This 2021 election looks a lot like all the other elections in my lifetime: Votes were nearly split 50/50 between both major parties and the flip flop from Dem to Rep to Dem to Rep continues. This suggests two things to me:
1) People are much more diverse in their thoughts. There’s no way American voters are really 50/50. That means they’re making decisions on a coin toss. As if one side didn’t bring unicorns and rainbows, let’s try the other side. Rinse and repeat.
2) There’s no “victory” for either major party. The hairline win each election should concern them that no one really sees much of a difference. This means if you’re entrenched in one camp, you’ll spend the rest of your life fighting over that 1% that can tip the scales.
BONUS 3) When it comes to policy, there’s historically been a small difference but not much when in practice. But since Trump, there really is a major difference. One party is authoritarian and the other remains tax/spend, business as usual. I’m most concerned about the former. For decades, the Republican Party campaigned like libertarians but governed like Democrats. Today, they’re just seeking raw power. They don’t even try to hide it. That’s the danger. And because of that, becoming allies with the enemy of my enemy is a better alignment for the time being.
For over a hundred years, the power of American government has only grown and everyone is worried that if their guy doesn’t get in, the other guy is going to have that sword and oh boy, we can’t have that. If only government didn’t involve itself in everything we do, if only politicians weren’t so influential and powerful, maybe it wouldn’t matter so much who’s in charge. It would certainly be helpful considering today’s Republican Party. If power wasn’t available for the taking, the issue would be moot.
A lot of people have wondered why Trump, a wealthy man and popular television celebrity would change all that by running for president. There’s a very easy answer: It’s a powerful position. And power seeking people will always go after it. The reason Trump and Trumpism is such a danger is because of the size of government. Were it small enough to fit in, oh say, the Constitution, we’d never have heard of Trump beyond the Apprentice.
So now we’re in a fight over one party that wants to tax/spend and the other that wants to… well, tax/spend and pretty much do whatever it wants. What makes the latter more dangerous is that the Republican Party doesn’t even have a platform anymore. They’re not even pretending to have positions on issues. The 2020 Presidential Campaign policy simply said whatever Trump wanted, that’s what they’d do. That’s not a Constitutional party. It’s a dictatorship. And seeing Republicans cower and get in line for Trump’s approval shows it’s still in play.
And not to point all the fingers at the GOP, let’s acknowledge there’s a wing on the left that’s just as authoritarian. There’s thought police and feel good identities. And there’s demands you conform and god forbid you use a politically incorrect word in conversation. Everything is too easily blamed on racism and bigotry. But the difference is, the Democrats don’t have that as a feature. They picked a centrist candidate over the extreme left in the 2020 election. So they’re there. Just not a focal point. The GOP elects their extremes. And again, that’s why aligning with Democrats for the foreseeable future is advisable.
As a Libertarian, I’ve no problem with such an alignment. I agree with the social issues, just not economics. But in examining the constant flip flop over generations of elections, it makes one wonder if just voting Libertarian is a better option. I mean, if the authoritarian party is going to take power from time to time regardless, maybe I should just vote for the party that I can agree on both social and economic positions.
I don’t know right now. I think at this point every election is going to depend on circumstances. I’ll have to ask, can we afford third party votes if Trump runs again in 2024? I don’t think so so I’m going to have to run Democrat right down the ballot. Will the GOP return to more of what Rand Paul was back in 2013? Well then I’ll be less concerned and can return to marking all Libertarian circles. Ideally, I’d like to get to a point where elections don’t matter that much because government isn’t big enough to lure power seeking people. And I know that will only happen with a Libertarian Party majority. So as you can see, I’ve a bit of a problem here. Anyhow, 2022 is right around the corner. And surely, it’ll be cast as another most important election in our lifetimes. We shall see.
Freedom Cocktail 