It’s Time to Wake Up America! There are More than 2 Parties
The media forces us to forget we have other options
Here in America, politics is in the air with the upcoming election. Never in my 50-plus years of life have I ever witnessed this country so divided. I am a firm believer that every human being has the right to their own opinion, but the events happening around the United States have me concerned.
A major part of the problem is the media. I am not only referring to the 24-hour news channels, but all of the social media combined. We are bombarded with news during every waking moment. Unfortunately, most of the news “sources” are very biased.
Strangers on Facebook and Twitter are very convincing in their claim to the expertise of what the truth is. Thirty seconds to a minute of a TikTok video has watchers believing all of what they see is the godforsaken truth. Even memes are being touted as viable news sources!
“Objective journalism is one of the main reasons that American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long. “— Hunter S. Thompson
Media bias has been around much too long
I read an article this morning by Nazmus Sakib discussing the two major parties in the political system in the U.S.
His article brought back memories of when I finally was old enough to vote. Well, let’s be honest here… I didn’t start voting when I turned 18. More like when I was in my early 20’s.
I do remember when I started voting, how excited I was to be able to be a part of something historic. I believed my one vote, my voice would make a difference.
I studied the ballots, spent time learning about each candidate. I remember reading about different political parties that I never heard mentioned on the news — the Green Party, the Constitution Party, the Libertarian Party, the Reform Party, and the Tea Party.
I didn’t understand why the news reporters only discussed the Democrat and Republican Parties. That didn’t seem fair!
In my innocent, naïve mind, I decided that I would vote for one of the minor parties to show my support. I was all gung-ho, convinced that my vote would start an avalanche of other voters running to the polls to support the underdog.
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” — Edward Everett Hale
I voted with this mindset for many years. I studied each candidate thoroughly and chose the one who most closely paralleled my beliefs. I honestly believed I was making a difference.
That is until 2012 when President Obama was running against Mitt Romney. Not because I preferred one over the other, but solely because of an off-handed remark a friend tossed at me.
If you don’t vote Democrat or Republican, you are wasting your voting power. You are basically throwing your vote away.
This hit me like a slap in the face. Did I waste almost 30 years by voting for the minor parties? Was I merely throwing away my vote?
Sadly that seems to be the case. To this day, we only ever hear about the Republican Party candidate or the Democrat Party candidate. Even Google only shows Democrat and Republican in its search results.
We need to find a better way
Am I still naïve to want to believe we can find a better way? A new solution? There is a solution that is already available but hidden in plain sight.
We DO have more than 2 choices in this upcoming election. We can vote for a candidate from one of the other parties. Two of the parties already have candidates and their running mates officially nominated:
- The Green Party has Howie Hawkins and his running mate for Vice President Angela Nicole Walker
- The Libertarian Party has Jo Jorgensen and her running mate for Vice President Spike Cohen
Not once have I heard any of these four names in conversations about the upcoming election, yet all four won their respective nominations in May of this year.
Why does the news not give equal airtime to each party? Wouldn’t more people be willing to vote if they understood that there are more than just the 2 parties? Just these past few months I have heard numerous people say they are not going to vote because they don’t like Trump or Biden.
But there are more options! We have more than only Trump or Biden. Or Democrat or Republican. We can have so much more.
Do I know how to fix this? Unfortunately, I do not. The Democrats and Republicans have been dominating the Presidential elections for over 160 years.
The young, innocent girl inside of me still wants to believe that one vote can make a difference. That she can change the world. I hope she is right.
