Sunday, October 18, 2015

Civil Disobedience to secure electoral PR ?

Some of the world's leading nations are without proportional representation (PR) in their parliamentary electoral system. They also, by no coincidence, lead the way in opposing real action to prevent the sixth extinction and runaway global warming.

If they don't quickly change to PR, and elect meaningful numbers of environmental party MPs --- thus changing their political direction on environmental issues, all of the rest of Humanity will very soon kill off (and burn off) most of the biosphere.

In that light, I see no moral objections to being personally part of a peaceful campaign of civil disobedience - including accepting being arrested - to secure PR in places like the UK, Canada, Australia etc.

By PR, by the way I don't mean AV or preferential balloting - that is worse, in many ways, than what FPTP (First-Past-The-Post) offers now.

Pressuring the pro FPTP conservative parties is meaningless - but pressuring the liberal cum democratic socialist parties should work.

They 'claim', after all, to favour some form of PR - but just never put their physical money where their rhetorical mouth is.

Occupying their national HQ and local riding offices, picketing in front of MPs' homes, etc might move the needle.

The fight for votes for women and blacks, rights for gays and the handicapped weren't achieved solely by grey men and women in grey suits quietly buttonholing their fellow members of the elite.

I am more than willing to go to jail to help save the planet's biosphere.

But only if it means I go to jail while advocating a national and in fact international move to PR and thus real global progress on global warming, not merely to hold up a local clear-cutting operation.

Greens think globally. Sometimes they should also act globally.

And act boldly.

Very very boldly....

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