As a third-party candidate, you might question my participation in the election. You’re welcome to think of me not as a third-party, but as an anti-party candidate. The two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, have a lock on political power, but they’re just two brands of the same political product.

The owners of the finance industry—that includes banking, Wall Street, insurance, and real estate—the fossil fuel industry, and the arms industry are the controllers of political power in this country, and they control the policies which the Democrats and Republicans can implement through legislation and executive action.

The Green Party represents the opposition to the control of political power by the oligarchs and finance, fossil fuels, and war-making. The Green Party represents the values of people, planet, and peace.

If you want universal access to quality healthcare; if you want a living wage for all workers; if you want an immigration system that doesn’t create an underclass of exploited slave laborers; if you want access to elected officials that doesn’t require a $100,000 campaign contribution;

If you want free tuition for preschool through graduate school and an end to crippling student debt; if you want to transition to clean energy and a post-carbon economy; if you want a balanced federal budget that isn’t bloated by arms spending, that only makes the world a more dangerous place;

If you want to divert the country from the disastrous course towards global war and climate chaos, then vote Green. Register as a Green voter and get involved in organizations that hound elected officials to act for the world of people rather than for the protection of the wealthy.

This is my opportunity to tell you why you should vote for me, or maybe why you should not vote for me. I like the quote from Emma Goldman, who said, ‘If we could change anything by voting, it would be illegal.’ And I don’t want to discourage anyone from voting, but I believe there’s more to democracy than just filling out a ballot every few years.

Emma Goldman was emphasizing that progressive change only comes from mass organizing. We have the 40-hour work week, child labor laws, and equal rights for women— almost— because of mass organizing by the trade unions. And Jim Crow in the South ended because of demonstrations led by heroes like Martin Luther King, John Lewis, and Malcolm X.

The war against Vietnam ended because of the student- and veteran-led mass protests. My political activity started in response to the first Gulf War. I was sick in that the United States cut off all possibility of a negotiated settlement and instead started bombing Iraq, and then continued to bomb Iraq for the next 12 years while imposing sanctions responsible for the death of a half a million Iraq children.

Then from anti-war organizing, I branched out to other political activity. I was elected to the Corvallis City Council through my activity in the Corvallis Living Wage campaign. Since 1995, I worked with Healthcare for All Oregon and I’m still working to achieve universal single payer healthcare.

I worked on the campaign for ranked choice voting for Benton County commissioners, which succeeded in this year. For the first time, Corvallis city councilors and mayor will be elected by Ranked Choice Voting. I worked on many campaigns that were not 100% successful, and I’ll continue to oppose the militarism that enriches billionaires by vacuuming resources from nature and from workers and impoverishes this country and endangers the world.

A Green vote means that you are on the side of social justice, environmental wisdom, democracy, and non-violence. Your Green vote may be a protest, but is a step towards building the mass movement that can save our country from the horrors of global war and climate chaos. Never miss an opportunity to vote Green.

[thank you for the opportunity to speak to your listeners, Mike Beilstein for US Congress.

Originally published at: https://wholecommunity.news/2022/10/08/meet-the-candidate-mike-beilstein-for-cd4/