Trying to scare people off from voting with principle and warning of “splitting the votes” is a neoliberal propaganda. Canada and UK are also two-party systems, and yet they have third parties gaining seats. The now centre right British Labour Party tried to also do the same scaremongering in a by-election to dissuade voters from voting the Green Party, which took the torch of British leftism. And yet, the vote splitting didn’t happen, and the Green Party won by a huge margin against the right wing Reform and Labour.
America could learn a lot, instead of listening to their mainstream media who brainwash their citizens of being corralled to think within an allowed narrative. I remember a Singaporean diplomat years ago, who made a comment that even though America is nominally a free country, he finds the news and discourse to be limited and insular-- which is practically the same as listening to state-run news in countries like China.
Although, this hasn’t always been the case. One hundred years ago, third parties in America do get seats. I think the difference is that one hundred years ago, ordinary Americans were more politically proactive and engaged. One hundred years ago was the generation that ended the Gilded age and elected the Roosevelts. I don’t know what happened but my suspicion is that after World War II, when the nation experienced enormous wealth and prosperity that previous generations never experienced before, Americans have become complacent.
I vote third party often (D too, R from time to time), and it’s the quickest way to find out what Ds and Rs really think of “democracy” (which is contempt).
Meanwhile, socialists are the only reason we have minimum wage in the USA, they have been fighting for it since the early 1900s, libertarians and greens are the only reason we have legal weed, they’ve been working for that since the 1970s, and so on. Only after LOSING VOTES to third parties do the major parties even bother changing their platform to get an edge over the other.
Most Ds and Rs don’t realize this, because it’s not reported on, and many don’t have any clue about what is happening beyond the very obvious.
I encourage people of all parties and platforms to become politically involved and see how things work, a few months of being a precinct committee officer (the lowest rung of the political ladder) will open many eyes.
Ds and Rs are not in the constitution, they are private organizations with their own selfish interests over and above representation. I think it’s pretty obvious at this point that very popular initiatives are squashed by the majors whenever possible; 70% of voters want universal healthcare, for example. It doesn’t matter what “the people” want.
Trying to scare people off from voting with principle and warning of “splitting the votes” is a neoliberal propaganda. Canada and UK are also two-party systems, and yet they have third parties gaining seats. The now centre right British Labour Party tried to also do the same scaremongering in a by-election to dissuade voters from voting the Green Party, which took the torch of British leftism. And yet, the vote splitting didn’t happen, and the Green Party won by a huge margin against the right wing Reform and Labour.
America could learn a lot, instead of listening to their mainstream media who brainwash their citizens of being corralled to think within an allowed narrative. I remember a Singaporean diplomat years ago, who made a comment that even though America is nominally a free country, he finds the news and discourse to be limited and insular-- which is practically the same as listening to state-run news in countries like China.
Although, this hasn’t always been the case. One hundred years ago, third parties in America do get seats. I think the difference is that one hundred years ago, ordinary Americans were more politically proactive and engaged. One hundred years ago was the generation that ended the Gilded age and elected the Roosevelts. I don’t know what happened but my suspicion is that after World War II, when the nation experienced enormous wealth and prosperity that previous generations never experienced before, Americans have become complacent.
I vote third party often (D too, R from time to time), and it’s the quickest way to find out what Ds and Rs really think of “democracy” (which is contempt).
Meanwhile, socialists are the only reason we have minimum wage in the USA, they have been fighting for it since the early 1900s, libertarians and greens are the only reason we have legal weed, they’ve been working for that since the 1970s, and so on. Only after LOSING VOTES to third parties do the major parties even bother changing their platform to get an edge over the other.
Most Ds and Rs don’t realize this, because it’s not reported on, and many don’t have any clue about what is happening beyond the very obvious.
I encourage people of all parties and platforms to become politically involved and see how things work, a few months of being a precinct committee officer (the lowest rung of the political ladder) will open many eyes.
Ds and Rs are not in the constitution, they are private organizations with their own selfish interests over and above representation. I think it’s pretty obvious at this point that very popular initiatives are squashed by the majors whenever possible; 70% of voters want universal healthcare, for example. It doesn’t matter what “the people” want.
Thanks for your post, I agree with it 100%.