The Green Book
The Green Book is a short book setting out the political philosophy of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The book was first published in 1975. It is said to have been inspired in part by The Little Red Book (Quotations from Chairman Mao). Both were widely distributed both inside and outside their country of origin, and “written in a simple, understandable style with many memorable slogans.”
The Green Book is broken into three sections:
- The Solution of the Problem of Democracy: The Authority of the People.
- The Solution of the Economic Problem: Socialism.
- The Social Basis of the Third International Theory
The Green Book rejects modern liberal democracy based on electing representatives as well as capitalism. Instead, it proposes a type of direct democracy overseen by the General People’s Committee which allows direct political participation for all adult citizens.
The book states that “Freedom of expression is the natural right of every person, even if they choose to behave irrationally, to express his or her insanity”. The Green Book states that freedom of speech is based upon public ownership of book publishers, newspapers, television, and radio stations, on the grounds that private ownership would be undemocratic.
