Derek Wall in the UK says the Irish Green Party didn’t have to join the ruling coalition, ignore the financial chaos, and betray their base in return for well-paying jobs.
The Irish Greens are calling for a General Election, they will no doubt lose all or all but one of their seats….however even now they are not actually resigning from the government.
They have done huge damage to green politics globally.
Tragic.
Greens, I would controversially argue need to be, Green.
A quaint concept that, expecting elected politicians to honor the promises they made rather than being corrupted, sometimes quite willingly, by a political system beholden to the financial interests. All you liberals and progressives in the US who believe you can reform the Democratic Party from within should take heed.
So, how do we get to a system where the politics isn’t bought and paid for?
PS. The Irish GP says they will quit the ruling coalition in January, opposition politicians in Ireland are in revolt, and the euro is in free-fall. Maybe the banksters won’t win this one after all.
International Greens have made the mistake of coming into ruling coalitions only to sell out multiple times – for instance, they supported the Afghan war when they were in power in Germany. Let’s learn from their mistakes.
And perhaps the lesson is that sometimes electoral politics isn’t the right venue for radical change at all.