In Defense of Third Party Voting - Make America American Again

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other.” – John Adams

I know we’re all sick of politics, but I’m giving one last hurrah of my two cents for this election season.

America was never meant to be a democracy. Too many people do not realize this, and I think that that’s the root of a lot of our confusion as a country. Our country was meant to be a Republic, and when that notion was lost somewhere along the line, so too were the guiding principles behind our great nation. Away with our Republic went the concepts of individual liberty, freedom, justice, and personal responsibility.

The small difference between a republic and a democracy is that in a republic, sovereignty remains with the individual. It’s all about the individual’s inalienable rights- life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Liberty means that you, as an individual, have freedom of choice and control over your own life. Small government is indispensable to a republic, because it’s only role is to enforce the constitution, or in other words ensure that no people or groups, government included, take away the rights of individuals. So long as they are not infringing on the rights of other individuals, government has no place inserting itself into the lives of citizens.

In a democracy, however, sovereignty is given to the majority. As Ayn Rand said, “the smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” Once power moves from the individual to the majority, socialism and fascism begin to creep in. And THAT was the worst fear of our Founding Fathers. They were adamantly against democracy, because it leads to violence, as it takes away the rights and power of individuals, and opens up the opportunity for corruption by power of the majority. The violation of consent is a crime; a majority vote has no affect on this fact. The Republic is supposed to be a solution to the threat of “tyranny by the majority,” which James Madison feared. That is the American way.

When the Declaration of Independence refers to certain “inalienable rights,” it means to say that human beings are bestowed upon, by God, certain rights by virtue of existence, which no other humans have the right to infringe upon. Our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are given to us at birth, not by government. Government’s job is to protect the individual's inalienable rights- i.e. defend freedom of the individual. The Declaration goes on to say that “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles… but when a long train of abuses and usurpations… evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

When you are faced with a so-called “choice” between an oligarchy and a fascist, and bombarded by both sides insisting that a vote for a 3rd party candidate is a vote for their opposition, I urge you to remember this. It is our duty as Americans to overthrow the corrupt police and nanny-state that has infected the U.S. government. Find solace in the fact that voting against the tyranny of the current duopoly is what the Founding Fathers would have wanted you to do. George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were all adamantly opposed to two-party systems. Also remember that voting in a 3rd party candidate will seem impossible until it is done, and as the Chinese proverb says, “those who say it can’t be done should get out of the way of those doing it.”

Today, We find evidence of both how and why so many Americans feel disenfranchised by the current political system and philosophy through the methods of both the Primaries and the Electoral College.

Roughly 40% of Americans currently identify as Independents, which means that 40% of us cannot vote in the Primaries and thus have virtually no say in the resulting 2-party candidates. An article that recently went viral from the NY Times on August 1 showed why/how only 9% of the country voted in Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the duopoly candidates. Although I think the point of the article was to show how few people vote in the primaries, I believe an important facet that went unmentioned is the fact that 40% cannot vote, and of the remainder, many are now feeling that their votes wouldn’t matter in the Primaries, or in the Presidential election, regardless. Political parties are essentially very powerful private organizations, aka corporations. This year, a light has started to shine on the extent of corruption within the system. It seems that if there’s one thing both parties can actually agree on, it’s that when it comes to the party’s nominees, your vote in the Primaries doesn’t matter anyway.

RNC rules committee member Curley Haugland: “Political parties choose their nominee, not the general public, contrary to popular belief.”

Chair of the DNC Debbie Wasserman Schultz: “unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grass roots activists.”

And a delegate from Nevada, Diana Orrock: “People are under the misconception that it’s the result of the caucus and the results of the primary that determines who becomes the nominee. In actuality, it’s the delegates at the national convention that are supposed to pick the nominee.”

So why do we have the Primaries, then? And why the hell are they paid for by citizen tax dollars?

As for the Electoral College, it has proved to be a complete failure. Originally, the purpose of the Electoral College was again to protect our Republic against the threat of democracy. The whole reasoning behind the Electoral College was to protect the vote of the individual in the case of a majority forming that may try to vote in laws that threaten the individual’s rights. Given this blatant failure, it serves absolutely no purpose any longer. An article by FairVote entitled, “Current Electoral College Rules Mean Most Americans Are Ignored,” discusses how the system creates a scenario where we can predict with astonishing accuracy the outcome of elections in all states but swing states, so candidates are able to focus all of their campaigning solely on those which stand a chance swaying the outcome. They argue that, “with the definition of swing states so firmly set in today’s polarizing politics…this dynamic simply cannot be reconciled with basic notions of representative democracy and democratic accountability. Electing presidents by the national popular vote would address this problem by separating the presidency from the outcome in particular states, and make every voter in every state equally important.” In other words, unless you are in a swing state, your vote no longer counts in the Presidential election either. This truth is obviously in direct opposition of the best interests of the Individual, and proves that the original purpose of the Electoral College has failed. Its use is now serving, instead, to the detriment of its original intent. We need to let it go, and restore the power to the people.

It’s time to fight back against tyranny, and start getting back to our country's roots. Every individual should have a vote that not only counts, but carries equivocal weight. Do not feel bullied into compromising your integrity due to pressure from a system that is inherently un-American to begin with. Do not give in to pressure to entertain a lesser of two evils option, time after time, with the expectation of a result being something other than evil.

The first step is to let them debate. Let all qualified candidates have a shot by giving them a voice, as our forefathers intended. We should all be appalled by Debbie Wasserman Schultz comment that “unpledged delegates exist…to make sure that party leaders…don’t have to (run) against grass roots activists.” Let all qualified candidates, and all Americans have both a voice, and a vote.

Make America American Again.