Green Party ahead of its time. Too far ahead.

I just read the following press release from the Green Party: http://www.greenparty.ca/en/releases/08.09.2008

This shows one of the reasons the Greens have had such a hard time breaking into the mainstream. They have intelligent people and great ideas, but people don’t understand them, and aren’t ready for them yet.

They talk about the “Guaranteed Livable Income” concept, which basically enforces a minimum standard of living in terms of food, shelter, health, etc. for everyone.

Poverty is a complex issue that can’t be solved with a “silver bullet” policy like this alone. But one would hope with all of our knowledge and technology, the least we’d be able to do by now is provide the basic necessities to everyone. This sounds like a progressive step towards a better society overall.

The problem is that nobody is ready for radical changes like this yet. The Greens are making it too easy for other parties to prey on people’s ignorance and fear of change.

If the Greens want any chance of winning, they need to focus less on their brilliant, sensible platform, and play it old school – exploiting people’s worst fears and promising more than they can deliver.