The Alternative Factor

The Alternative Factor,

Or,

The Bifurcation Fallacy and Liberation,

by Liviana (Giovanna L.)

A spectre is haunting the oligarchy -- the spectre of a third party.  All the powers of the oligarchy have entered into an unholy alliance to exorcise this spectre:  main stream media and government, Hillary and Donald, Democratic liberals and Republican reactionaries.

They tell us that we are weak, that we are few, that we cannot win.  They tell us that a vote for a third party is a wasted vote.  They characterize our decision as merely a protest vote.  They claim that by voting for the candidate we want, we are actually voting for an entirely different candidate.  They warn us that our vote will allow a victory by "the other."

They may call it "a protest vote" all they like, the fact is that there has never been a better time for it.  Masses of people are fed up with the establishment and the two establishment parties.  A greater chance to elect a Green Party candidate exists this year than ever before, a greater chance to deal a mortal wound to the hateful two-party system (or at least one of the two parties therein, which would open the door to dealing with that system itself).  They can call it "a protest vote," and in fact, it is a protest vote, but only in part.

The reason for such a vote is not only because the people do not want Hillary, nor only because she and the DNC stole the nomination from a candidate whom the people wanted;  the reason to vote for the third party candidate Doctor Jill Stein is not only because the two-party system is the product of a simplistic, limited and limiting Bifurcation Fallacy and the constant rehashing of Argumentum ad Metum.  Those things are certainly factors;  the author will not deny that and no reason exists why she should deny it.  But those are not the only factors.

The Progressive Left-libertarians, those who want progress, who reject the insane greed of the oligarchy, who affirm liberty over authoritarianism, really do support Doctor Jill Stein's plan and the platform of the Green Party.  They are tired of voting for an alleged "lesser evil."  They are tired of voting for this person whom they do not like in order to vote against this other person whom they dislike even more (nor is it clear in this year's election which of the two is the more unlikable or untrustworthy).  They want to vote for someone they like, for someone who stands for the same values they hold dear (and that damned sure isn't Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump).

The little DNC who cried "Wolf!" has proven itself to be false.  While they point their fingers at the big orange blowhard and yell "Fascist" and "bigot" and "sexist" and "racist" and "Neo-Nazi," the DNC has blatantly violated every principle of democracy.  While howling about "Russian hackers," the DNC has not been able to deny the facts revealed by those persons, whomever they may be and whatever their nationality may be.  That they were hacked is irrelevant in light of what has come to light as a result.  The DNC is a gang of thugs with their own bigotry and sexism and racism, and their own species of Fascism.

The DNC has threatened the people with Trump if they don't vote for Hillary.  This has been merely the latest in a long line of appeals to fear.  Is Trump a desirable President?  By no means.  However, that does not mean that Hillary is any more desirable as President.  During the primary election, they considered smear tactics against Bernie Sanders on the grounds that he may be an Atheist, as if his religion or lack thereof were anything worthy of consideration.  Trump has railed against Muslims, but Muslims have been in America since before the American Revolution.  This is America;  the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of and from religion to her citizens, in the First Amendment.  The Constitution itself rejects any sort of religious litmus test for public office in Article VI, Clause 3.

When the public has opposed Hillary, they have been accused of being "sexists" and "misogynists."  How can a person who supports Jill Stein against Hillary Clinton be sexist or misogynistic?  All throughout her campaigns, Hillary's team have attempted to muddy the waters by accusing her opponents of sexism, but now that some of her opponents are supporting another woman instead of her, that avenue of attack is closed to her supporters.  Instead, they have attacked a medical doctor who studied and later taught medicine at Harvard University, accusing her of being an anti-vaxxer or pandering to anti-vaxxers or being anti-scientific in general.  Doctor Stein has answered all of these lies several times.  The DNC, while pointing to racist speech by Trump, referred to Hispanic voters as "taco bowl voters."  Little difference is apparent between Trump and Hillary on questions of bigotry, racism, and sexism.  Voters should reject Emily's List because someone's chromosomal sex or gender identity is irrelevant to a decision to vote for or against that person, but Hillary's team seems to think that she should be President because she's a woman.  Indeed, a woman President would be nice, but Hillary Clinton is not the right woman for that job.  Jill Stein is, but if there were a better candidate who were male, the people should vote for that candidate.  Neither Hillary nor Jill should be President simply because they are women, but by the same token, the fact of their being women should not be a disqualification in any voter's mind.  Matriarchy is not an improvement on patriarchy.  Both should be rejected in favor of equality.

A Bifurcation Fallacy is the presentation of two and only two options, when additional options exist.  The two-party system, ensconced in the corridors of political power, leads to many claiming that only two choices exist.  They claim that no third party can win.  Such a claim is pure propaganda.  A third party will win, when the voters stop believing this lie and start supporting and voting for third party candidates.  A company's stock value falls when stockholders panic and unload their stock on the market.  A third party loses when voters are terrorized into the belief that the third party has no chance, and presented with a "lesser evil" narrative.  However, a "lesser evil" is still evil.  And the two establishment parties will continue to put forth undesirable candidates, as long as the people continue to elect one or the other of those parties.

There are those who fear that a third party candidate cannot win.  They see the biased polls which exclude millennials, which are conducted via telephone (landlines only, at a time when more and more people are getting rid of their landlines in preference for mobile communication).  But what are the numbers?  Add 26 (the percentage of registered Republicans) to 17 (the percentage of registered Democrats who supported Hillary during the primaries).  If the reader should come up with a number different from 43, the reader must do it again.  Now add another 6 to account for the percentage of registered voters who supported Bernie in the primaries and fell in line to vote for Hillary.  The reader will get 49, right?  Right.  Now then, add 8 (the percentage of registered voters who supported Bernie in the primaries and have continued the political revolution by switching their support to Jill Stein) to 43 (the percentage of registered voters who are registered independent, no party preference, or as members of one or another "third" party).  The sum is 51.  51 is greater than 26, greater than 17 (or 23), and even greater than 49. Those are numbers.

Now, of course, that 51% are not all going to vote for Doctor Stein, but neither are all of those 26% going to vote for Trump, nor all of those 23% going to vote for Hillary.  Be afraid, drones of the Queen (wanna)Bee.  Be very afraid.  Your old order is crumbling, precisely because of this same Bifurcation Fallacy and Argumentum ad Metum which the two-party duopoly has trotted out every four years for decades, and of which the majority of voters in the nation are more than tired.

Trump talks crap;  it's a common thing in NYC.  Hillary has already done things far worse than anything Trump has done, and has done things he has only talked about.  Hillary has no comprehension of the life of the average person, she has no empathy, she can't even accept responsibility for her own acts when caught red-handed, but instead tries to shift the blame onto someone else.  If you cave to the politics of fear, you will only perpetuate the broken system that got us to this point in the first place.  Stop being afraid.  We have the power, because we have the numbers; now let us realize that we have the numbers and use our power to end this corrupt two-party system once and for all.

The only way to stop this is to step out of line, stop listening to the appeal to fear, realize that other choices exist, and select one of those other choices.  This year is that time, time to reject the inane and fallacious lie that only two choices exist, when either of those choices will only perpetuate the oligarchy and the entire establishment which is poisoning sea, land, and sky, allowing the already insanely and obscenely wealthy to steal more and more wealth while others struggle or starve, ignoring the crumbling infrastructure of our nation, enacting policies which do little or nothing to bring jobs to the people, forcing young people into lives of indentured servitude to bankers in exchange for an education, locking people up in for-profit prisons where they become part of forced labor (slavery) for non-violent crimes, allowing insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies to further enrich themselves at the expense of the ill who go into debt and lose what little they had, killing competition in favor of monopolies, disenfranchising labor unions, allowing the oligarchy to buy elections, ... the list goes on.  This year it is time at last to step out of line and reject the "lesser" evil and choose the greater good.  It's in our hands.  Only we can save ourselves.

The title of the post comes from Star Trek (The Original Series), Season 1, episode 27;  episode 27 overall;  production code 20.


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