Voting

Did you vote?

Your vote does count, especially on the local/state level.

Much of what I hear about voting lately is the encouragement to give lifetime loyalty to a certain party.

I beg to differ on nearly every level.

Isn’t the marriage to one religion enough?

I am not a Republican.

I am not a Democrat either.

My friend, a Republican said shorter terms would be a good idea. I would tend to agree with this and other changes made in reforming the current system.

It is becoming harder to vote for either party in good conscience.

I withdrew from both of two parties knowing that I can’t fully subscribe to either of them and I proudly registered myself as unaffiliated; that is, I am not married to any one party. This is different from the Independent American party, which, since I’m unaffiliated, I could (and did) vote for this and other parties, (policies and changes, not party-voting). It is easy to confuse the two, as I once did, so I wanted to clarify.

Let’s just tell it how it is currently and replace the word party with the word team. Voting is another sports event; passions and stakes run as high as UofU vs BYU. Fellow Utahns will fully understand the intense level of competition by that comparison alone. We are so conditioned to think in terms of competition in every aspect of life that you actually have to train your mind to back out of that “mental template.” It is sad but true.

You’ll see as I did that the two party system is part of today’s problem in America. It is a big part of the reason the country is so divided right now.

I voted just last week. I voted for a wide range, mostly the obscure parties that I want to see more from, such as United Utah, Libertarian, etc. I would like to have voted for the Green Party, but it is not yet on Utah ballots. Still, I was very glad to see these additional parties on the ballots. I look up and study each candidate and proposition to make an informed choice. I used to bury my head in the sand and not do anything with politics because it wasn’t my thing. It still isn’t, really. However, as I matured, I realized that this is a way for the slime to encroach even further. I knew I couldn’t really talk or complain unless I was willing to make my voice heard. I decided to be more proactive and inform myself more. I also changed my perceptions. I vote for goodness, honesty, fairness, and diversity.

It’s that simple.

Still, it is bogus that each election feels like doomsday. It should not be this way. The continuous improvisation of the nation should simply be another job. That much I have been saying and writing for a decade. But no, it feels like it’s all or nothing. Of course it feels that way! There are only two parties! This setup makes it just another superbowl, with very high stakes and winner takes all. It is a pissing contest. But since this is the operations of a country and not a superbowl, the two party system no longer serves the need of a country with a population as large as America’s.

While I can’t fully subscribe to either party, there are concepts, beliefs from each that I agree with, and I think many could say the same. This is why other parties would be effective as the middle and not the extremes of either right or left. In this modern world we are surrounded by further encroaching issues. It really is too much for only two parties alone. A multi-party system ( five or six) would relieve the pressure. So the solution would simply be a rotating repair job. This would help to eliminate the outrageous bipolar extremes that take place when the opposite party takes office and essentially dismantles the work of the former party to prove a point.

Another friend, a Democrat elaborated on the way he sees the two parties: Republicans are like dads, structured and strict, while Democrats are like moms, nurturing and passive. But that we have seen that our dad has been abusive. He emphasized that we need characteristics of each. While this analogy may be an oversimplification, we’ll go with it here temporarily as it provides clarity. This is where a five or six party system would be effective. Traits of each and even more “tools” that are designed to help improve and rotate and not just two.

I have found moderate Republicans tolerable. I have some friends that are moderate; we can at least have a healthy, respectful discussion, even though we will disagree on several points. Republicans that can demonstrate to me that they are moderate instead of extreme and delusional are more likely to get my vote.

You make it hard to take you seriously. I don’t vote for abuse or delusion; nor the one size fits all approaches so commonly used, (by government in general). Moderates though, at least we can have a discussion.

But if you are one of those that still insists that the earth is flat, or you deny that the holocaust ever happened, or deny environmental problems, or that they affect us, we have nothing to discuss. I don’t pretend to understand your level of denial. It is deliberate ignorance that has surpassed the point of delusion. I am also realizing the aggression that borders on fascism. If one persists on that path of reality, even if that perceived reality is actually untrue, then it becomes delusion. It is a set belief that is actually untrue, not factual. It is a false belief.

The common tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater is a bad habit. The watching, searching for the one area where there is disagreement so that you can write off everything that person or party says as obsolete-it is a bad habit. It feeds the all or nothing, black and white thinking. This is why the revolving priority dial should be the new system for parties. A different cluster of solutions or tools, a tightening of the nuts and bolts to continue improvising this modern world.

On the Democrat side, I don’t like all the policing. It drives me nuts.
Maybe I’m just ranting now, so that’s the end of this post.

I believe there is enough goodness left in government, especially on the state and local levels to make voting worth our time. However, if you don’t vote, in a coming time, this may not be the case.

I shall continue to vote (in every way) and advocate for diversity, honesty, goodness, fairness and for additional parties.

-O

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