People
“Too much and for too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.” – Robert F. Kennedy
The Greens want to create a safe future for people and communities – a fair economy that doesn’t trash the planet and serve only the few: a society where communities are strong, where everyone gets a fair deal, where older people are cared for, where young people look forward to a life of hope and opportunity – not fear and insecurity.
The out-dated obsession with free-for-all economics is alive and well in most other parties, but it’s a concept which cares little for people’s lives. It is obvious big business needs better regulation to prevent abuses of people and the environment.
Good food is an essential, basic need. Yet the global food industry is increasingly powerful and dangerous. The big supermarkets have a stranglehold over the high street, paying producers and farmers less for their goods, forcing out local businesses and ripping the heart out of communities. We propose more corporate accountability, but also measures to boost small, community businesses.
The Scottish Green Party is the only party to challenge the measurement of economic well-being as Gross Domestic Product. GDP growth tells us nothing.
The real measure of our economy is how the people are: their wealth, their health, the well-being of their families, their community and their environment. Greens propose alternative measures to assess whether the economy is helping us or harming us, and to guide more informed decision-making.
In this manifesto, we spell out our approach to an economy based on workers’ rights, corporate accountability and fair trade. We outline the measures required to deliver a tax and benefits system that is fair and equitable. We show how we would change the criminal justice system to focus on prevention and rehabilitation, building a healthy society, not causing more fear, more crime and more prisons.
These measures are in the interests of people, not big business and profits at any cost.