Many a Libertarian has no doubt heard the “wasted vote theory” when talking to those still invested in the two party system about the Libertarian Party and third parties in general. Despite being a completely absurd and fallacious argument, it appears to hold weight among those who so often use it against anyone who doesn’t identify themselves as either an “R” or a “D”. For those of you who do not know what I am speaking about, the wasted vote theory, of course, is the idea that by voting for a third party, you are “throwing your vote away”, or, as many conservatives would have you believe, that “a vote for a third party is a vote for the Democrats”.
Neither of those two absurd assertions are true, regardless of how many times they are repeated through the mainstream media or echo throughout the solemn halls of Congress. Voting for a third party is the only way to free America from the two party system that is strangling our country to death, burdening us with an utterly impossible national debt to pay off, skyrocketing crime and illegal immigration, and military adventurism across the globe. The fact is, the men behind the curtain pulling the strings of our political duopoly do not want you to break free from the chains of the two party system and find true freedom.
There are more than two parties in America. In fact, there are several dozen, ranging from the Communist Party USA to the Pot Party to the Patriot Party. Now, if the two major parties, the Republican and Democrat Parties, who have held power for about two centuries, are failing to do their duties to the American people as the parties in charge of this country, it is only logical that the American people would start to look elsewhere for new ideals and political leadership. It is wholly illogical to continue to choose the two same options over and over, hoping for a different outcome, when history has shown that you will only continue to get the same mediocre leadership over and over again. Indeed, many people would say that that fits the definition of insanity.
Therefore, the only “wasted vote” is one cast for either of the two major parties. A vote cast for a third party would neither be wasted nor foolish. Instead, it would be one more vote towards freedom – true freedom, free of the left-right paradigm and the two-party system. But even if it were a wasted vote, which it is not, would voting for a different party for once in your life really be that big of a deal? Would the sky fall because you cast a vote for the LP? No, of course not. After all, as they say, you can’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. We do know this much – neither the Democrats or Republicans are working for the American people anymore. So why not give another party a chance? If they fail, we can simply kick them out of office in four years. But can’t we at least give them a chance to prove whether they can lead or not? We’ll never know if they can lead effectively or not if we don’t give them a chance to. God knows the D’s and R’s have had their chances.
So next time you are confronted with the ballot, why not check off the box next to the Libertarian candidate? Really, what have you got to lose? Nothing. Yet, if the Libertarian wins, you have the world to gain. You have only your shackles to lose. The only wasted vote is the one that is not cast for Liberty.
-Alexander J. Massa, Columnist – Project Shining City (ProjectShiningCity.org)
