Lesser of Two Evils: America’s Last Resort?
The upcoming election faces many of us with the task of choosing the lesser of two evils. Despite the fact that people really don’t like them personally, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the presidential nominees. Whether you like it or not, one of them is going to win. When election day comes, is it best to try and pick the winner? A lot of people feel forced to buy into the two party system. They think if they vote outside of it their candidate will always lose. But doesn’t that sound a little childish – feeling the need to be on the winning side? What about principles? What about what you personally think is the right decision? I think the lesser of two evils idea is going to destroy America.
Obviously no single party or politician is perfect. Our two party system, however, has become a joke. In elections past there have always been scandals and questionable tactics. But the current amount of hatred from both sides for the opposing candidate is seemingly about to boil over. Yet, people tend to forget that before we loved Obama we loved George W. Bush. This is something I’ve pointed out before. People and their votes move in waves of polarity. We want “conservative” change after one president, so we vote for their foil. Then after two terms of that we’re fed up and ready to go back to where we started. Each presidency has its wins, losses, and scandals. But what really gets that much better or worse? If you read headlines from a political publication from the Clinton or Bush years, could you really tell the difference between then and now?
Which is the lesser evil?
We’re always faced with the lesser of two evils because we don’t understand moderation. The people don’t understand how to compromise. Everything always has to be black or white, Democrat or Republican. This isn’t a scientific or logical approach to anything, let alone electing the leader of the free world. People dislike the two front runners so much but they figure that because one has to win they need to pick a side. I personally don’t like or trust either one of them. I think any campaign is just a tawdry sales pitch, but things have gotten too unsophisticated for my taste. We have two parties that do nothing but insult each other and pick controversial causes to take up to try and get ratings.
Is there a solution?
It’s a good question. I think a solution exists, but it certainly isn’t an easy one. As I’ve come to accept, nothing worthwhile is easy. It’d take a lot of evolution on our part as Americans. We’re a nation of big, loud, and exciting things. People get too caught up in conjecture and adjective-laden propaganda and forget about what makes sense. I feel that voting is an important civic duty. But voting for someone just because you think they’ll win anyway isn’t the way it should be done. Am I fully supporting any specific candidate? No. I plan to vote third party or write someone in, personally. As someone who writes about politics I think it’d be sleazy to shill for a specific candidate, anyway. But, I get a lot of flack from some friends and colleagues for having that plan. Still, I’d rather know that I wasn’t bullied by partisanism on election day and forced to vote for someone whose personality and background I hate.
At the end of the day, no matter who wins the election we aren’t going to cease to exist. Some people think this election will decide whether or not America self-destructs. I just think it’ll decide which partisan pundits will have their hands full for the next 4 to 8 years with jokes and insults to make. What I would really like to see is a viable third party option. Or even a viable third party to begin with. I feel there are some out there with some pretty good points. But until people like Bernie Sanders and Ron Paul who were popular among one mainstream party then cast aside stand up and go their own way, the two main, failing parties will have all the control.
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