In the USA, politics is often divided between the Republicans and the Democrats. That is a terrible mistake I'm only now beginning to realize. You the voter waste your vote by voting for these parties, because they don't stand for anything, and just tell you what you want to hear. Apologist Authoritarianism I could call it: they are giving you peace of mind, luxuries, a strong economy without jobs, whatever the Hell that means, and taking away your right to be represented by people who actually support your best interests. I'll explain why the Dems and Reps always win, and why that means you should never ever vote for either of them.
First off, the voting system itself is flawed, and statistically gives a great advantage to whichever two parties happen to be the largest minority. Check the link for more info on that, but realize that when you vote for one of the top two you are doubly damning yourself since your vote counts more than someone who realized what's going on and is trying to escape the trap.
Now, let me tell a story. This is a story about the Populist Party of 1892. Their success that won them 22 Electoral votes and 8.6% of the popular vote was largely due to the price inflation that was happening to agriculture. Common farmers were upset that their crops were so devalued by the gold standard that when a party rose up to challenge that, and to champion the value of the common people, they united behind it. Now, after 1892 the Democratic Party of the USA suddenly started opposing the gold standard and championing the value of the common man, so everyone stopped voting for the Populist Party, and voted Democrat instead. This is a good thing, right? The Populist Party had a purpose, right? Their purpose was to force the Democrats to change their policies so that the people would get their voices heard?
Wrong. What I described above is possibly the worst crime a political party could ever commit (well, second only to Fascism): apologism. Do you think that the wealthy Democrats cared one bit about the value of the common man and the rights and privileges he demanded? (On that note, the Populist Party was also the first to involve women in its action as equal participants.) The Democrats only started supporting that stuff because they were forced to. Pure market pressure pushed them to do it, and they would go back in a heartbeat if they thought they could get away with it.
Could the Populist Party do that? I don't think so, truthfully. The Populists stood for something. If they went turncoat and supported the gold standard, or devalued farmer's crops, then they would be going against their own party's stated agenda, and at the very least would have to run as another party. The Democrats on the other hand have no such limitation because their party stands for nothing. Nothing! They can say one thing one election year and another thing the next, and nobody can complain that they're calling themselves Democrats! What are Democrats anyway, people who support the right to vote? Doesn't everybody support that? o.O
Another story is one of the Free Soil party. They stated very clearly what their intentions were, "...we inscribe on our banner, 'Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Man,' and under it we will fight on and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions." The conflict in our country over slave dependant wealthy plantation farmers, and wage-slave dependant wealthy industrialists had grown to a feverish pace at the time, and these people stood for no slavery at all. They wanted a tax only for revenue as opposed to income or sales. They opposed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves. You might not agree with all their ideas, but you'd think that this party would at least have something of a stand, especially with the debate today of whether we should abolish the income tax or not?
They vanished 16 years after forming, in 1856. Reasons why can only be speculation, but it's interesting to note that the Republican presidential candidate John Frémont ran in 1856 under the slogan, "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Frémont." Isn't it just keen how he took a genuine social interest and turned into a catchy campaign slogan just by adding his name at the end?
Guess who can't be defined either: the Republicans! They can slither left and right, flip flop like crazy, however you like it, they support it! They're in support of big business, small business, freedom, security, peace, war, independance, restriction. Ten years ago they championed the privacy of the citizen and the moral foundation of their party. Today they champion the privacy of the President, and dismiss moral and economic scandals as "spending more time with his family."
So let's say it's 1856 and you're a voter. You want to abolish slavery and only tax revenue. So you go to your ballot and you see possible candidates two parties, the tiny "Free Soil" party, and this brand new "Republican" party, who through wealthy backing have spread their message far and wide. So of course you vote Republican, right? Because they're opposed to slavery too, right? Why vote for the Free Soil party because they're just going to lose anyway, right?
That is why you must not vote Republican or Democrat. An ill defined party is an apologist party, one who takes the popular stance and pretends that they actually adhere to it, but since their party is so ill defined they can turn on you faster than a cornered badger. Wealthy interests realize how powerful the ability to not commit to anything, while seeming to be committed, is. These elitists ensure that your media, your newspapers, your discussions with friends, your mailboxes, will all be filled with the "debate" over Republican versus Democrat. You have to resist their brainwashing! They'll tell you "If you vote Libertarian, you're giving a vote to the Democrats!" but they're totally wrong. In today's political climate, the advertising honed by decades of psychological analysis by corporate empires, the precarious stance of the US as the dominant but fading technological power, and the fear that is being injected into our lives about imaginary terrorists, imaginary threats, and imaginary "moral values," it has never been more important to vote third party.
The two main parties do not support your interests, no matter what they say because they are not bound by any contract or any agreement, or even any definition to obey those interests. By voting for them you're sitting on a land mine and hoping that it doesn't blow up your butt. The doctrine of "Vote for the lesser of two evils" is nothing less than slavery and disenfranchisement! If you vote for someone you don't support out of the feeling you lack choices but need to do something, then your vote just got tossed in the trash! You have 200 television channels but you don't get to decide what's on them. You have 200 fast food franchises to work for, but you don't get to choose what your job is, what your salary is or what you produce. It's slavery disguised as choice, and the only way to beat it is to break free of the system, be the wrench in the cogs of the machine, and find a third party to vote for who actually commits to supporting your interest. Enough of these fork tongued bastards who claim to support social welfare, and follow behind the stockholders (sorry, "stake"holders) like corporate lapdogs. I'm voting Green this year.
Disclaimer: No snakes were actually insulted in the course of this blog. The author happens to love snakes, especially the snuggly ones. If you are a snake and feel offended at being compared to the Republicans or Democrats, more power to you. Vote Third!
Disclaimer: Political parties are a load of hogwash anyway. All they do is prevent worthy candidates from reaching the ballot. You should never take the party line into consideration, because you're not voting for parties, you're voting for candidates. Ask what these candidates stand for, irregardless of what their party stands for, because those two things don't always mesh up exactly. Even I considered voting for McCain.
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