For a time in her youth, my Mother lived in a hole in the jungle floor, covered haphazardly by a sheet of corrugated metal. Japanese soldiers invaded the Philippines. She lived with her family, suffering unimaginable difficulties, carrying her baby sister on her back while evading bombs dropping from planes miles above her head, fleeing from her family home which the Japanese soldiers used as a munitions dump. Because she never gave up hope, I am here--living the American Dream-not merely the dream of owning a home and having liberty to pursue happiness, but the American Dream of people in the third world who came here to build a better life for themselves. For Filipinos of my Mother’s generation, America was the shining beacon, the ray of hope, the just society of opportunity. Americans were the liberators of oppressed peoples, who sent their sons and daughters across the oceans to fight tyranny, a nation based on the principle that anyone with enough gumption could forge a great life for themselves and their descendents. My Mother arrived in 1971 and raised her two sons and three daughters in an environment where they would never suffer the indignity of invasion, oppression, displacement, and exploitation. They would never work ridiculous hours in a light bulb factory for a next to nothing. They would never be asked to work with no protection against the loud machines that permanently damaged her hearing. Her children would be a part of the greatest society ever known, where hard work and honest living were rewarded; they would be Americans.

The media always portrays the debate over globalization as being between those who want free trade & those who don’t. That’s nonsense. It evades the real debate which is over democracy and the hard earned gains people have fought for and won in the US during the 20th century.

The free market doesn’t provide child labor laws, it doesn’t provide minimum wage protection, it doesn’t provide for healthcare coverage, overtime regulations, environmental protections, or worker safety standards. These things cut into profit. And it is to evade these things that companies move out of the United States. Some argue that increased trade will increase democracy...tell that to the people of China, whose booming economy and repressive police state get along just fine.

Should we allow companies to write and lobby for laws that erode everything we fought for--everything that makes the American Dream possible? I’ve become active in the Green Party because I feel a duty to this country, and I fear the dream my Mother had is fading for future generations. Wages are in drastic decline, worker protections are eroding, health care is in crisis, and most of our manufacturing jobs are now in places like the Philippines, places where all the great progressive steps of the 20th century were never taken. I wonder how many American families are living on welfare as a result of NAFTA. I wonder how many Mexican families are living day to day, struggling to make ends meet as the CEOs of their companies make billions. I wonder how many Afghani and Iraqi families live today in bombed out craters, a sheet of metal for a roof, and wish someone would liberate them from their occupiers? I wonder, are we still admired by the rest of the world, or feared and despised?

Here in Baltimore we had a baseball hero affectionately dubbed the Iron Man because he never took a sick day. But despite our praise for the work ethic of Mr. Ripken, American workers don’t get anywhere near the kind of support and protections we need. While the Iron Man was rewarded with more and more money and more and more fame for his prodigious achievements, the rest of America’s work-force has had to work harder and longer hours for less pay and fewer benefits. Baltimore Sun Employees, the Steel Workers and Many Maryland Teachers face the prospect of no cost of living raises while at the same time they are being asked to contribute more for their healthcare. We build stadiums with public funds to enrich a few folks while the blue-collar fan base of sports is practically priced out of the game; all the while our schools continue to deteriorate, and our teachers spend large chunks of their own hard-earned wages to buy supplies which should be provided by public funds.

The Green Party challenges the propriety and equity of corporate welfare in the form of tax breaks, subsidies, grants, bailouts, giveaways, un-enforced laws and regulations; and continuing access to our public resources, including land, forests, minerals, intellectual property rights, and government-created research. It is unacceptable to have the level of influence now exerted by corporate interests over the public interest.

Many blame the Green Party--and Ralph Nader--for the election debacle of 2000. The problem wasn’t the Greens; the problem was that less than half of eligible voters turned out in 2000. A great many Americans feel that their voice does not matter, that all politicians are crooks, and there is nothing they can do about a corrupted system where the guy who makes the most money wins the race. How can public citizens trust that Elected Officials are looking out for their best interest when those Officials have accepted thousands or even millions of dollars from private corporations and political action committees? The Green Party does not accept any money from corporations or PACs.

We believe change can occur. We know we are facing many challenges. But the status quo elected officials who place these challenges before us will only make us stronger in our convictions. Last year hundreds of Greens volunteered hundreds of hours to collect 10,000+ signatures. Merely to exist as an official political party in the state of Maryland, political parties must fulfill this requirement. Excuse me, all parties except the Democrats & Republicans. They do not have to petition to remain official. This is just one example of the undemocratic roadblocks set up to block third parties. Currently, our challenge is to get 1% of registered voters in Maryland to register Green. That’s less then half of the people who voted for Nader in Maryland. If we achieve this goal we will not have to waste valuable time gathering signatures for petitions. This is America; we have more choices in brands of soda then we do in parties. Is this democracy? We’re constantly criticizing countries that have only one ruling party--is just one more that much better? especially when both major parties are supported by the same corporate sponsors?

Voting and voter registration is how we create change in our democracy--for those of you who are unhappy with the actions of the officials you voted for, I ask you, what’s their motivation for change if you continue to vote for them? Even worse, what do you think their reaction is when you don’t show up to vote?

If you are frustrated with our democratic system today, if you feel your voice is not being heard, if you believe in grassroots democracy, non-violence, social justice, ecological wisdom, community, respect for diversity, decentralization, and personal and global responsibility, if you are against FTAA, if you Believe in the American Dream, Register to Vote GREEN!