libertarian

A Brief Guide To Political Systems

The volume of public ignorance on this topic is deafening. With no common definitions, we end up with continual verbal skirmishing over fine yet scarcely relevant details. This usually devolves into namecalling, which inevitably stifles meaningful discourse and ends productive conversation.

So here’s a quick guide to the types of political systems presently active in the world today. Doubtless there will be disagreement over the abstract terms; hopefully, this can be resolved without namecalling. (Probably not, because people are idiots — but what the hell. -Editor)

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FAKE NEWS: Third Party Voting?

Does Dawn dish soap really give you smooth skin? Will the truth really make you free? Do Camel cigarettes really help you breathe better because of that fiberglass filter? Does Axe body spray cause hot chicks to swarm you? Obviously not.

How about this:
“A vote for a third party candidate is a vote for Donald Trump.”

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F&L 2020: But I Don’t Wanna!

“But why would you vote third party? Don’t you realize that Trump is an existential threat? It’s not like the Greens will win anyway.”

I’ve heard this dozens of times and in many different ways, but the message is always the same. Substitute Biden for Trump and Libertarian for Green and it still works — though I more often hear words like “disaster” and “horrific” from my conservative friends.

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Third Parties In 2020

If you’ve been reading my stuff for any amount of time, you might remember that I was a pretty fervent supporter of Gary Johnson in 2016.  Now, I’m no Libertarian; likewise, I don’t smoke pot.  I just really dislike both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either one.

(Not to worry; I voted in Maryland.  I didn’t get Trump elected.)

This time around, the most prominent Libertarian is running as a Republican.  That’s only fair, since the most prominent Socialist (more…)

#VoteAgainst

A vote for a third party is a vote against.  Not against Republicans or Democrats individually, but against the system that says one or the other is inevitable, that divides us against one another and distracts us away from finding common ground.  Environmentalists and hunters both love the wild; they should work together.  The NRA probably has some excellent ideas about gun control (in addition to Use both hands) but (more…)

Thoughts On The Second Debate

I wasn’t going to watch it.

After all:  Why bother?  The nation just watched Donald Trump’s campaign implode over something horribly distasteful; we mostly agree now that he has no chance to win.  And I really dislike Senator Clinton*.  So why put myself through that torment? (more…)

How To Lose All Your Facebook Friends In A Single Post

The longer I spend talking to people about the upcoming presidential elections, the more I’m convinced that Mencken was right:  The American people know what they want, and deserve to get it — good and hard. (more…)

Don’t Waste Your Vote

Is Donald Trump a dangerous madman?  Is Hillary Clinton assassinating her political foes?  Is someone rigging the ballots and cheating us out of our elections?

I’m pretty sure Trump is far more clever and personable than he lets on, and I’m also quite certain that nobody who’s as much in the spotlight as Senator Clinton could sneak away from her Secret Service entourage long enough to commit murder.  But the answer to that third question is an emphatic “YES!” (more…)

Is Voting Third Party Wrong?

NOTE:  This is intended as a response to an article by T. N. Reider published at “The Conversation” entitled “Is the ‘lesser of two evils’ an ethical choice for voters?”  That article is well-written, and I recommend reading it.  All quotes come from there.

As I’ve discussed in other articles, despair is endemic in this country.  The presidential politics of this year underline this in a fashion seldom seen before, with the fiercest supporters of each candidate shouting loudly that their pick for president isn’t quite as bad as the only other choice.  People have stopped questioning the system, which seems to guarantee that the worst possible candidate always gains their party’s nomination.  Instead they like to shout at one another about how the other option is worse.

One thing that cannot be denied:  Americans hate both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and they do so in record numbers.  We haven’t seen this level (more…)