(Originally posted to Twitter, then I remembered I had this blog…)

For anyone trying to talk to friends & family who either won’t vote at all or who are dead set on voting 3rd-party in the general election, here is how & why I changed my voting habits:

As a former 3rd-party voter, it took me acknowledging:

1. Voting is a long-term strategic process; there’s almost zero satisfaction to be had from one vote.

2. I’m culpable for the greater evil’s success by not supporting the lesser evil in a tactical approach to voting.

Most importantly, I had to own my culpability in the way things are. Ego is involved: 3rd-party voters want to feel free of culpability, so they reject picking from the only 2 currently-viable picks. “Less bad” must be acknowledged as the WISE & STRATEGIC choice for the future.

I didn’t/don’t want Biden. I voted for him because the DNC held a virtual gun to our heads in the shape of Donald Trump. “Vote for our center-right corporatist status quo guy, or the country will be further violated & maybe lose what little democracy it has!!”

I’ll do it again.

I’ll keep voting for the half-assed democrat every time until ranked-choice voting is established in my state. The DNC doesn’t want it, but the republicans are actively trying to ban it at the federal level. With one party, there’s some hope. The rest is just a slow surrender.

Yes, it’s MY vote. Also true: I have a responsibility to my fellow citizens to make the best practical use of that vote as possible. I can’t stress this part enough: it’s about holding one’s self accountable to the rest of their society.

This is why outcasts & outsiders abstain from voting, or voting for what they perceive as a mainstream institution: disenfranchisement. If a person feels they get nothing from society, they’re apt to take no responsibility for their role in it.

One party loves to disenfranchise. Fight against them.

The Democratic Party sucks at combating it, but the other is a full-blown cult, actively attacking voting via policy & by making people miserable. Slandering, condemning & scapegoating race, gender, sexuality, emotional/physical/financial vulnerabilities… attacking pursuit of happiness itself.

Refusing to vote is not protest; it is surrender. Refusing to vote for the lesser evil in a duopoly is not principled protest; it is ego-soothing evasion of social responsibility. If someone believes they don’t WANT to be part of society, that’s a win for antisocial politicians.

We’re currently trapped in a scenario requiring triage to treat bleeding wounds. If we don’t DO that, if we allow ourselves to be fatigued & distracted by every [legitimate] criticism of the party actually slowing the bleeding, we side with the knife-wielder and we bleed out.

I know full well how enraging it is to hear “now is not the time for third-parties”, but that’s fatigue, impatience, and idealism compromising the logical process we need to exercise in order to strategize our country’s best hope.

“If not now, when?” I won’t patronize you and say “soon”. It might not be in my lifetime (middle-aged now). But it’s not about ME! If we don’t strategize now, “when” will become “never”. I will NOT condemn other people to appease my emotional desire for dramatic change today.

As for those who want to see it all burn down, and are willing to actively throw fuel on the fire… I’m not sure what to say. They’re hurting & lost? They’re narcissistic/sociopathic? I’ll suggest the most likely fact: they’re an ugly minority position. Most people want peace.

I struggle with whether it’s better to show them patience & kindness, hoping to set an example for pro-social behaviors… or exclude them from our lives so we can spend our time/emotion more wisely, with less stress.

I guarantee you that aggressiveness and condemnation won’t win them over. That is the path of calcifying their antisocial sentiments by becoming the justification for their biases.

The parallels between today’s USA and pre-Nazi Germany are objective observation. It’s not panic-mongering or cheesy eye-roll satire. If you ever wondered “how did Germans allow it to happen”, the answer is “you’re witnessing it now”… or your ignoring it for peace of mind.

Yes, that CAN happen here. There’s a small, aggressive portion of the population that WANTS it to happen here. One party actively utilizes & normalizes tactics that create fascist dictatorships. The other party is [weakly] fighting it. There’s currently no viable 3rd choice.

This doesn’t mean you should condemn and blame your non-voting or 3rd-party-voting friends & family for “supporting nazis”. You definitely won’t win support that way. It means there’s an ongoing existential threat creating an inflection point in the USA’s near/immediate future.

It DOES come down to personal responsibility, though. It’s our responsibility to maintain our society, and to protect it from turning into something MUCH WORSE than the legitimate criticisms we have for it today.

I knew it was my responsibility to vote, but I thought my responsibility included challenging the duopoly by refusing to participate in it. I was mistaken. That was ego and identity politics. That was me appeasing an ideology and failing to recognize a practical strategy.

I have corrected for that. I hope to continue to refine my understanding of what’s going on, and to act with the best possible care & strategy, for my people: those who seek to harm none, but are targeted & brutalized for trying to live their lives, with liberty, in pursuit of happiness.

PS: The place to throw support for non-duopoly, non-establishment politicians is in primaries (local, state, federal). Aim for the most progressive option in a primary, sure, but once that’s done, you MUST come back and vote for the least bad choice that made it to the final round.

I think that’s the best I’ve got to offer at the moment. Diminishing returns for blabbing into what’s probably just an internet hole nobody looks into. I have a tiny hope someone will find value in my analysis; maybe it could inspire even one single person. Worth the time?