A lot of
Democrats feel hatred for those of us to their left who have voted for Ralph
Nader and Jill Stein rather than the Democratic candidate. My question to them
would be, could you ever imagine being given two options, neither of which you
can live with yourself for choosing?
First I
would like to tell you that it was not a decision we made lightly. Almost everyone
who voted for a third party in the last 20 years started out voting for one of
the two major parties. It was only after voting election after election and
seeing things continue to head in the wrong direction even when those we voted
for came to power, that we decided that what we were doing was not working. It was an aha moment we are currently waiting for others to have.
Some believe
that when option A is not working, it is time to Try option B. Others believe
that when option A is not working, you have to try option A harder. Those who voted
for third parties believed it was time to try an Option C. Or D, or E…Let’s not
limit ourselves to what is not working.
Because as
much as some will tell
you that the world is binary, it is often fatal to think within the box. When
you start believing that the only choices you have lie within a small
framework, not only do you forget to think outside the box, the box will
continue to contract until you once again dare to think outside the box. We
who have chosen options outside the box are merely the canaries in the coal
mine, those more sensitive than most to corruption and the consequences of that
corruption. We are those who sit inside a burning building who first smell the
smoke and decide we must leave the party while the rest call us party poopers. We
are those who, sitting next to you in the theater, recognize bad cinema when we
see it, and realizing the plot for the retread it is, refuse to sit through a
movie that insults our intelligence and our moral sensibilities. And while you
may blame us for the theater closing down for lack of an audience, we in turn
blame you for the continued existence of Adam Sandler. Because they are just
going to keep giving us endless uninspired sequels until people stop showing
up.
You have
to understand that the game is no longer politics but business. Those who
donate to the Democratic Party to such an extent that they in essence own it
are not giving in order to create a healthier democracy, they are investing
their money in order to turn a profit. And the way for them to make a profit is
to give as little to the customer as possible. We are the customers, the consumers
of the political product. It is their job to make us satisfied with what will
cost them the least. And the easiest way for them to do this is to convince you
that you have no place else to go, except the Republican Party, which is even
more in their pocket than the Democrats.
This is
where the marketing department takes over. They will tell you whatever they can
think of to make sure you believe your only options are between Coke and Pepsi. Of course, they know you have other options. They know that both products are bad for you.
Their job is to tell you that one has 10 calories less than the other, or that
blind studies have proven that more people preferred the taste of a certain soda. They will
never ever bring up topics like diabetes, tooth decay, or obesity.
The
candidates are products. You are a consumer. Those who make the commercials are
the marketing wing of corporations who are interested in maximizing profit.
They want to give you the absolute least for their money. This is why the
marketing arms come up with evil but effective slogans like “Blue no matter
who.” Their job is to convince you that no matter how poor the quality of Pepsi
is, you don’t opt for Coke. Actually, that is not true, since they own stock in
both companies and will profit regardless of whether you buy Coke OR Pepsi. Their
real goal is to make sure you keep thinking about cola and not other beverages.
And at all costs, they must keep you from thinking that drinkable water delivered
to your tap by public utilities is an idea from the land of unicorns and rainbows.
You are
the consumer. They are the ones with a product to sell. So long as you are
buying what they sell, they will never, ever, ever change. Why would they? You
think they care about you? Now there is an idea from the world of unicorns and
rainbows. No, what they care about is what they can take from you. They want
your public lands, they want to privatize whatever is currently being provided
to you without stockowners getting rich in the process. They want to reduce the
amount they have to pay you to create their profits. They want your money to
invest in their bombs to blow up people like you in other countries who won’t
give them their resources.
To the
degree that you resist, they will be forced to play your game. To the degree
that you claim yourself to be powerful and not at their mercy, they will have
to make concessions. They will have to provide you at least the minimum of what
you demand, or else they will lose you as a customer. You will find there are
ways of surviving without either Coke OR Pepsi, and they will go out of business.
The choice
is yours. There are a lot of people who have already shifted away from the
Coke/Pepsi paradigm. Many more are sitting on the fence waiting for the tides
to turn. Change has to come. It has already begun. You may be afraid of taking
the plunge, may still be under the influence of the marketers who tell you
there are no alternatives than the products they are selling. I can’t tell you
what to do, it’s your choice. But just as you have a choice to make, so do we,
and if Adam Sandler makes a Jack And Jill 2, don’t expect to see us in the cinema.
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