On Voting 3rd Party

Those of you who actually pay attention might recall the post I wrote a while ago about deciding not to vote. This, more than anything, was a symptom of the logical fallacy known as "learned helplessness". When we are stuck in an unpleasant circumstance for long enough, our spirit breaks. We decide there's nothing we can do, so that is exactly what happens. When we do nothing, nothing ever changes. Voting for the status quo, or not voting at all, both accomplish about the same goal in my eyes. 

Luckily for me, a few months ago, I developed a political crush on Dr. Jill Stein, running for POTUS for the Green Party. Dr. Stein is a physician, an environmentalist, a feminist, an activist, and a bad ass. Dr. Stein was arrested last year during the Occupy Wallstreet raids and numerous related protests. Last month, Dr. Stein and her running mate, Cheri Honkala, were barred from attending the presidential debates (along with every and any 3rd party candidate) and were arrested while attempting to enter the building anyway. P.S. - They were also forcibly detained for hours with no official charges. (Not that anyone actively tries to silence independent candidates or anything...) I love Dr. Stein's New Green Deal, which mimics the plan that got us out of the Depression, though this will focus on creating jobs in new, environmental technologies, to save the planet while we save the economy. (I'm truncating her ideals here, obviously. For more info, please visit jillstein.org )

Anyone who follows me on other social platforms will already know my support for Jill Stein. They'll also know how many people argue with me that I'm "throwing away my vote", or doing the wrong thing in such an "important election". But c'mon. All elections are important. This fear that says we MUST vote for the top two dudes (always dudes) should signal to smart people that this is rather an healthy practice. The truth of the matter is that we still vote under the Electoral College; a plan developed in a day when most of the population could not read, nor had access to timely news. In a nutshell, it was invented to protect people from their own ignorance. Now we have Internet, and smartphones, and 24 hour news networks. There's no excuse to not know something anymore. However, since we are forced to work within this anachronistic, insulting construct, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Barack Obama will win the state of New York. The support for him from my historically democratic home state is so overwhelming, it renders my vote basically moot. Normally this news would be upsetting. BUT - did you know that any 3rd party candidate who receives 5% of the popular vote would receive $20 Million in federal funding to run in the next presidential election? I'm not throwing away anything, I'm voting towards the future. Every time you vote for a Democrat or a Republican, you're saying, "Yes, I'll have 4 more years of the same, please." I'm voting for the hopes that maybe 16 or so years from now, we might be able to elect someone that will actually stand for something or bring real change. This is the most excited I've been to vote since I was 18! There is hope, just not where you might have guessed. 

I'm not throwing my vote away. I'm making my vote count, for the first time. 

For any still undecided voters, I urge you to look into the alternative choices:

Jill Stein - Green Party

Gary Johnson - Libertarian Party 

Rocky Anderson - Justice Party 

Virgil Goode - Constitution Party 


No matter what, make sure you get out there and VOTE.

Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz1YgpX7mbE Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz1Ygp5vxLJ