Running for Leadership of the Green Party

I normally keep my political beliefs out of this blog. Trying instead to offer an analysis that might be useful no matter what political view you hold.  However, I thought some of you might be interested to know that I am contesting the leadership of the UK Green Party.

I doubt I will win. Caroline Lucas is a very good MP, will make a very effective leader and is far better known than I am.  BUT I  thought running anyway could still serve a purpose, in hopefully spurring a debate.

So here is my candidate statement.

And one thing any of you could do for me.  Which is to suggest what articles, from all the years I have been writing, you would tell people to look at if they want to know who I am and what I think.

 

My name is David Malone. I am 54. I have spent over 20 years making science, history, and religion documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4. Since 2007, I have also written extensively about finance and economics. I wrote a book about the financial crash and I run a well-respected financial blog, GolemXIV. I have occasionally written for the Guardian and Thomson Reuters. I live in North Yorkshire. I am a father of three. I have been a member of the Green Party on and off since 1981.

I am running for Leader because I think we need to have a serious debate in the party, first and foremost, about finance and economics. It seems to me that one of the defining facts of our times is that around the world the established political parties have surrendered to the idea that economics and finance no longer need to be under democratic control. This is wrong and dangerous.

In the UK one major party is happy that economics is beyond democratic control and the other seemingly paralysed by the fact. I believe the Green Party needs to say clearly that bringing our economy, our financial structures, corporate tax and our currency back under effective democratic control, is a central issue. In fact I believe these issues need to be seen by the electorate as lying at the core of what the Green Party stands for.

Why? Because unless we bring finance back under democratic control then we will not be able to do any of the other things we want to do. Unless we control our right to tax effectively, to regulate banks properly and to control our money supply as we see fit – unless we can do these things then all our other promises are in fact empty. The electorate already know the other parties’ promises are false. Let us not join them.

The electorate are crying out for a party that is willing to stand up to the stifling uniformity of the main parties and their backers. We can be that party –  but only if we convince the electorate that we are more than nice people who care for the environment. They need to be told, clearly and passionately, that we understand finance and the economy. That we understand that this nation faces a double crisis: of the environment and of democracy. We cannot save one without the other.

I believe the next election will not be about left or right, but about neoliberal globalism versus democracy. The trade deals, CETA, TTIP and TISA, will be major issues. We must be ready to oppose them clearly, cogently and radically.

They are issues that I care deeply about. They are what will decide my children’s future. Give me the chance to fight for them.

71 thoughts on “Running for Leadership of the Green Party”

  1. Search #Malone4Leader Like and retweet follow and I am confident that when David hits 1000 followers another blog wiill appear. In All seriousness David is running for leadership of the Green Party of the UK and England. Post Brexit theres a lot going on politically in the UK
    on the #Malone4Leader twitter feed there is a ton of info with links to many of Davids Films, Speeches and other public appearances. We hope that a number of guest Posts and discussion with the authors can appear here on the Golem Blog. It seems a long time ago we were all having this discussion about a political initiative to adress the lacuna in Mainstream politics regarding Finance and democratic defecits , the austerity lie et al. https://www.golemxiv.co.uk/2012/05/the-way-forward-next-steps/

  2. Hi Golem,

    I’ve been quietly following your blog and indeed your Guardian comments for some time and I just want to thank you for all the valuable insights that you’ve given me and also to show support for your bid for the leadership for the Greens.

    I think that one of the strengths of your blog is to reveal how far back this strategy for globalisation has been in motion and how careful was the planning to bring about this current state of servitude. A great post that clarified the real nature of all those trade agreements is:

    https://www.golemxiv.co.uk/2013/12/the-emerging-new-world-order-part-2-the-end-of-sovereignty/

    Our inaction in tackling the deviant corporate practices in the Third World over the past decades may well be our undoing.

  3. Your sentiment is admirable, but the issue at hand is the economic (and foreign policy) leadership in the UK (and elsewhere).
    Cleaving to the standard limousine liberal line on the environment will simply produce yet another splinter demographic.
    If, on the other hand, you build a platform focusing on the economic and foreign policy leadership aspect from the progressive angle – that of equal opportunity and shared interests as opposed to the conservative angle of anti-competition and isolationist neo-imperialism – perhaps then will the progressive agenda be able to move forward.

    1. Zoltan Jorovic

      Perhaps you could explain what you mean by “standard limousine liberal line on the environment”? I can guess, but it would be better if you spelled it out. Given David is running to be leader of the Green party, some focus on environmental issues is a prerequisite.

      It always puzzles me when people imply sorting out the environment is an optional extra – nice to have, but a bit of a luxury. Clean air and water and nourishing food are the absolute essentials for life, and exponential growth (of population, economy and resource use) can only lead to disaster. You can hold a different opinion, but it won’t alter the underlying truth.

      1. rogerglewis13@gmail. com

        Evidence based praxis not faith based lip service on environment and everything else critical path and cost benefit analysis is essential

  4. Maybe the Green party needs a new face & a wider direction within this period of unexpected events, which seem to increasingly occur despite the ” Experts ” predicting otherwise. One such event was Corbyn…….times are changing fast…….Good Luck.

  5. Hello David–

    Your blog has the highest signal-to-noise ratio of any econ/finance blog that I read, and I read a LOT of them. I greatly appreciate the fact that you appear to post only when you’ve got something important to say. Your posts are provocative and well thought-out, and it’s always a joy whenever I see a GolemXIV link in Jesse’s sidebar (as I did today).

    One of the most eye-opening posts I’ve ever read–not just here, but anywhere–was “Twilight of Justice,” about the Financial Stability Board.

    https://www.golemxiv.co.uk/2013/03/twilight-of-justice/

    That piece came more or less on the heels of Frontline’s “The Untouchables,” in which Martin Smith unmasked the Department of Justice generally and Lanny Breuer in particular not just for the failure to prosecute large Wall Street banks, but for the failure even to investigate them in the first place.

    “Twilight of Justice” drew attention to the fact that the FSB maintains a list of banks (SIFIs) that (you claimed) were above the law. The prescience of that piece, as it’s turned out in the U.S. at least, is astonishing. Thanks for what you do, and good luck in the election.

  6. I live in Canada and can only wish you well in your leadership aspirations. However in this country we are facing both the Atlantic and Pacific versions of these abominable treaties or whatever they are. I have posted this blog in my Facebook in the hope that some may read it and be encouraged to read more of your writings which I greatly admire. Perhaps some of my countrymen will start to think about the neoliberal fantasy which is being foisted on us with little knowledge of the contents. I will follow your campaign with interest, and once more, good luck with your endeavour.

  7. Nicole haydock

    “On and off the Green Party since 1981″…hum…

    How many years on and how many years off?

    And what have you actually done as a member at local /regional/national level ?

    Being an academic is all well and good, but what political experience would you bring to the job?

    1. Hi Nicole I am sure David will be welcoming you to the blog and will adress your question regarding his political chops as it were. This radio interview from 2014 gives some background at the beginning David recounts the time he wrote and directed Icon Earth for the BBC Horizon programme and a neo liberal think tank tried to get hime banned for anti capitalist film making , David framed the letter of complaint. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0DSxbgrMd0 . I am adding a reference link library for davids points of view and work in Activism and in the media heres my own google plus profile which I use to help with web optimisation when I do volunteer for campaigns , for Davids leadership I did not hesitate to jump aboard.https://plus.google.com/u/0/117800045912832144463 #Malone4Leader #nottheleadershipcoups https://twitter.com/Malone4Leader

    2. Hello Nicole,

      I was a member for a year or two in 1981. But then went to university in the States for 4 years. I rejoined when I returned. I was an active member in Newcastle where I am from. But then I resigned after attending the AGM which was held in Newcastle. The trigger was when one person took to the floor to argue that we ban smoking. The resolution passed. To be followed by a person who argued that we should be in favour of legalising Marijuana. That passed too. I left in disgust.

      Though I continued to vote Green I was just starting my career at the BBC. I made it my business to make the programmes I worked on take a more green outlook. I did so when I ran the news section of Tomorrow’s World. I made what I think was the very first anti-globalization film, called Icon Earth, back in 1995, when I was at Horizon. I rejoined the party 4 or five years ago. Since then I have campaigned in several elections and latterly stood and campaigned as candidate in local, county and national elections.

      In the mean time I have written about finance and spoken about it at many many public meetings up and down the country. I used the proceeds of the book I wrote about the financial crisis to pay for the speaking tour which took me from London to Edinburgh and Dublin and points in between. My editor and I wanted to get the message out rather than make a profit.

      Over the last three yearsI have spoken in perhaps a dozen places from London to Manchester about the dangers of the TTIP, including a session at the GP AGM in Liverpool.

      I hope that helps.

      1. Why were you disgusted with the idea of banning smoking and legalising marijuana? And would you still feel the same now that those two issues have won much general support?

        1. If people feel that smoking should be banned, even though some enjoy it, on the grounds that it’s bad for their health, what exactly is the logic of legalising another substance that you also smoke and also has negative effects on health?

          I don’t smoke either so have no dog in this race. But the utter lack of any logic and consistency amazed me.

          I have nothing against legalising marijuana in principle. But I do think it becomes farcical to then get righteous about tobacco. It’s not as if one can say the one is benign and the other a class A killer.

          Surely if we want to be taken seriously as a party we need to have some rigour and thought in our policies and not have them appear to be just a grab-bag of personal prejudices that we are keen to force on others.

          1. I hold many libertarian views, which have been cemented by years of reading Zerohedge.

            Surely see this as a simple case? Causing damage to oneself is personal choice, whereas when there is possible damage to others, this demands regulation. Both should be legal.

  8. The Green Party – so long as it adheres to the unproven view that there is global warming caused by CO2 is a political irrelevance (I am someone who studied the 4 ice ages at university so I follow the proven status)

    Regarding the economy, what does it mean to have ” democratic control” thereof ? Is it not pure and simple the operation of the unhampered market ? (Please read Ludwig von Mises, Human Action , 3 vols)

    The Green party and ” movement” will , in my opinion, fall off the radar in teh next 3-5 years as the Western world experiences enormous political and financial volatility caused by the policies of central banks and the insolvencies of national governments; compounded by the centripetal forces from the EU’ disintegration.

    People need to start thinking quickly about : economic renewal without the ZIIRP/NIRP insanity of central banks; and the re-invention of democracy that encompasses the limitation and control of professional politicians such that they are forced to behave as temporary public servants NOT a a coercive and unaccountable elite

    1. Andrew, your ability to separate people and planet and not see how inextricably they are linked is impressive (& I would say part of the problems that you and I want to tackle).

      Your university studies bolstering you to deny the vast amount of peer-reviewed science (by people who have been in academia, science etc for a lot longer than you or I) is also remarkable. In any case, either we accept the precautionary principle and act on this threat, also making our economy and society more resilient, or we go with your gamble which if it’s wrong will wipe out humanity and many other species.

    2. Mathias Alexander

      If “People need to start thinking quickly about : economic renewal without the ZIIRP/NIRP insanity of central banks;” that would be ab example of what is meant by democratic control.

  9. “Regarding the economy, what does it mean to have ” democratic control” thereof ? Is it not pure and simple the operation of the unhampered market ? (Please read Ludwig von Mises, Human Action , 3 vols)”

    This is one of the great, and tragic, canards of economics, in that it assumes that people are perfectly rational with the temperaments of angels, or that they suddenly become so when combined in something idealistically called ‘the market.’

    It has been the bringer of neo-liberal misery to nations, where markets are turned into killing fields for wolves to prey upon the rest.

    If this utopian theory were true, then the fewer traffic laws and enforcement the better, since everyone on the highways would naturally drive in the most rational and self-effacing way for the greater good if unhampered by ‘law.’

    Anyone who holds this must read Mises like some new bible of received wisdom, and ignore the history of nations and peoples, and reject all knowledge of human nature.

  10. The blog of yours I always share is White Slaves of England it perfectly sums up what the abuse of power does to a nation, and the reason as you describe, sovereign money is essential!
    I do also like Re-branding dissent

  11. Hi David,

    I agree with ‘Best Evidence’ that the Twilight of Justice article was excellent.

    You’re absolutely right to challenge the belief that economics is outside of democratic control. The dynamics of power are a subtle and oft times very volatile, but the longer I live here the more I’m convinced that its concentration must only be brought together periodically, for specific cause and never permanently.

    Treat will caution what Jesse is saying about an “unhampered market”. This premise would succeed only if democracy were the dominant force in the workplace rather than its typical authoritarian counterpart.

    I look forward to hearing more from you and the Greens.

  12. In my opinion, the Green Party’s manifesto for the last election had by far the best financial/economic option. Natalie never mentioned it, probably because she didn’t feel confident on that topic. David would have run rings round the other party leaders on much needed economic reform.

    English politics is now in tatters. I honestly think the country would greatly benefit if a senior political figure would articulate just how the economy can and should be reformed. David can do that so I will be supporting his bid for leadership of the Green Party every way I can.

  13. Favourite Comment from one of the first Blogs of Davids I blogged about.
    fitzy103 May 31, 2011 at 5:49 pm #
    I think this is the cirlce of debt…

    1. “Spain is not Greece.”Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance minister, Feb. 2010

    2. “Portugal is not Greece.” The Economist, 22nd April 2010.

    3. “Ireland is not in ‘Greek Territory.’”Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.

    4. “Greece is not Ireland.”George Papaconstantinou, Greek Finance minister, 8th November, 2010.

    5. “Spain is neither Ireland nor Portugal.”Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance minister, 16 November 2010.

    6. “Neither Spain nor Portugal is Ireland.”Angel Gurria, Secretary-general OECD, 18th November, 2010

    If you understand this lot, you havent been paying attention…
    https://www.golemxiv.co.uk/2011/05/how-to-destroy-the-web-of-debt/

    7. Scotland is not wales and Northernireland is not Cornwall, England is not Great Britain.Brexit 23rd June 2016

    Brexit is a sort of continuum on all of the Greek, Italian Cypriot portugese and Irish tribulations we have shared here together in the warmth of Davids hearth as he dipped his quill in the inkwell we all hope never runs dry. http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2011/05/golem-and-sturdy-strike-again-how-to.html

    http://labourlist.org/2011/04/to-whom-do-we-owe-this-money-exactly/

    STurdy Blog actually lead me to GolemXIV blog in the very beginning I fiollowed a comment there to here, the original post on Labour list as a copy of the Sturdyblog post is not there anymore.

    I sense that those of us fighting the FInancial Oligarchy are joining up with the far corners of the Web at the moment, the movement we have all dreamt of is here and the notion of democrats supporting other democrats across party lines will hopefully win Democracy and Honest Money for our Children and Grandchildren.

    https://twitter.com/RogerGLewis/status/750381177240977408

    Democracy´s coming home.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmHnnkzgjCI

  14. David made a very interesting video about Human Rights and how they would be better expressed as individual Responsibilities. This really changed the way I look at things. I was searching for it the other day and couldn’t find it. Can anyone point me towards it?

    Good luck in your endeavours David.

  15. Equality North West was very proud to host David twice in Manchester where he spoke about the financial crisis. You can find the footage of those events here:

    Understanding the debt crisis
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shK9lHmg9x8

    A Tale of Two Currencies
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEwlKM57fRE

    He also spoke about TTIP and democracy to the Manchester Greens, which you can view here:

    Trade Deals and the Death of Democracy
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwij05B5Jao

    That talk contains a wonderful five minute section on the meaning of democracy for all of us:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI63IZyviYg

  16. Hi David

    First the good news; Nice bit of writing, and the Greens do need to renew themselves. Your idea of a real debate on finance and economics will be, sorry, IS necessary.

    Now the Bad news; “Democratic control” ooof
    The recent Brexit is a result of the split in society. This is happening worldwide. (the .0001bit percenters versus the rest). But it is not due to a lack of “Democratic control”, but a lack of good controllers and a sense of ethics. There is now a “total control” mentality by the upper echelons. which means that any speech for support – will get it from the upper echelons – but not necessarily the mass(es). Is the Green leadership decided by only the Green Parliamentary members or the voters?
    It would seem not to be a “vote gatherer”.

    I agree that it IS the lack of a true democracy that is at the bottom of the problem – but how not to fall into a semantic trap by using a time worn word that has lost it’s apparent legitimacy. (democracy)

    Similarly, “democracy” has been devalued as a concept. rather – there seems also to be the idea of deligitimising it, to be replaced by “technocrats” and “experts”. The EU itself is one of the biggest examples. I have also seen articles claiming it is outdated. Of course . TTIP, TTP, TISA will together eliminate any last hope of a democratically organized existence. (Subjugating Nation States to be supplanted by ……what? Three Corporate “arbitrators”?

    One aspect of your own “oeuvre” that I have appreciated over the years, is the one that besets present society – CORRUPTION. (Admittedly it may not be the time to introduce it as the beginning of a manifesto….) It is one of the biggest problems today. The Greens will have to face up to it sometime – why not at the start?

    You wrote many very good pieces, (Spain, Portugal I remember – actuality even now!). Even Panama…… (aside; because we do not know the total list of names – could the recent tumble of Farage be because he was being blackmailed?)

    Anyway, I think it is a very good idea that someone honest stands for the Greens – well done. Hope you get the position. Pity I haven’t the vote in the UK….

  17. Trudging thru the Works of Malone and fast approaching my Bandwidth limits . . .

    Comments sections can prove to be hidden gems of unheard-but-valid, cogent observations. Many Comments underscore the unfortunate fact that Politicians are merely fallible humans, of no more real use to us in ‘the House’ than Greengrocers or Mechanics – they’re just parochial, ego-driven, self-serving wannabe Law Mechanics.

    They too have Bandwidth (and intelligence) limits. Unfortunately, Politics is a Contact Sport which continually gets in the way of real progress. We need less Political Correctness/Maneuvering/Machination in ‘Government’, and more simple MATHS.

    Who was it said ‘We take people who have never even so much as run a Corner
    Shop, and let them run a Country ?’

    From the Comments: –
    … the limitation and control of professional politicians such that they are forced to
    behave as temporary public servants NOT as a coercive and unaccountable elite …

    This won’t be achieved while those very politicians are making the rules. I believe
    Gordon Brown’s financial policies highlight the failure of any form of self-regulation

    … The Green party … will, in my opinion, fall off the radar in the next 3-5 years

    … English politics is now in tatters. I honestly think the country would greatly benefit if a
    senior political figure would articulate just how the economy can and should be reformed.
    David can do that.

    Please don’t misinterpret this or take offence, but he’s not yet a senior political figure.
    That’s just the way it is. And the people don’t generally listen anyway. There’s a few
    column inches to be had, discussing whether they are able to or want to – perhaps I’ll leave it to Chomsky. At the moment they’re beaten into a semi-conscious state after years of ritual abuse, formalised by Saint Margaret and continued to this day by serried ranks of (see above).

    It would be wrong to imagine that the populace, driven to desperation, had at last got onto its hind legs with a new and unified voice to drive back the invaders, and can now be utilised in an ongoing ‘iron-hot’ situation to bring about political change; the fact is, the British were NEVER in the European Union. It was always an imposition, to be grudgingly, festeringly, whiningly endured until ONE DAY …

    How many people have you heard say: ‘We’re going on holiday to the Continent’ ?
    Or:’We need to expand into Europe.’ ?
    We Brits live in a tawdry Theme-Park just off the North-West coast of Europe …

    How do I know this ? I predate the Common Market. Lived and worked in Europe. Married into it. For 40 years I’ve been strung between two cultures, seeing both the good and the bad of each.

    Speaking as a novice in the mechanisms of Party structuring, I’m forced to knee-jerk out:
    ‘If he wears the GP badge no-one will listen to him.’
    If we were to ascertain the makeup of David’s readers, I’m pretty sure we would find that he’s preaching to the willing-to-be-converted, and has therefore, a mature and attentive audience, choosing to be educated. Nobody is going to reach the menge at the requisite velocity from the vehicle of the Green Party. If you want to reach the Great Unwashed – those who, like me, voted to turn back the lorries of Cheese and Lager at Dover – you will need a bigger spanner than the Green Party.

    I could be mistaken. Willing to listen.

    Smeg/.

    1. ´´How do I know this ? I predate the Common Market. Lived and worked in Europe. Married into it. For 40 years I’ve been strung between two cultures, seeing both the good and the bad of each.´´

      Hi Smeg, thanks for your thoughts challenging ingroup bias is always helpful and where it provokes self-reflection and dialogue can generate fresh insights, if not always optimism.

      the quote above? The EU is not Europe the EU is a political institution which is quite a different thing. Norwegians , Finns and Swedes and Danes are very different as are French Germans and Spaniards . There are not two cultures to be strung between. There are two political constructs at one level to be strung between The EU and Whitehall political systems that is, both of which are very different to how things are done in France, Sweden and Germany.

      Two interesting articles.
      https://theconversation.com/more-in-hope-less-about-immigration-why-poor-britons-really-voted-to-leave-the-eu-61971

      http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2016/07/brexit-part-7-nyt-editorial-decrying-vote.html

      1. Roger – thank-you for your useful input. I should note that the quoted para. was merely a justification for the preceding lines ref: my opinion of Tawdry Britons and their continued reluctance to don the European mantle.

        I should also note that I don’t absolutely predate the Common Market, merely our entry to it. Living among the Germans (at the other end of the string) on the French borders and travelling around some, taught me that Europeans have a ‘corporate consciousness’ concerning the peoples of the Lands they inhabit. Each of them (and I generalise here; generalisation is essential for any progress to be made in a forum-style discussion -) understands that the people around them may be a bit different, odd, even, by local standards, speak different, but they’re all on the same team. In comparison, British people are insular beyond belief, parochial, and small minded. Europeans have long recognised that, and are happy to laughingly express the view in discussion.
        When we say ‘An Englishman’s home is his Castle’, it’s not about rights or territory. It means ‘I’m in my Castle, the door is locked, and you can all fuck off.’ So I stand by my assertion that ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’ – we’re NOT in the EU …

        >> thanks for your thoughts challenging ingroup bias is always helpful and
        >> where it provokes self-reflection and dialogue can generate fresh insights

        I thought long and hard about contributing. I have pretty advanced views on the problems of successful communication which make me reluctant to begin. There are dozens of entry-points to the many sub-topics arising from the subject matter herein, and there is little chance of achieving a meaningful meeting of (any of) the minds. The British (those ingrates again) are not generally Seekers after Truth, rather, Broadcasters of locally-held-versions-of-Truth. And now that everyone and his brother can publish at the stroke of a key, the condition is endemic.

        But I’m encouraged by David looking in, so who knows – maybe my misgivings could be suppressed . . .

        Smeg/.

        1. rogerglewis13@gmail. com

          hi smeg, have you read Paxmans the English, a very funny examination of the search for English identity . On questions British Paxman hypothesises that Welsh Scots and Irish identity sort of thrives in subversion of the colonial yoke.
          Another factor in the attitudes of ruling classes in Germany is given by quiggley in tragedy and hope regarding prima genitor inheritance this is not followed in Germany and quiggley argues this led to a more capable nobility. Frank harris devops this point or infact precedes it by 50 years in his 1915 book England or Germany
          good to look at these questions half a dozen of one six of the other. sent from palm device.

    2. Hello Old Smeg,

      Here’s all I can say to you.

      I don’t think there was ever a time in history when you could have looked around and said, “The people today are brave, informed and ready for change.” They are always as you describe them – beaten down, desperate, afraid for their children and themselves, easily turned one against the other and most likely to side with the misery they know.

      Fine. But you would have certainly said that in the early 1600’s. And yet those same people, stupid, ignorant, drunken, hopeless and leaderless, suddenly found it within themselves to have the greatest and most important revolution Europe has seen. The revolution whose ideas and hopes were exported to America and later to France.

      What makes you so certain it could not happen again? Those people were no better than we are today.

      Winstanley, leader of the Diggers said, “Freedom is the man who will turn the world upside down. ” I would note that it is when ordinary people feel their lives have already been turned upside down and their hopes ransacked for the pleasure and profit of the few, that they will no longer be afraid to let go of the misery they know and chose instead to look to each other.

      I believe we have unfinished business.

      1. Thank-you for the considered reply; rest assured that I’m On Program.

        A quick, short reply: I may have been too downbeat and failed to convey my feelings correctly. Taking a cue from your words …

        >> I believe we have unfinished business.

        I think we’re at a turning point in the road. We may miss the turn; or it may be closed off to us. With your evident grasp of the ills we endure and encyclopaedic knowledge of the processes that led us here, it would seem vital that you – and others – should get to the battle zone as fast as possible.

        We are talking (puts down pipe, re-arranges cardigan … ) sedition here.
        A grandiose perspective. But think in terms of reverse/or inverse-sedition – what’s actually happened to us – that’s not so grand, despite being a mathematically sound observation.
        (I realise don’t need to convince you of this …)

        Speaking as a ‘consumer’ of politics, I have to argue that The Green Party does not appear to boast much horsepower, unlike in Germany where they are much stronger. But there, they’re still regarded as merely a nuisance, like VAT or striking Dustmen. I can’t help it, that’s just the way it is.

        It SEEMS to me that the UK GP can’t quickly be leveraged to the necessary extent to impact UK politics at the level we need. It’s about scale – both of time and of reach.

        I’ll write some more – if you don’t mind this area being used as a scratchpad . . .

        Graham/. (Smeg)

          1. I note from your videos your leaning for Remain. A pragmatic view.
            I’m ferociously pragmatic, but in this instance, to quote others, I really don’t care – whatever becomes of us, it will be worth it.
            Our sensibilities are shot to hell. We’ve been hit in the face with a baseball bat so many times and for so long … yes, as you outlined, this is about the government we still endure, yes, it was all just a blow against the system, yes, we’re just idiots – but I don’t – just this one time – care.

            Ackcherley … it’s not all about festering grievances. For me the overarching principle was the insistence by the EU Commission that I’m not entitled to have the slightest say in whether and how they sign away me and my descendants’ miserable lives to teams of Harvard-trained legally-buttressed piranhas who would sell their Grandmothers on the streets for a Buck or two, and who have double-crossed us, stolen from us, and betrayed us at every turn for nearly a hundred years. Liars, cheats and thieves; anyone who would contemplate getting into bed with a malevolent entity that overthrew or destabilised around 50 countries world-wide, anyone believing the pretext that ‘we could be best buddies’ and ‘we can defy the most basic Market principles and BOTH make out’ must have lost a marble or two on the way to the sanatorium.
            These nuclear-powered genopaths will turn on us sooner or later.

            Back to business: you’re the first commentator I heard correctly describe the origins of our current Debt – bailouts. Don’t we get this cash back ?

            And your grasp of that mantra, growth – that myth. 3% growth would break the world, it’s unsustainable; the reason it doesn’t break things is, of course, that WE get to grow and YOU don’t, you non-leaner, non-meaner unfitter others …

            Off to soak up some more conspiracies OOPS! instructive videos . . .

            Graham/.

          2. This is an Edit Note for the adjacent rant about Piranhas, to clarify the subject for innocent bystanders who might be tuned to a different frequency. I am, of course, referring to the progenitors of the TTIP assault on our 500 million neighbours, and not to the Board of Marks and Spencer …

            It’s instructive to note that previous Treaties such as NAFTA have resulted in the wholesale destruction of societies. That’s a point of view, of course, but you can ratify this for yourself using the ‘Net, the tool that will set us free …

            These assaults are all based, paragraph for paragraph, on a crude game-plan about the size of an A4 sheet of paper – pretty much like the US plan for the Iraq War, as the Chilcot Inquiry is now re-revealing. This style-sheet, a template, is cut ‘n pasted – this is not a joke – into every proposal that the US Trade Dept. puts together for the yoking of nations. The contents are not negotiable: US negotiators do not negotiate, whatever contrary view you might have been exposed to. Their intensely business-oriented skillsets ensure that they will get what they want from the Shopkeepers and Fishermen, the Olive Growers and the hard working Heimat builders. It IS necessary to defeat this process.

            Have a nice day.

            Smeg/.

        1. Hi Graham,

          The Hegenomy of the District of Columbia Washington DC and the New York district Court that administers the neo liberal laws of confiscation and austerity are pretty well documented as you say on the web.

          Oligarchy is and has been the order of the day and days past.

          http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/01/the-iron-law-of-oligarchy.html

          The ring of cyges cloaks the oligarchs in seeming invisibility but as you quoted earlier ´´People against Banks.. ´´Lord Acton its same shit different day. Walk along , nothing to see here.

          David has some very good articles on Argentina regarding how the commercial courts of New york offers the best justice money can buy.

          https://www.golemxiv.co.uk/2012/11/argentina-and-america-of-vulture-funds-and-justice-part-2/

  18. Hi David, glad to hear you are running for the leadership. I read the Debt Generation a few years ago.

    I was wondering what your views on monetary reform and the Green Party’s current policies on full reserve banking are? Declaration of interest – I campaigned to get the Green Party to commit to full reserve banking, similar to Positive Money proposals.

    Either way, keen to hear your thoughts and looking forward to husting debates where finance and economics is higher up the agenda.

    1. Hello Daniel,

      I believe it will be necessary in the longer term to move either to full reserve banking or something close to it. I haver only because of the political practicalities of getting there.

      I think fractional reserve has its uses in certain cultural moments. And at other moments, ours perhaps, I think it becomes harmful.

      I do not have the depth of expertise to judge between the sometimes acrimonious disputes between Positive Money and MMT. And I do not wish to be drawn in to what, to me at least, begins to look like Monty Python-esue bitterness. “The People’s Liberation Front of Judea? We hate them. We’re the Judean Peoples Front for Liberation!”

      I certainly think the present system allowing private banks, whose culture is dysfunctional, to grow – not so much the money supply, but the debt and risk supply – has become a problem of catastrophic proportions. And a clear and present threat to democracy.

      My main concern for the GP is that we not only move towards seeing the economic and financial problems for the priority they are, but that we think carefully about the right order of speaking about them and tackling them. There are many things we can talk about fairly easily and which we will need to do before making the deeper changes. We need to make sure WE set the agenda for discussing our policies in an order that suits US not our opponents.

  19. Put a photo up on the Green Party elections website, its very hard to vote for an invisible face of the Green party!

  20. https://scarboroughpacket.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/david-malone-scarborough-and-whitbys-green-party-candidate/ from the 2015 election a very nice Blog

    ´ Although his book is jam-packed full of interesting facts and information, easy-to-understand definitions and tons of analogies, this is just one of many examples from the book. This extract is from the 7th October 2008.

    Not to be outdone by the Yanks, Gordon Brown has just announced a “bold and far-reaching solution to the crisis” that will, he claims, “help every family and business in the county.” Gordon’s plan? Essentially provide £500bn for the banks!

    Gordon’s hope is that flush with our money the banks start lending to each other and to businesses urgently in need of cash. Fat chance of that Gordon! Banking and money markets have seized up because the banks don’t have any real money – money that people believe is actually worth something. All they have is lots of paper. They will use our money to cover their debts to stave off their bankruptcy. That’s what matters to them: their own survival, sod everyone else.

    Although it would take rather more than one blog post to analyse his entire book, you get the picture of what the rest of the content is like. If you want to, buy it. But it might also be worth noting that David, with his blog , is really rather well known in the various alternate finance circles. Since his strong opposition to the bank bailouts, David has also become fervently anti-TTIP and anti-Fracking too, and is very knowledgeable on both subjects. He has spoken widely on all three of these subjects, ´´

  21. There was an interview yesterday morning on BBC radio 4´s Today programme with #Chrystia Freeland The Canadian Trade minister http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07k88qx
    How will Brexit impact Britain’s ability to trade internationally? Chrystia Freeland is Canada’s trade minister.

    I made a recording of it and overlaid some of Davids article on re branding dissent as an opossing narrative.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaZqM3yeq5Y

    There is a hustings today for any Golem readerrs in the Manchester area.

    NW
    Friends Meeting House Mount St. Manchester , M2 5NS
    Clive Lord (Leader)
    Shahrar Ali (Deputy leader)
    David Williams (Leader)
    Störm Poorun (Deputy Leader)
    Andrew Cooper (Deputy Leader)
    Amelia Womack (Deputy Leader)
    Caroline Lucas (Leader)
    David Malone (Leader)
    Kat Boettge (Deputy)
    Alan Borgars (Deputy Leader)
    Simon Ashley Cross (Leader)
    16-07
    3 pm

    I have been trying to get a conversation started between the candidates on Money and finance issues as per Davids message regarding democratic oversight on Economics and Banking ´´Markets´´and all that. This Twitter Map certainly shows us in the middle of the Green Community as represented by Twitter ( a poor analogue for real life I know)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNZOd3rIxXc

    Anyone interested in helping to Raise Davids profile amongst Green Party Members and more widely potential Green party voters could assist by simply pressing like buttions or retweeting a few messages and facebooking the videos on Brexit and Leadership of the Green Party
    Here.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQjNHpzl7j8

    &Here
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXKxHbbhQls

    Twitter Here
    https://twitter.com/hashtag/Malone4Leader?src=hash&lang=en

    Thanks and have a good one in Manchester David.

  22. Hustings this morning, if you are in the Leeds Area. Clearly David will be having a Trans pennine oddysey today.

    also
    Yorkshire and Humber
    St Chad’s Parish Centre, Headingley, Leeds r
    Clive Lord (Leader)
    Shahrar Ali (Deputy leader)
    David Williams (Leader)
    Störm Poorun (Deputy Leader)
    Andrew Cooper (Deputy Leader)
    Amelia Womack (Deputy Leader)
    Caroline Lucas (Leader)
    David Malone (Leader)
    Kat Boettge (Deputy)
    Alan Borgars (Deputy Leader)
    Simon Ashley Cross (Leader)
    16-07
    10.30 am

  23. Delighted that you’re standing for leader and I certainly hope you spur the described debate that’s so necessary if we’re to achieve change.

    As a reader, and learner, here for years, I picked an old post as my place to point to – it’s back to the key basics of the mechanisms which drive the pyramid. To spur the debate don’t we first have to broaden the understanding of what’s so wrong in the first place? For me at least the sheer scale of everything else started to fall in place with this at the time, and it led me directly to the Debt Generation.

    https://www.golemxiv.co.uk/2011/12/rumours-disasters-and-re-hypothecation/

    Good luck David

  24. Better starting assumptions well worked out and cogently argued
    ”As Leader I think you need to be able to listen too listen to the party at large but you also need to be able to go on Question Time or Newsnight and stand toe to toe with them and disagree with their starting assumptions . If you accept their assumption, if you allow them to dictate the terms of the debate you will lose………..We have to say the place where you started from is wrong !”
    David Malone Leeds Hustings 16/7/2016
    http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/07/who-ate-all-pietiesor-now-is-not-time.html

    My Blog Framing Davids Theme from his statement to the Leeds hustings yesterday.

  25. Hi, I’ve come here from the link on your candidate statment. Nice blog you have here. Seeing as reading about modern monetary theory was one of the things that got me politically involved I can’t help but agree that clear ideas about economics and finance need to have a pretty central place in what we do. I also like that you seem to see more clearly than others the dangers and opportunities for the Greens, and indeed the country, of a potential post-referendum political realignment. Caroline Lucas is fantastic but I wonder if she is a bit too much of a tactician for this moment.

    I think you maybe underestimate the difficulty of communicating these ideas though. And, I don’t want to be an inverse snob, but watching you speak I’m not convinced your BBC career has quite given you the ‘common touch’ that would help in doing this.

    Also, do you actually want to be the leader? Like, I hope you have succeeded in creating more thought about finance and economics in the party, but I’m going to be voting for leader on the assumption that whoever I vote for might actually win…

    1. Rereading this, sorry if it’s a bit rude, the internet does that. Obviously well done for putting yourself forward!

      1. Hello NicholasK,

        Sorry its taken me a few days to reply. Hustings and then answering questions submitted online. Today lots of questions on Reddit. Takes hours. I perhaps do not have a common touch. Certainly I sound too posh. Though I’m not. My dad was trained as a BBC announcer and I got that way of speaking.

        But despite all my shortcomings – middle aged. middle class, male and white – I am running to win. If I don’t win I at least hope to have started a debate on finance and economics that will continue. But I do really think we need to change how people see our party NOW. So I would like to be in a position do something to help change our profile now and not in two years.

  26. Hi Nikolas, David no doubt will answer your question himself I would like to say that the ability to win is a different question and there is a debate which Clive Lord started when Caroline and Jonathan Announced their joint co leader candidacy back in mid may of this year. At that point the RON (re open nominations ) ball also got running as Carolines announcement front running the contest looked like the announcement of a coronation, not only of the most high profile Green party member and officer Caroline but her annointed choice of co leader jonathan.

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/josiah-mortimer/green-party-leadership-race-doesn-t-have-to-be-coronation

    Already on 1st of June Caroline was saying she felt the election did not have to become a Coronation?

    Clive Lord on his blog yesterday made some interesting points particularly about his support for and hope that Andrew Cooper would have stood for leader and would be his choice as one of his deputies.
    https://clivelord.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/im-in-it-to-win-it/

    http://leftfootforward.org/2016/05/who-are-the-frontrunners-in-the-green-party-leadership-contest/

    The comments on this link are a good indication of the strength of feeling that The co leadership bid should not be allowed to result in a shoe in with all the anti democratic overtones. Further the 1 plus 2 or 2 plus one structure opens a very interesting dynamic in the deputy leadership as Caroline could also have been seen to anoint Ameilia Womack also.

    Shahrar Ali has been very complimentary and supportive of Davids Campaign and Clive Lord and I have been exchanging views on how strong David is on sustainability Economics, Clive expressed doubts which I was able to assuage I think.

    Like Clive I think David is in it to win it , also like Clive I think David has a high chance of winning.
    https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/matt-townsend/green-party-leadership-election-stitch-up

    Roger Glyndwr Lewis • 10 days ago
    Great analysis #Malone4Leader his is a participitation politics a Democracy of praxis and inclusion not of lip service elitism and metropolitan spin jamborees.
    • Edit• Reply•Share ›
    Avatar
    Clive Lord • 13 days ago
    I have only just come across this article, but hopefully better late than never. One serious error in Matt Townsends article;
    “Now that Cobyn’s Labour party own what we considered our flagship social justice policies. I fear the Green Party could become a single issue environmental party again.”
    The ‘single issue’ – living within the planet’s ability to cope with us – is fundamental to everything else. It just happens that much of ‘everything else’ happens to be what socialists wanted anyway But it could have been presented in such a way that the 2.3 million who voted Green in 1989, few of whom would ever vote Labour, would still be on board.
    That wrong turning is why I am standing against Caroline’s coronation.
    • Reply•Share ›

    1. Yeah, I don’t really see any need to accuse Caroline of any kind of underhanded scheming, or to disbelieve her explanation of why they’re running on a co-leadership bid. She’s very talented and as the Greens’ only national-level elected politician it’s natural that she’s kind of a dominant figure.

      But it is a shame that some strong candidates have been sort of intimidated from standing against her. Also, the election hasn’t been very well run so far (why has there only been one youtubed hustings, that wasn’t publicised, with terrible sound quality, and where loads of the candidates weren’t there?).

      1. Hi Nicholas,

        I don´t think anyone has accused either Caroline or Jonathan of underhand tactics, the practical effect of the timing of announcements and the effect of Caroline standing in contrast to when Caroline stood down to develop strength in depth is though unfortunate.
        On the streaming of the hustings I think a lot of people including me share your frustration, I was streaming live concerts on the Web 8 years ago this day and age its much easier with multiple platforms available to do it with some very good buffering and live comment capability too. Some venues do have sketchy broad band connections but tonights hustings in London really should not present any problems. Here is Sweden Broadband is very good, I was at a hotel in Uppsala just last week and had a wifi connection with 50 megs up and 100 megs down my regular broadband copper connection at my place out in the Skåne countryside of hallandsåsen ( middle of no where) has 20 megs down and 2 megs up which is way good enough to live stream and have live interactive chat.
        The other unfortunate thing about Carolines standing jointly with Jonathan is that it gives johnathan a sort of anointed are and it also looks like an anointment of Amelia over Sharer Ali as well in some senses.
        Anyway there are still some really great candidates and its interesting to hear as much as possible what they all have to say not least Caroline and Jonathan.

  27. Roger Glyndwr Lewis ‏@RogerGLewis 9s10 seconds ago
    S. 8 p7(i-x)inclusive http://bit.ly/2a0szK2 co leader= nodeputies #Malone4Leader @ShahrarAli @Amelia_Womack @GreenDaniella @Kat4DepLeader

    Green party constitution at link in tweet above, A vote for Caroline and Jonathan as CO leaders cancels out any votes for deputy leader as that contest simply can not take place under the Green Party constitution #Malone4Leader The membership should have been made aware of this at the outset of the launch of the Co Leadership bid by Caroline and Jonathan it is a gross afront to democratic ideals that this was not made very clear.And continues to be largely absent from the debate.

    1. whoops, the constitution was changed in autumn 2015. the option is co leaders and a deputy or 1 leader and 2 deputies. with the much enlarged leadership , with a high turnout there could be an upset. Political upsets seem to be order of the day in the UK at the moment.

  28. Dont RON RON http://ln.is/www.youtube.com/vHpTG … via #Malone4Leader #ShahrarAli #AmeliaWomach 1+2 remember do not ron 2nd or 3rd choices count #DontRON

    Anyone wanting to help David get some more votes could tweet or cut and paste the above to social media RON (re open nominations ) is not our friend.Under AV even where David is not first choice if he can be written in as a 2nd or third choice the chances of his election are much better.

  29. I chanced on this earlier taken from a radical lecture in Bristol in January 1795, I think it also suits these times.

    ” When the wind is fair and the planks of the vessel are sound, we may solely trust everything to the management of professional mariners, but in a tempest and on board a crazy vessel, all must contribute their quota of exertion.

    Even so in the present agitation of the public mind, everyone ought to consider his or her intellectual and imaginative faculties as being in a state of requisition.

    We must all be ready on deck.

    Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

  30. http://linkis.com/teemill.co.uk/rvQ5g Tee shirt designs for Davids leadership campaign now available on line all profits from GP designs to the GP. I will see if I can make a good one for the GolemXIV blog too all profits to The Golem Blog, goes without saying,.

    Couple of Blogs from today one on the tees another a Poem called Tides of the Dollar Moon.
    http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/08/philosotees-plain-truth-from-freind-of.html

    http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/08/tides-of-dollar-moon-poem.html

  31. Congratulations David on coming second against a duo of well known candidates.

    You should at least be offered the EU Relations and Economy & Finance brief given your strong showing, this would raise your profile sufficiently to unseat Robert Goodwill at the next General Election since he now has the poisoned chalice of Immigration to contend with.

    Give yourself a well earned break and then start campaigning relentlessly for that seat.

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