This was so good!! Thank you for sharing this. I think a lot of people need to hear this.
"if i were to put a label on my current political stance – and oh boy, do i hate labels – it would be something like a mix of market socialism with a heavy dash of zapatismo"
I have always considered political parties a huge part of the problem and having little to do with solutions. I always register as NPP (No Party Preference). So why do we have parties today?
Political parties exist for basically 2 reasons; as a force multiplier to agree a common point of view on policy issues and bring along enough votes to enact those policies, and to raise money for the candidates who will vote for the party policy line.So this is all good, right?
Not really. As this actually works the second goal controls the first. Those with the money get an outsized vote on what the party policies are. So rather than reflecting the will of the people, they reflect the will of the people with enough money to force their point of view. In practice, therefore, a two party system often leads to only 2 viable candidates in an election, bad and worse leaving people to either walk away or hold their nose and vote for the lesser evil.
I tend to think some variant of ranked choice voting combined with strong restrictions on the funding of parties and candidates may help lead us in a better direction. In a ranked choice election, you vote for up to 5 candidates in order of preference. If no one gets over 50% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed using their voters next choice and so on until someone gets a plurality. This gives people a chance to vote for candidates they like, without giving up on those they think might prevent a bad candidate from winning. It changes the way candidates campaign, as you have to appeal to a broader segment of voters than just your party.
Look at the last election. Trump got 49.8%, Harris 47.3%. NEITHER had over 50%, so it would have gone to the next round, which may have moved the green party 3% to Kamala and changed the result (just theoretical). Or everyone could have made their second choice as an independent candidate, leading to a sweep that neither party won. This could completely change the nature of politics and combined with limits on spending could open the field to much better candidates.
So back to your point Eddie, the question is less about whether we identify as left or right, but the need to change the rules so we can identify as the complex, multi issues beings we really are and vote for candidates that may be ignored by the party but reflect our cvalues.
Completely agree! I often look at the multiparty elections in other countries and feel like their population looks like it is way better served with actual real political choices. I've never been against political parties per se - I'm not someone who is in favor of curtailing freedom of assembly and organizing - but you really hit the nail on the head here.
I would also love to see ranked choice voting or at the very least a instant run-off like they do in France and many other nations. But this needs to be coupled with significant reform such as getting rid of the Citizen's United ruling and the electoral college.
I really enjoyed this piece because I can definitely relate. I’ve been feeling detached from the dem party probably since Covid? And it’s just been so wild to really see more of what you didn’t see before when you take a step back. Especially when you actually accept the realities and don’t twist them into something you wish it was. The government already does so much to gaslight and manipulate us, we don’t need to do that to ourselves as well. I appreciate you sharing your perspective and thoughts because we need more of this in general. People need to really see that neither of these parties are going to do any good for us. We need REAL community, REAL change, REAL people.
Such a cool read — change and growth is a healthy part of life that is weirdly stigmatised in US culture, which has weaponised normal evolution as disloyalty.
I’m open minded to people of all walks of life. If two people are going to tell me about the Republican Party — one of them a lifer, one of them a former member, I’d be interested in both. The former member probably brings a richer life experience to the conversation.
The other day I looked up Fat Joe of all people — that rapper who did songs with Ja Rule. He says now with full honesty that he was a phoney who pretended to a gangster for the image. I thought it was a brave and noble thing for him to say.
Completely agree - changing your mind when encountering new information is very much villified and painted as not having principles! It's something that I find often very frustrating and difficult. And Fat Joe... that is a great example, haha.
This was so good!! Thank you for sharing this. I think a lot of people need to hear this.
"if i were to put a label on my current political stance – and oh boy, do i hate labels – it would be something like a mix of market socialism with a heavy dash of zapatismo"
literally SAME!! LOL
Thanks for your comment, hun! Zapatismo has something that is incredibly amazing and it's the seven principles of community building - that really opened my eyes, if you haven't checked them out: https://www.themixedspace.com/7-principles-of-zapatismo-to-consider-in-community-building/
Yea honestly I had to google it when I initially read your post and I was instantly intrigued. I will definitely check this out. Thanks for sharing!
I have always considered political parties a huge part of the problem and having little to do with solutions. I always register as NPP (No Party Preference). So why do we have parties today?
Political parties exist for basically 2 reasons; as a force multiplier to agree a common point of view on policy issues and bring along enough votes to enact those policies, and to raise money for the candidates who will vote for the party policy line.So this is all good, right?
Not really. As this actually works the second goal controls the first. Those with the money get an outsized vote on what the party policies are. So rather than reflecting the will of the people, they reflect the will of the people with enough money to force their point of view. In practice, therefore, a two party system often leads to only 2 viable candidates in an election, bad and worse leaving people to either walk away or hold their nose and vote for the lesser evil.
I tend to think some variant of ranked choice voting combined with strong restrictions on the funding of parties and candidates may help lead us in a better direction. In a ranked choice election, you vote for up to 5 candidates in order of preference. If no one gets over 50% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed using their voters next choice and so on until someone gets a plurality. This gives people a chance to vote for candidates they like, without giving up on those they think might prevent a bad candidate from winning. It changes the way candidates campaign, as you have to appeal to a broader segment of voters than just your party.
Look at the last election. Trump got 49.8%, Harris 47.3%. NEITHER had over 50%, so it would have gone to the next round, which may have moved the green party 3% to Kamala and changed the result (just theoretical). Or everyone could have made their second choice as an independent candidate, leading to a sweep that neither party won. This could completely change the nature of politics and combined with limits on spending could open the field to much better candidates.
So back to your point Eddie, the question is less about whether we identify as left or right, but the need to change the rules so we can identify as the complex, multi issues beings we really are and vote for candidates that may be ignored by the party but reflect our cvalues.
Completely agree! I often look at the multiparty elections in other countries and feel like their population looks like it is way better served with actual real political choices. I've never been against political parties per se - I'm not someone who is in favor of curtailing freedom of assembly and organizing - but you really hit the nail on the head here.
I would also love to see ranked choice voting or at the very least a instant run-off like they do in France and many other nations. But this needs to be coupled with significant reform such as getting rid of the Citizen's United ruling and the electoral college.
I really enjoyed this piece because I can definitely relate. I’ve been feeling detached from the dem party probably since Covid? And it’s just been so wild to really see more of what you didn’t see before when you take a step back. Especially when you actually accept the realities and don’t twist them into something you wish it was. The government already does so much to gaslight and manipulate us, we don’t need to do that to ourselves as well. I appreciate you sharing your perspective and thoughts because we need more of this in general. People need to really see that neither of these parties are going to do any good for us. We need REAL community, REAL change, REAL people.
Thank you!
Such a cool read — change and growth is a healthy part of life that is weirdly stigmatised in US culture, which has weaponised normal evolution as disloyalty.
I’m open minded to people of all walks of life. If two people are going to tell me about the Republican Party — one of them a lifer, one of them a former member, I’d be interested in both. The former member probably brings a richer life experience to the conversation.
The other day I looked up Fat Joe of all people — that rapper who did songs with Ja Rule. He says now with full honesty that he was a phoney who pretended to a gangster for the image. I thought it was a brave and noble thing for him to say.
Completely agree - changing your mind when encountering new information is very much villified and painted as not having principles! It's something that I find often very frustrating and difficult. And Fat Joe... that is a great example, haha.
this is so good and needed i don’t even have words. thank you for writing this - looking forward to the rest of the series!!! 💚
thank you!!! :)