We advocate a socially and ecologically responsible, mixed, market- based economy that includes private businesses, family farms, consumer- and worker-owned enterprises and cooperatives, and community-operated enterprises. We disagree that good jobs--in a strong economy--conflict with a healthy environment. In an ecological economy, there will be enough good jobs and incomes, the necessary goods and services for a high quality of life and a healthy ecology, and a desirable future for our children.
We call for an end to unlimited and unqualified growth for its own sake, and growth at any cost, which is actually a prescription for the economic cancer of uncontrolled growth. Instead, we advocate a policy of socially and ecologically responsible growth. This is not a "no growth" policy, but one that will result in some sectors of the economy increasing significantly ("green" economics and businesses) and some contracting (the socially and ecologically irresponsible). Our "consumer" society must become a "conserver" society if there is to be a society for our children.
We believe that innovations and efficiency result more from human skills and motivation, flexibility, and opportunity than from massive organization. Human resources are now being stifled by the great concentration of economic and political power in national and multinational corporations. Also, these corporations do much social and ecological damage while they use their power to control governments and political processes. These large entities have no allegiance to or particular concern for any particular nation or place, including Missouri.
Therefore, we advocate an economy primarily built from small, human-scale units. We support technology that preserves the human dignity of workers and allows them to participate fully in deciding the actual conditions of labor. We support the development of ecologically friendly, small-scale technologies instead of technologies for massive, large-scale production. We support alternate ways of conducting the economy such as community bartering.
We believe that the best level of efficiency is at the local level. By doing everything we can at the local level, we produce a healthier local economy and reduce the wasteful and polluting practices of long-distance shipping. We are striving to make our economy as self-reliant as possible by relying on local resources for production, including recycled materials, and relying on locally grown, organic food.
Regarding resources, the emphasis must change from extracting the highest volumes of low-quality resources in the shortest time possible to obtaining sustained volumes of high-quality resources for long- term ecological health and economic value. We support economic policies that foster ecological sustainability by using renewable resources to the greatest extent possible. Furthermore, instead of shipping away raw materials at low prices, we must encourage adding as much value to the resource in the form of finished products as possible. This will create markets for higher quality resources in manufacturing industries in Missouri and result in higher paying jobs for more people.
We support evaluating all goods and services according to their true social and ecological costs. "True costs" include the full human and resource costs of resource extraction, manufacture, processing, marketing, transportation, and disposal. Such costs are arrived at by a process called "ecological auditing."
We advocate tax levies on non- ecological products and industrial, commercial, and agricultural activities that pollute the air, water, or soil. These taxes would help clean up the state and raise awareness of the "true costs" of these products or activities. The revenues would be used to promote an ecological economy and support environmental programs.
Missouri could use a comprehensive program for deposits, disposal charges, and "scrapping" charges for products that are made from recyclable materials, adversely affect the environment, or are difficult to dispose of. The program could go beyond deposits on car batteries and tires to include, for example, all batteries, beverage and other product containers, appliances, and vehicles.
We believe that we must stop the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. Alleviating poverty must become a high priority because poverty hurts both people and the environment. We advocate a negative income tax for the poor to replace the present welfare and poverty programs. Help in times of need should be a right of all citizens rather than be considered a "handout."
We support: