Vote Yourself Out of a Hole
For five years now on my official Facebook page I have published about politics in various aspects and applications. Some of my posts receive many upvotes but the commentary is nearly all negative. A great majority of negative comments have nothing to do with the posted article but are some variation of “vote red until dead” or “vote blue no matter who”!
The binary mindset which has taken hold of modern politics is no accident, of course. Certain overarching influences have labored for generations to limit the scope of “acceptable” debate in politics, such that these influences get what they desire, no matter the elections’ outcomes. Considering modern politics’ wide brush strokes, you can see some trends which indicate these influences’ desires.
Both legacy parties pay some lip service to fiscal responsibility, yet deficit spending remains fashionable across the board. As it stands, the USA’s debt is around $34 trillion. As with any debt, this is money owed to someone. If you want to know who is behind the influences encouraging deficit spending, follow the money and realize that much of that debt is owed to those entities which recommend such spending.
Closely related to such spending are ongoing and growing military commitments of different sorts. The USA maintains 750 military bases across 80 countries. For 75 years the USA has protected Europe from Europe through NATO such that several countries there have outpaced us in social welfare as we prioritize guns over butter. For 70 years we have protected Korea from Korea at the DMZ even though satellite photos of the peninsula plainly demonstrate that the South no longer needs our help for defense. Iraq is rarely in mainstream news these days, but U.S. military installations in places like the Green Zone are still there, and as only four days ago Ukraine received another infusion of military aid (to the tune of $425 million, which brings total aid there to around $110 billion), you can expect U.S. military presence in these countries for generations if current trends continue.
Even the thorny issue of illegal immigration has more consensus between the two legacy parties than either would like to admit. Both legacy parties kick around this political football every election cycle – memorably during 2020’s presidential debate when “Who built the cages?!” entered our lexicon – yet illegal immigration continues to a greater or lesser degree. It is possible meaningfully to curtail it, but that may require reallocating resources from other uses, and neither legacy party seems to want to flip over the apple cart.
Escalating national debt, overextension of our military, and limitless illegal immigration should concern any voter. Yet the first rule when you’re dug into a hole is to stop digging. Votes cast for the legacy parties have gotten this country into this situation, so it is definitely worthwhile to consider a third-party this election, such as Libertarian, Green, LaRouche, Constitution or Independent. Unlike a legacy party candidate who competes for your vote simply by saying, “I’m not that other guy!,” chances are that a third-party candidate has some policies for these issues precisely because s/he has to offer real solutions to win your vote. Considering that otherwise you’ll be living with the legacy parties’ folly for several years, take a few minutes today to inform yourself of what third-parties offer on policy and see if it’s not worth “taking a chance” on restoring sanity in government.
Or you could just dog-pile me in the comments with “vote red until dead” and “vote blue no matter who”!