DBC Takes the Bait, Coughs Up 14 Points

Wow. That's a lot of issues. I will not address them all individually, in order, or at length. Here are my positions, at the risk of having them distorted and weaponized against me. Some of them align with Green Party platform planks, and others do not, so they are not reflective of the Green Movement as a whole.

1. I'm solidly pro-choice. Women must have sovereignty over their own bodies. I would like to live to see a world in which abortion is no longer necessary, but meanwhile there are so many medical, social, and cultural reasons to keep it as an option.
2. I'm solidly in favor of comprehensive, age-appropriate sexuality education. Nations that have more and better sex ed have lower rates of teen pregnancy and fewer abortions per capita. Also, the earlier children learn that LGBTQ orientation is natural and not an aberration, the better off we'll all be. Also, human relations education should not stop in kindergarten: Teach children how to be civil with others all through high school, including (especially) their boyfriends or girlfriends, and how to avoid resorting to violence. We have too many families that do not model such civility well; if parents won't teach it, schools must.
3. Right-wing policy makers talk trash about public education all the time, and then underfund it to make sure that it remains ineffective. Give public schools the funds they need to fulfill their educational mission, including arts education. School systems need to stop building football palaces and starting paying teachers and para-professionals what they're worth.
4. BLM is not Marxist, even if some of its members are. It is not calling for workers to seize the means of production, last I looked. Asking for or demanding equal treatment as citizens is not the same as Marxism.
5. I consider myself an eco-socialist, stopping short of the "Communist" label. It will take centuries for true communism to evolve; we're nowhere near ready for it yet. A socialist approach, on a global scale, to global problems such as climate disruption is essential; governments must step in and do what the free market cannot or will not.
6. You'd better believe that I support anti-fascist action, not the right-wing media's portrayal of that movement. I would not participate in property damage to corporate buildings, but I wouldn't tell passionate anti-fascists not to; you don't dismantle the capitalist empire by asking nicely.
7. Policing needs to change radically, to outgrow its fascistic tendencies. Demilitarize the police, get rid of the Thin Blue Line mentality so that bad-apple cops can be taken off the streets, and redirect funds toward programs of social uplift. We need more social workers and mental health professionals, fewer armed defenders of wealth/harassers of the poor.
8. Any government entity that makes peaceful protest impossible had better be ready for the inevitable not-so-peaceful protest. That said, I oppose violent protest because authority uses it to justify violent retribution.
9. Protesters harassing innocent people, I oppose. Protesters harassing corporate tycoons and politicians whose policies are killing us or stealing from us, I applaud.
10. Political vandalism in any direction has no place in the civilized democracy we'd like to believe we are. Leave sign-stealing to the Astros (ba-dum crash). My church was recently vandalized for posting a Black Lives Matter banner, as have quite a few UU churches in the US, by people who apparently believe that Black lives do not matter.
11. Places of worship should never be defiled in any way. That includes not just churches, temples, and mosques, but also forests, rivers, and mountains. Just as public schools should teach children to understand and respect their LGBTQ neighbors, they should teach understanding and respect for other faiths (which is not the same as teaching what religion to follow)—and for people of no particular faith.
12. Nativity scenes on municipal or state property are fine as long as (a) a government entity doesn't put them there and (b) menorahs and December holiday displays from other faith traditions are also welcome.
13. Parental rights—whatever you believe that means—should be accompanied by parental responsibilities.
14. CRT? I had to look it up to make sure that it is what I thought it is. I don't call myself a Critical Race Theorist, but the theory certainly has merit. It is constantly evolving as new information comes to light, and that's as it should be. Racism is built into our systems and institutions, and it stays there because it is profitable for the 1% to keep the 99% divided and fearful, and ethnicity has always been a wedge to maintain that division. Any American grown-up who doesn't see that hasn't been paying attention. Racism also intersects with many other oppressive -isms.

In sum, I oppose all forms of racism, sexism, ageism, ablism, religious chauvinism, nationalism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, police brutality, fascism, predatory capitalism, imperialism, neoliberalism, and environmental degradation. (I've probably left out a few, but you get the idea.) I support rebuilding our society based on compassion, mutual respect, a restorative relationship with long-oppressed people and the natural world, and more equitable distribution of the world's abundance.