There are only two independent third parties on the ballot in more than 12 states. One is the Green Party with left leaning policies, the other the Libertarians with extreme right leaning policies. Beyond personalities, beyond "third party strategy", beyond the fact that many Libertarians do hold some of the same views as progressives (on SOME social issues, though that is not universal), it really doesn't matter whether it's Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians in charge. NONE of them will get progressive change through, at a price we are willing to pay. It may sound like a good idea to "advance third party interests" to support Libertarians, as opposed to the two major parties. But...and this is a VERY BIG BUT...as far as governing, as far as getting the left closer to where it wants and needs to go, it is nowhere near to being a "friend". What are some of the policies that all three of the aforementioned parties share?
Commitment to capitalism. Think of policies like the dismantling of Glass-Stegall and the disastrous for the working class NAFTA in the Clinton administration. (Notably opposed by third party candidate Ross Perot). Bush's "ownership society" speaks for itself, and his policies were a giant part of the crash of 2008. When administering the 'solution' to said crash, the Obama administration imposed nominal concessions from the recipients of the massive give-away, who in point of fact caused the crash. Recipients could have been required to extend practices to the working people of this country to at least partially ameliorate the consequences to the people who lost so much (homes, jobs, retirement accounts) as a direct result of the folly the perpetrators of the crash who received $700 billion of TARP funds. Those self same perpetrators saw fit to use said monies for hefty executive bonuses...for crashing the economy, and skirted requirements to aid the populace through any means necessary. For his part, while Trump signed various executive orders that purportedly encouraged companies to up American jobs and reduce jobs based overseas, loopholes in the orders have allowed government agencies to largely ignore them. The current administration tries to talk up their economic performance over that of Trump, but all you have to do is to look around at ever increasing prices for homes, food, healthcare and energy. Things are not going well for the majority of Americans.
Erosion of social programs (regardless of what Democrats SAY, they do not protect them, and have even helped to make things worse (see Welfare "Reform", under Clinton.) Bush did his part to further impoverish the working class with his tax cuts that overwhelmingly helped the upper (read "monied") classes ; Poverty did indeed ease somewhat under Trump, but the pandemic swiftly erased anything that was gained. He did, however, greatly increase the wealth of the already wealthy with his tax cuts, as our government as a whole is want to do, while planning a $1 trillion cut to so called "entitlements", including Social Security, SNAP and HUD which serve low income Americans. Biden has agreed to new Foodstamp rules which could see 750,000 Americans lose their benefits, while also overseeing a new round of corporate bailouts to the tune of $700 billion.
Erosion of environmental protections. Witness the ‘hope and change’ president giving the go ahead to BP to resume bidding for drilling contracts in the very gulf which they treated with such depraved disregard and deception. Obama's (in whose administration Biden served as VP) horrendous plan of opening up drilling, including sales in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, recently expired. The Trump administration, in true oligarchical fashion building on the Obama plan, had planned to implement a very large plan in the same vein, he lost the election before those plans could be put into effect. The Biden administration recently unveiled a five-year proposal to sell gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off the shores of Alaska. While it is a slight improvement of the expired plan, and admittedly better than the Trump plan, it is still a betrayal of promises made to environmentalists during his campaign.
War, war and more WAR. There is not a hair's breadth of difference between the major parties on killing and torture, whether in 'declared wars' or actions in which civilians were killed along with any supposed 'combatants'. Each of the four presidents in recent memory has without batting an eye, taken food from the mouths of starving Americans in order to facilitate huge financial boons for the MIC. Americans today seem to be outraged at the loss of life in Ukraine and support ongoing financial support to that cause. Where was this outrage when it was brown civilians, including women and babies, being slaughtered by OUR country? Clearly, white lives do matter more that black or brown ones. This is further evidenced by recent events that were closely related in time. While 500 brown immigrants lost their live in a capsized boat, almost ALL media attention covered the missing 5...FIVE...white people missing in a lost sub incident, some with continuous reporting. Where is the outrage at this blatantly skewed reporting from anyone outside the small percentage of activists who are the usual people decrying the apathy of the general population and their elected officials?
And these are just a few of the shared policies of the major parties, and in large measure, supported by Libertarians. Policies that are ANATHEMA to Greens and progressive ideas. Insofar as governance, Libertarians would only serve to continue and further entrench some of the worst policies against the people of our country.
While it is true many libertarians are anti-war, that is by no means universal.
Greens ARE ANTI-WAR.
It's also true that many Libertarians support gay marriage, but that, neither, is universal
Greens are FOR GAY MARRIAGE FREEDOM
The same holds true for a "pro-life" stance.
Greens ARE PRO-CHOICE.
The Libertarian party platform calls for even more of the ongoing deregulations that hurt and kill many. They call for a "separation of business and state".
Greens are for the protection of ALL people and oppose Citizen's United. You can see the Green Party platform here.
If you think that Libertarians will compromise their stated goals for the sake of getting elected, consider why, then, they don't just take over the Republican party from the inside (much like the left is always advised to do with the Democrats)? True, some libertarian leaning politicians ARE in the GOP, but there is STILL a large number of voters registered in the Libertarian party. There is STILL a Libertarian party because they don't WANT to compromise in areas that are central to their goals. Which is why they are NOT good electoral partners for the Greens OR friends in anything more than on issues where both Libertarians and Greens both profit without compromising their central goals...like a coalition for the sake of ballot access. Please realize that many of the Libertarian platform planks work against their stated goals. One example is agreeing that corporations have too much power, and as a solution, take away the only thing stopping them from having MORE power...regulation. It is an immature philosophy, and it is by no means one in which Greens or other progressives should engage for the sake of "compromise to win". That is not winning...it is only compromise.
The people we need to reach are those one third (including 12.8 million of registered non-voters) of eligible voters who stayed home this past election. Fully 41% of voters are now self describing as "independent", while the Democrats and GOP both sit at a very telling 28% each. When as many as 80 million people opt out of even voting, there is a HUGE number of people who just don't see anyone to vote for.
That is why Dr. Cornel West could do so much for the Greens, and therefore for America, by running in the multi party strategy much of the actual ‘left’ advocates. People are disaffected...they WANT someone they can believe in. Dr. West IS that man. He is honest, he is credible and he cannot be bought...those qualities will appeal to everyone. They are such rare qualities, these days, and Dr. West has PROVEN them true about him for the entirety of his adult life.
As far as those who vote conservative both GOP and Libertarian) because of their religious beliefs are concerned, they should take a hard look at Dr. West. He is not only a professed Christian, he is, indeed, a respected professor in several disciplines, including Religion, Divinity and Philosophy at some very prestigious universities. Unlike some politicians who pander to this particular constituency by claiming religious beliefs while not actually doing anything that speaks to this claim, Dr. West has been steeped in activities that show his commitment for decades in many ways. They would be well served to examine their reasons for the support they give and to whom they give it on the basis of religious belief and the proof thereof. (“By their fruits ye shall know them” Matthew 7:20)
For socialists who fear he may not actually BE socialist, Dr. West has expounded on his socialist beliefs in many forums. From his critiques of empire, neo-fascism, neo-liberalism and capitalism to his excoriation of patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, male supremacy and white supremacy Dr. West has made clear that his commitment to socialist ideas is unflinching and deep rooted. Indeed, he has served as "Honorary Chairman" for the DSA ( an at least "nominally socialist" organization. He is constantly engaging in dialogue with the public in the form of not only academics, but also by way of poetry, music and literature. While a West administration is unlikely to culminate in complete socialist transformation of the US systems, it would do more to move events in that direction, than any other candidate presently (or indeed in recent memory) offered to socialist voters.
Will it be easy? Hell, no...it WON'T be. It will take loads of work and commitment. But....we CAN do this. Ideologues will continue to vote for the party that best expresses their agenda. Americans who just want honesty and a fair chance will vote for someone who offers that and the only candidate to fit that bill at present is Dr. Cornel West.
Comentários