will Third Parties Emrge in the 2014 USA midterm elections

[Sedikal]

I don't give a fuck about parties, the real question is when will we get any respectable candidates?

As in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?

Nice on film but it won't happen.

Ah sadly it is true you will almost never happen in Washington. Although I have read about Cory Booker (mayor of Newark) who is probably one of the most commendable political figures I've heard of in a long time. He's running for senate (if I remember correctly) to which I hope he gets it but sadly I don't think he will have a shot at a presidential election.

[The Parkus Empire]

Non-interventionists. I don't think any of the rest is part of their platform.

WRONG!

Excerpts from the Green platform:

1. The Green Party calls for a complete, thorough, impartial, and independent investigation of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, including the role of the administration of George W, Bush, various U.S. based corporations and interests, and other nations and third parties.

19. Promote policies to encourage the people of the United States to watch less television, and instead to spend time with their families, friends and neighbors, and to engage in myriad other constructive, artistic or healthful pursuits.

j. Our government should establish a policy to abolish nuclear weapons.

2. The Green Party supports only the peaceful and sustainable exploration of Space, on a case-by-case, mission-specific basis, including the signing of the International Treaty for the Demilitarization of Space. The Green Party advocates a reduction of human-staffed space flight due to the high cost and risk for human life and the availability of automated technology that can perform necessary functions in space-based research.

Feelings of isolation and helplessness are common in America today. Children are increasingly shaped by an "electronic childhood" with little direct experience of nature and free play. Our families are scattered, our popular culture is crassly manipulated by the profit motives of increasingly concentrated media conglomerates, and our sense of community is a pale shadow of what earlier generations of Americans knew.

The Green Party strongly believes that quality of life is determined not only by material aspects that can be measured and counted, but also by elements that cannot be quantified. We firmly support the separation of church and state, but we also acknowledge the spiritual dimension of life, and we honor the cultivation of various types of spiritual experience in our diverse society.

We believe that artistic expression and a thriving structure of art institutions are key to community well-being. We believe that a deep and broad embrace of nonviolence is the only effective way to stop cycles of violence, from the home to the streets to the international level. We advocate a diverse system of education that would introduce children early to the wonders of the Great School (Nature), and would cultivate the wisdom of eco-education, eco-economics, eco-politics, and eco-culture. We seek to protect our children from the corrosive effects of mass culture that trains them to regard themselves first and foremost as consumers.

We support the shift in modern medicine to include healing through complementary therapies and engagement with the Great Hospital (Nature). We seek, in short, to facilitate the healthy unfolding of the person within the unfolding story of the family, community, bioregion, state, nation, and Earth community.

Greens support a wide-range of health care services, not just traditional medicine which too often emphasizes "a medical arms race" that relies upon high-tech intervention, surgical techniques and costly pharmaceuticals. Chronic conditions are often best cured by alternative medicine. We support the teaching, funding and practice of holistic health approaches and as appropriate, the use of complementary and alternative therapies such as herbal medicines, homeopathy, naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and other healing approaches.

e. Primary and preventive care as priorities, including wellness education about diet, nutrition and exercise; Holistic health including homeopathy, naturopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, herbalism and medical marijuana;

b. Switch to local food production and distribution. Localized, organic food production and distribution reduce fossil fuel usage and enriches soil that sequesters more carbon dioxide.

a. Many other solutions being pushed, including nuclear power, coal, industrial-scale biofuels, and low-grade fossil fuels such as oil shale and tar sands, create more problems than they solve.

The Green Party advocates the phase-out of nuclear and coal power plants. All processes associated with nuclear power are dangerous, from the mining of uranium to the transportation and disposal of the radioactive waste. Coal is the largest contributor to climate change with estimates as high as 80%.

a. The generation of nuclear waste must be halted. It is hazardous for thousands of years and there is no way to isolate it from the biosphere for the duration of its toxic life. We oppose public subsidies for nuclear power. Cost is another huge factor making it unfeasible, with each new nuclear power plant costing billions of dollars.

b. The Green Party calls for a formal moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants, the early retirement of existing nuclear power reactors, and the phase-out of technologies that use or produce nuclear waste, such as nuclear waste incinerators, food irradiators, and all uses of depleted uranium.

1. The Green Party recognizes that there is no such thing as nuclear waste "disposal." All six of the "low-level" nuclear waste dumps in the United States have leaked. There are no technological quick fixes that can effectively isolate nuclear waste from the biosphere for the duration of its hazardous life. Therefore, it is essential that generation of additional nuclear wastes be stopped.

2. The Green Party calls for the early retirement of nuclear power reactors as soon as possible (in no more than five years), and for a phase-out of other technologies that use or produce nuclear waste. These technologies include non-commercial nuclear reactors, reprocessing facilities, nuclear waste incinerators, food irradiators, and all commercial and military uses of depleted uranium.

13. Substitute chemical safety testing on animals with alternatives that do not use animals, wherever such alternative tests or testing strategies are available. (we are a long way from computer simulations that can replace animal testing - we can't even properly simulate protein folding yet

17. Ban indiscriminate wildlife "damage control practices" and abolish Wildlife Services.

14. Applying the Precautionary Principle to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we support a moratorium until safety can be demonstrated by independent (non-corporate funded), long-term tests for food safety, genetic drift, resistance, soil health, effects on non-target organisms, and cumulative interactions.

5. We oppose monopolistic production of high-tech hybrid seeds. This is the basis of monoculture where agribusiness relies on non-sustainable methods such as single crop varieties bred with industrial traits and grown with high input of energy, chemicals, and pesticides. This has led to a massive loss of biodiversity, displacing traditional varieties and seed stocks.

1. Redirect the funds that are disbursed annually by the National Institutes of Health away from animal experiments and more towards direct health care, preventive medicine, and biomedical research using non-animal procedures such as clinical, epidemiological, and cell culture research.

2. Phase out the use of animals for consumer product testing, tobacco and alcohol testing, psychological testing, classroom demonstrations and dissections, weapons development and other military programs.

7. Ban sonar testing in the oceans.

We cannot rely on technological progress to solve ecological and long-term economic problems. Rather, we should endeavor to make lifestyle choices that reinforce a general equilibrium of humans with nature. This requires consciously choosing to foster environmentally sound technologies, whether they are newer or older technologies, rather than technologies conducive to conspicuous consumption and waste.
ment — a qualitative process not gauged by GDP growth and other measures that overlook ecological effects.

7. Establish local currencies such as Time Dollars, Ithaca Hours and BerkShares, to strengthen local economies.

9. Government has a vital role in breaking up software monopolies, not so much by filing antitrust suits, but by buying nothing but open systems. The U.S. Government and the larger states are buyers large enough to influence the computer and software systems through their purchasing. It should be illegal for a government agency to create and store information vital to its operations in a format it doesn't control. Governments should always consider storing information with open-source software and in-house staff instead of only commercial systems, vendors and software. One way to achieve this would be to add a virtual bid for in-house open source deployment whenever a software purchase goes out for bid.

The Green Party calls for a halt to nanotechnology development until the following conditions are met:
11. Development of full and open public debate about the implications of nanotechnology and the fusion of nanotech with biological, materials and information sciences.
12. Development of democratic public control mechanisms to regulate the direction of nanotechnology research and development.

I love them!!!

[The Parkus Empire]

No actual anarchist uses an adjective
No actual anarchist supports a democratic system party.

Wrong.

This chapter of the Green Party draws inspiration from a primitivist who also wants to abolish math because it is supposedly "heirarchical" and "authoritarian".

Anarchists don't outlaw/ban things, especially math. Kinda proved my point right there

[Sedikal]

No.

And thank god for that.

The American two-party system creates a delicate system of balance. Both sides balance each other out, preventing extremism on both sides. Ruining this balance with Greens, Libertarians, Constitutionalists or any other third parties would be a terrible mistake.

Yeah but they it would be 7 parties bickering but two coalitions doing the work of the two parties. I don't personally object to the assertion of third parties because of this very factor. Although like I said parties don't really mean shit if the people that represent those parties our corrupt, cynical, or just plain retarded. But no matter how many parties there will be which I only see like a max of 4 our 5 there will still be the coalition of conservative parties and liberal parties.

[Farnhamia]

No.

No.

[Regnum Dominae]

WRONG!

I love them!!!

You love 9/11 truthism, publicly funded homeopathy, and opposition to modern medicine?

[Caninope]

Our current system is designed in such a way as that unless a voice of reason gets 5% of the vote, they are drowned out. And even if they do get that 5%, that just means the Government has 4 years before the others get a chance to speak and 4 years to undermine them. The only way we'd get a decent chance at a third party is to do away with that 5% thing and have debates from at least the top 8. The Libertarians would tear the Republicans apart, the Socialists and Communists would tear the Democrats down, and the mix of all of them would probably give the citizenry pause for thought.

Speaking as someone who used to like to think he was a big libertarian, no the Libertarian Party would not "tear the Republicans apart". For one, the LP has stupid policies. Secondly, both the GOP and the LP candidate had already squared off earlier in 2012.

[The Parkus Empire]

I love them!!!

You love 9/11 truthism, publicly funded homeopathy, and opposition to modern medicine?

Science is meant to be the worship of Nature, not playing God

[Caninope]

We are hopefully starting fresh next round, unless Obama pulls a Roosevelt.

Obama can't "pull a Roosevelt". Roosevelt was the last president who could have run for more than 2 terms.

Incorrect. Truman could have ran again, as term limits did not apply to him, either. Truman was also the sort of person who wouldn't want to run again, not in '52, anyways.

[Regnum Dominae]

You love 9/11 truthism, publicly funded homeopathy, and opposition to modern medicine?

Science is meant to be the worship of Nature, not playing God

No, it's not.

Do you have any logical reason for that instead of just simple appeals to nature?

[Caninope]

You love 9/11 truthism, publicly funded homeopathy, and opposition to modern medicine?

Science is meant to be the worship of Nature, not playing God

Science is meant to be the systematic discovery of nature.

[The Parkus Empire]

Science is meant to be the worship of Nature, not playing God

No, it's not.

Do you have any logical reason for that instead of just simple appeals to nature?

Nature is logic. They are one and the same

[Regnum Dominae]

No, it's not.

Do you have any logical reason for that instead of just simple appeals to nature?

Nature is logic. They are one and the same

What does that even mean?

[Murray land]

They will gain popularity after the next presidential election that or we will become a dictatorship.

[The Parkus Empire]

Nature is logic. They are one and the same

What does that even mean?

It means someone needs to calm down and smoke some grass....

[Regnum Dominae]

What does that even mean?

It means someone needs to calm down and smoke some grass....

No. And that has absolutely no relevance.

Anyway, the only way to save nature at this point is to resort to what you call "playing God".

[Regnum Dominae]

1. They will gain popularity after the next presidential election that or 2. we will become a dictatorship.

1. People say that every election.
2. Lolno.

[Benuty]

The only logical solution is to let Howard Stern bomb something. As usual 3rd parties in America have Z-E-R-O chance of winning.

[New Stephensland]

They will gain popularity after the next presidential election that or we will become a dictatorship.

We have been using the same two parties in the same two-party system for over a century now. I fail to see why third parties will just now be getting more popular, or why we would just now become a dictatorship.

[Cadia]

First, lack of proper spelling and capitalization on the title.

Second, HAHAHAHA. That would mean that a third-party actually had a strong backing.

[Cameroi]

emerge? there have been many third party candidates elected to state legislatures and many appointive positions at the state level. (which incidentally, is where more legislation which effects more people and corporations directly takes place, which is why a.l.e.c.) i don't know for certain, but i was sort of under the impression that a number of third party candidates had been elected to congress from time to time, throughout the history of the country.

personally i want to see a green in the white house and a green majority in both houses of congress, with other third parties as the loyal opposition, such as peace and freedom, justice, and even libertarians.

shure i'm not holding my breath, but where the opportunity to vote for them exists, i do.

[The Parkus Empire]

It means someone needs to calm down and smoke some grass....

No. And that has absolutely no relevance.

Anyway, the only way to save nature at this point is to resort to what you call "playing God".

No

Probably should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvlW4bEjB5A

[Benuty]

No. And that has absolutely no relevance.

Anyway, the only way to save nature at this point is to resort to what you call "playing God".

No

Probably should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvlW4bEjB5A

Lol...good times.

[The Parkus Empire]

No

Probably should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvlW4bEjB5A

Lol...good times.

That's right, that's right! Preach it, brother!

[Crolacia]

No.

This.