The biography jar threw out a tricky topic, one I tend to stay away from in posts and daily life. Among other considerations, I believe that political oratory becomes largely wasted by the late twenties. By middle-age, nobody changes nobodies mind no how. I can put all the cogent arguments in favor of the Green Party or the Libertarian Party together, express them perfectly and I will still get exactly nowhere if my goal is to change someone else’s mind. I may clarify my own thinking, but that’s another issue.
Our minds are made up. That’s part of the problem today. We reject the facts that don’t support our views as mistaken and may even classify these views as malicious propaganda. We latch on to facts that support our views, often without reviewing sources and agendas. Americans have become polarized and, unfortunately, the best strategy I know for dealing with this clustering at the poles seems to be avoidance. You go your way, I’ll go mine.
That said, perhaps it’s time for America to reject the “wasted vote” argument. The idea that we have to vote for a democrat or republican because any other vote is useless has led many people to implicitly support a system that may not deserve our support. If we all vote repuplican or demoprat, how will we ever truly protest our leaders’ failures? These last few years have shown an appalling inability to compromise on both sides.
Next time, I think I will vote for Gary Johnson or his successor. I am more Libertarian than anything else. I want to suck a lot of government out of education and business for the sake of students and small business owners everywhere. I want my doctor friends to be able to practice medicine without losing hours and hours to paperwork each week. I want less government intervention and more personal freedom. I encourage others to vote for the Green Party, the Justice Party or whatever party most meshes with their personal views.
We are overdue for a protest vote. The problem with picking the lesser of two evils is that the lesser-evil may view their “win” as a mandate, and that mandate as an excuse not to work with the other party. I’d like to send both parties a message: We don’t want these extremes. We want our parties to communicate and work together.
(Actually, I’d like a Libertarian government. But I’d settle for a more functional one that listened to what the electorate wanted — all of the electorate — and acted accordingly.)
