Putting a stop to politics-as-usual
How can the American public put an end to the disastrous policies of the two old parties that I likened to Tweeledum and Tweedledee... which are so similar that they are often collectively called "Demopublicans" or "Republicrats"? First, we each have several options that simply WON'T work:
1. Not voting.
2. Switching your vote from one to the other.
Not voting changes nothing. You will simply be labeled, regardless of your reason, as too lazy or unconcerned to bother to vote. Regardless of how few people vote, every race will still have a winner who will become your representative. Those who do vote will decide for you.
Switching to the "other" party does not change results either. There are always many dissatisfied voters changing their votes, most often from whichever party currently has power to the other party, who can, since they're the "out" party, say "See how bad things are when you elect our opponents?" If that succeeds in switching more control to the other party, then the same claim will be made by the new "out" party.
Look at how the voters have tried their damndest to find a good choice... over the past 100 years, switching power from one party to the other, and back, with the result that we've been saddled with a Republican president for 52 years and a Democrat for 48 years... almost a dead heat. A tally of Congressional control would give a similarly back and forth result... every possible combination has been tried, and all for nought.
What have the results been? Ever-increasing taxes, ever-increasing national debt, ever-increasing intrusion into our personal lives, more wars than you can easily count, and an ever-increasing number of Americans in prisons and jails. Our political leaders have no regard for our Constitution, because they've gotten away with disregarding it for so long. To top it off, our leaders have alienated much of the world - to such an extent that we've been attacked here at home.
It is so clear to most of us that "doing what we've been doing will give us what we've always gotten". What can Americans do to shake up our corrupt political system? How can we "take a wrench" to the political machine? Our ancestors tarred and feathered tax collectors, burned government buildings, and other serious forms of protest, but is there anything short of violent revolt that we can do?
Hell yes, there is. Even though the D's and R's have worked hard to make it almost impossible for other parties or candidates to compete with them, it is not impossible. There are numerous other parties, working damned hard to give Americans a choice at election time. The largest of these parties is the Libertarian Party. Libertarians have worked hard to give all Americans another choice on the ballot for President. It requires work in every state, often long, arduous petitioning just to get the candidate on the ballot. Because, as a matter of principle, Libertarian candidates will not accept tax money for their campaigns, it is an uphill battle of epic proportions. But... the candidate has been there as a choice for you, election after election.
What good will it do to vote for a Libertarian candidate, or one from another newer party? Won't it be a "wasted vote", meaning that a D or R will STILL win? Of course, if ENOUGH people vote Libertarian, it certainly won't be wasted, but suppose that the Libertarian candidate DOESN'T win. In what way are the votes that candidate receives wasted? If you vote GOP and a Democrat wins, is your vote wasted? If you vote Democratic and a Republican wins, has your vote been wasted? Of course not, but the D's and R's have perpetrated the "wasted vote" hogwash on Americans... only when it comes to "other" parties.
In fact, votes for other-party candidates, even when they don't win, have a great deal of effect. THOSE VOTES SEND A MESSAGE. Those votes are, at the very least, a PROTEST vote... a scream that politics-as-usual is no longer acceptable. In the case of a Libertarian vote, it's much more... because the Libertarians stand for specific positions; every vote for a Libertarian is a vote for a set of clear positions. In that context, a Libertarian vote means far more than a vote for either of two parties whose positions are a mystery to all of us.
When you vote GOP of Democrat, those parties can interpret those votes any way they choose, because we don't know WHAT the votes were for... only WHO. We don't know what their candidates stand for, because they won't tell us with any specificity, because they don't want to alienate ANY potential voter. Two whole giant parties who stand for nothing in particular, because they want to "appeal" to everyone. Is it any wonder that they appear almost identical, with positions we can't understand, or trust them to keep?
American politics has become nothing more than a sick game... a rigged contest between two factions of the same party, played, not with ideas, or positions, or vision, but instead with grandiose media appearances, hype, and double-talk. The D's and R's PLAY at being opponents, and they spend huge sums of OUR tax money to convince us to choose one or the other.
If you vote either R or D, you really ARE wasting your vote, because the results will be the same regardless of which of them wins. They offer you no choice... just different names. If you want your vote to mean something, you have no alternative but to seek out other candidates to vote for... do a little study, then ask yourself this question: Which party is CLOSEST to matching what I think should happen? Don't be fooled into thinking that you know what the D's and R's stand for, because you can't know. They will be vague and noncommittal enough to allow you to ASSUME that they must mean what you want, but think back over their record... what they actually DID, and ask yourself whether that's what you want more of.
I give the same warning I've given before: If Americans don't wake up SOON, stop falling for the tricks of the D's and R's, and take advantage of the alternatives they have, our society will continue to decline in the same way it has.
1. Not voting.
2. Switching your vote from one to the other.
Not voting changes nothing. You will simply be labeled, regardless of your reason, as too lazy or unconcerned to bother to vote. Regardless of how few people vote, every race will still have a winner who will become your representative. Those who do vote will decide for you.
Switching to the "other" party does not change results either. There are always many dissatisfied voters changing their votes, most often from whichever party currently has power to the other party, who can, since they're the "out" party, say "See how bad things are when you elect our opponents?" If that succeeds in switching more control to the other party, then the same claim will be made by the new "out" party.
Look at how the voters have tried their damndest to find a good choice... over the past 100 years, switching power from one party to the other, and back, with the result that we've been saddled with a Republican president for 52 years and a Democrat for 48 years... almost a dead heat. A tally of Congressional control would give a similarly back and forth result... every possible combination has been tried, and all for nought.
What have the results been? Ever-increasing taxes, ever-increasing national debt, ever-increasing intrusion into our personal lives, more wars than you can easily count, and an ever-increasing number of Americans in prisons and jails. Our political leaders have no regard for our Constitution, because they've gotten away with disregarding it for so long. To top it off, our leaders have alienated much of the world - to such an extent that we've been attacked here at home.
It is so clear to most of us that "doing what we've been doing will give us what we've always gotten". What can Americans do to shake up our corrupt political system? How can we "take a wrench" to the political machine? Our ancestors tarred and feathered tax collectors, burned government buildings, and other serious forms of protest, but is there anything short of violent revolt that we can do?
Hell yes, there is. Even though the D's and R's have worked hard to make it almost impossible for other parties or candidates to compete with them, it is not impossible. There are numerous other parties, working damned hard to give Americans a choice at election time. The largest of these parties is the Libertarian Party. Libertarians have worked hard to give all Americans another choice on the ballot for President. It requires work in every state, often long, arduous petitioning just to get the candidate on the ballot. Because, as a matter of principle, Libertarian candidates will not accept tax money for their campaigns, it is an uphill battle of epic proportions. But... the candidate has been there as a choice for you, election after election.
What good will it do to vote for a Libertarian candidate, or one from another newer party? Won't it be a "wasted vote", meaning that a D or R will STILL win? Of course, if ENOUGH people vote Libertarian, it certainly won't be wasted, but suppose that the Libertarian candidate DOESN'T win. In what way are the votes that candidate receives wasted? If you vote GOP and a Democrat wins, is your vote wasted? If you vote Democratic and a Republican wins, has your vote been wasted? Of course not, but the D's and R's have perpetrated the "wasted vote" hogwash on Americans... only when it comes to "other" parties.
In fact, votes for other-party candidates, even when they don't win, have a great deal of effect. THOSE VOTES SEND A MESSAGE. Those votes are, at the very least, a PROTEST vote... a scream that politics-as-usual is no longer acceptable. In the case of a Libertarian vote, it's much more... because the Libertarians stand for specific positions; every vote for a Libertarian is a vote for a set of clear positions. In that context, a Libertarian vote means far more than a vote for either of two parties whose positions are a mystery to all of us.
When you vote GOP of Democrat, those parties can interpret those votes any way they choose, because we don't know WHAT the votes were for... only WHO. We don't know what their candidates stand for, because they won't tell us with any specificity, because they don't want to alienate ANY potential voter. Two whole giant parties who stand for nothing in particular, because they want to "appeal" to everyone. Is it any wonder that they appear almost identical, with positions we can't understand, or trust them to keep?
American politics has become nothing more than a sick game... a rigged contest between two factions of the same party, played, not with ideas, or positions, or vision, but instead with grandiose media appearances, hype, and double-talk. The D's and R's PLAY at being opponents, and they spend huge sums of OUR tax money to convince us to choose one or the other.
If you vote either R or D, you really ARE wasting your vote, because the results will be the same regardless of which of them wins. They offer you no choice... just different names. If you want your vote to mean something, you have no alternative but to seek out other candidates to vote for... do a little study, then ask yourself this question: Which party is CLOSEST to matching what I think should happen? Don't be fooled into thinking that you know what the D's and R's stand for, because you can't know. They will be vague and noncommittal enough to allow you to ASSUME that they must mean what you want, but think back over their record... what they actually DID, and ask yourself whether that's what you want more of.
I give the same warning I've given before: If Americans don't wake up SOON, stop falling for the tricks of the D's and R's, and take advantage of the alternatives they have, our society will continue to decline in the same way it has.
posted by Robert Ronald Smith at 12:01 AM
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