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Friday, December 02, 2005

Red Greens

The Green Party openly acknowledges that it is directly descended from the Values Party of the '70s. Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons and late co-leader Rod Donald were both Values stalwarts as were many of the curent Green "hierarchy". Like the Green Party today, Values was a "watermelon party"-green on the outside, red in the centre.

A 1975 article in Values "Turning Point" magazine had this to say. "Values Party economic policies will lead towards community control and management of production, finance and distribution... we must be dedicated not to the reform of capitalism but to the eradication of capitalism."

In another 1975 "Turning Point" article, Terry McDavitt, Wellington Values coordinator and future party general secretary, wrote "Militant revolution is part of what I seriously propose for the Values Party... But I have no doubt that any New Zealand revolution will go through a militant stage - and some blood will be shed... "I'd rather blood wasn't shed at all, that we could confine the militancy to providing stretchers for the wealthy once they realise they're not going to be compensated... "The Values revolution is neither apocalyptic nor piecemeal; instead it involves both militant and cultural actions, deliberate intervention in history... "The nearest contemporary example is the continuing Chinese revolution... ".

3 Comments:

Blogger Libertyscott said...

Was this the same Terry McDavitt who is now on the Wellington Regional Council? He used to stand for Labour, but I think he moved to the right along with part of the party in the 1980s - and could properly be described as centrist.

3:45 AM  
Blogger Trevor Loudon said...

I think so lib. Funny how people usually mature from socialist to centrist, conservative or libertarian positions as they get older. Very few move in the other direction. The trick is to start out libertarian, or move from conservative to libertarian like myself.

11:42 AM  
Blogger Michael said...

Isn't the Labour Party Constitution still call for state ownership of the means of finance, production and supply.

Of course, Lenin tried it and then backed off when it was a complete disaster.

11:10 AM  

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