(Originally posted to Twitter, then I remembered I had this blog…)
For anyone trying to talk to friends & family who either won\u2019t 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\u2019s almost zero satisfaction to be had from one vote.
2. I\u2019m culpable for the greater evil\u2019s 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. \u201cLess bad\u201d must be acknowledged as the WISE & STRATEGIC choice for the future.
I didn\u2019t\/don\u2019t want Biden. I voted for him because the DNC held a virtual gun to our heads in the shape of Donald Trump. \u201cVote for our center-right corporatist status quo guy, or the country will be further violated & maybe lose what little democracy it has!!\u201d
I\u2019ll do it again.
I\u2019ll keep voting for the half-assed democrat every time until ranked-choice voting is established in my state. The DNC doesn\u2019t want it, but the republicans are actively trying to ban it at the federal level. With one party, there\u2019s some hope. The rest is just a slow surrender.
Yes, it\u2019s 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\u2019t stress this part enough: it\u2019s about holding one\u2019s 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\u2019re 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\u2026 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\u2019t WANT to be part of society, that\u2019s a win for antisocial politicians.
We\u2019re currently trapped in a scenario requiring triage to treat bleeding wounds. If we don\u2019t 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 \u201cnow is not the time for third-parties\u201d, but that\u2019s fatigue, impatience, and idealism compromising the logical process we need to exercise in order to strategize our country\u2019s best hope.
\u201cIf not now, when?\u201d I won\u2019t patronize you and say \u201csoon\u201d. It might not be in my lifetime (middle-aged now). But it\u2019s not about ME! If we don\u2019t strategize now, \u201cwhen\u201d will become \u201cnever\u201d. 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\u2026 I\u2019m not sure what to say. They\u2019re hurting & lost? They\u2019re narcissistic\/sociopathic? I\u2019ll suggest the most likely fact: they\u2019re an ugly minority position. Most people want peace.
I struggle with whether it\u2019s better to show them patience & kindness, hoping to set an example for pro-social behaviors\u2026 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\u2019t win them over. That is the path of calcifying their antisocial sentiments by becoming the justification for their biases.
The parallels between today\u2019s USA and pre-Nazi Germany are objective observation. It\u2019s not panic-mongering or cheesy eye-roll satire. If you ever wondered \u201chow did Germans allow it to happen\u201d, the answer is \u201cyou’re witnessing it now\u201d\u2026 or your ignoring it for peace of mind.
Yes, that CAN happen here. There\u2019s 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\u2019s currently no viable 3rd choice.
This doesn\u2019t mean you should condemn and blame your non-voting or 3rd-party-voting friends & family for \u201csupporting nazis\u201d. You definitely won\u2019t win support that way. It means there\u2019s an ongoing existential threat creating an inflection point in the USA\u2019s near\/immediate future.
It DOES come down to personal responsibility, though. It\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s done, you MUST come back and vote for the least bad choice that made it to the final round.
I think that\u2019s the best I\u2019ve got to offer at the moment. Diminishing returns for blabbing into what\u2019s 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?<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Originally posted to Twitter, then I remembered I had this blog…)For anyone trying to talk to friends & family who either won\u2019t 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…. <\/p>\n