrate more power in their hands than most states.
In light of our technological possibilities, globalization is unavoidable, but we need to keep the market under democratic control, ascertaining that the monetary elite does not abuse its power to exploit those who are less powerful. Any full-time job should result in a wage that makes life sustainable, and "sweat shops" need to be combated. It is important to guide the market in a direction where long-term sustainability becomes a factor again, instead of proliferating a system that focuses on short-term profits and the least possible ethical standard. Right now, the most ruthless and unethical corporations are those with the largest profit margin, and those who act in the most responsible fashion are the ones that suffer.
Other: Environmental concerns are (naturally) important to GAIA, but we do not believe that coercion by force could ever render the desired results. Instead, we must seek to educate people, to make investing into eco-tech more attractive to companies, and to stop major corporations from acting against the interests of local communities.
