Thinking Green

By: Rick Kambic/Columnist

Posted: 4/4/08

Green. It's always been my favorite color. After enrolling in college, however, I learned of a new meaning for the word.

To me, green stands for purity. When I leave our complicated, gray buildings on campus, green surrounds me. Walking along Lake Charleston gives me a sense of simplicity and peace at heart.

Strong, dominant trees and luscious green grass allow me to forget about construction-contracting, computer verifications, conference rooms and e-mail wars. A solid hour of meditation or sight-seeing at the lake can really calm one's mind.

That simplicity is the drive behind my new understanding of green. The word green has become a political word that I recognize as the way out of our society's manipulative political traps.

I quickly learned that society disapproves of voters who are in favor of any party or group other than the Democrats or Republicans. I refuse to be either liberal or conservative.

I am not a pawn of institutionalized politics. The Green Party may be a joke to some, but the Colombians who are murdered by the Coca-Cola Company do not agree with the current form of capitalism supported by America.

This world needs to get simpler before it gets any more complex. How come our minds cannot be as simple as mine is when I visit Lake Charleston?

One of the many young men who inspire me is Kevin O'Connor, candidate for Illinois State Representative for the 41st District.

O'Connor is a student at Western Illinois University who is studying law enforcement and political science.

O'Connor takes much of what society deems normal and tries to find different perspectives. Instead of simply complaining about the state of our world, this Brookfield native is taking change into his own hands and running for office as a member of the Green Party.

He's won his primary and will be competing against the Republican incumbent this November. Words can hardly express the admiration I have for him and his supporters. To be in college and fighting for a seat in the state government is monumental. The youth revolution is evolving!

We "young voters" seem to be demanding a whole lot of change this election year, but stop and think if your vote would actually force Democrats or Republicans to do something. Voting Green is not throwing your vote away because it's symbolic of real change.

The party system, as we know it, is overly complicated and does more harm than good to democracy. The change we need is one that does not involve the two scandalous parties who only attack each other and do not hold themselves accountable.

Students of Eastern have a wealth of resources provided by the university and it's time to form more clubs or speak our minds. Speak out about anything. Go tell Student Government what you really think of them; tell the Board of Trustees what you think about tuition; or go tell your professor that your class is boring.

For me, I'm investing time into green activities, but maybe a trip to peaceful Lake Charleston will allow you to think of some way to initiate change.

Rick Kambic is a junior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.