As some of you may recall, I wrote an article a few weeks ago called the “rise of the 21st century Demagogue.” Towards the end of this article I remarked that many people are voting for Hillary simply because they are terrified of a Trump presidency and countless people are voting for Trump because they can’t stand the idea of Hillary getting the top job. In the wake of Bernie Sanders endorsement of Hillary Clinton, many voters feel betrayed and trapped by the two party system we have in place. But what if I told you there was a viable third option. What if I told you about Gary Johnson?
While third parties have always existed in America, their contribution to American politics has been negligible, almost laughable. But with a Trump-Hillary face off now imminent, thousands of voters find themselves searching for an alternative.
The major parties have succeeded in alienating more people than ever before. In fact, while this election has the highest level of voter interest in recent years, it also has the lowest percentage of voters who are satisfied with their choices. The American public is hungry to be voting for someone, as opposed to the lesser of two evils.
Well let me tell you a bit about Gary Johnson. He is a successful businessman and has 8 years of political experience as the former Governor of New Mexico. As a Libertarian Independent , he believes “the government shouldn’t be telling adults how to live their lives.”
His platform centers around a reduction of all federal government spending, which would reduce our colossal national debt that’s now approaching 20 trillion dollars. He’s a staunch defender of civil liberties and backs an immediate end to the War in Afghanistan which is further bankrupting the country.
While he leans a bit to the right in terms of the political spectrum, he’s also quite progressive. He believes in gay unions and the fact that the government should stay out of other people’s business. He believes in a woman’s right to choose whether or not to keep an unwanted pregnancy and he will cut drug laws to free up room in our overcrowded prisons.
This man was governor of New Mexico. It was no mistake that Breaking Bad took place there. The Land of Enchantment has one of the biggest drug problems in the country. He’s seen the failure of the War on Drugs up close. In June of 2011 he was quoted saying “75% of border violence with Mexico is due to drugs.” He’s for the legalization of marijuana, which accounts for 1.8 million arrests and $70 billion tax dollars per year, and will fight to take needless drug laws off the books, lowing the incarceration rate and reducing the amount of tax dollars set aside for prisons every year.
He knows that public education needs major reform. We’ve known this since 2001 when George W. Bush ran on a similar platform, but because of 9/11, the issues took a backseat to the War on Terror. Since then, both the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration have kicked the can down the road.
It’s time to elect a man who will tackle the massive problem our education system has become. Since the 1970s, it has dropped from world class to mediocre at best. Right now we're 7th in literacy, 27th in Math and 22nd in Science out of all developed nations. And we're dropping every year.
Gary Johnson also believes in moving away from the oil standard. We don’t need to be involved in wars over resources in the Middle East anymore. Fossil fuels are destroying our planet and ethanol subsides are keeping powerful lobbyists in control of Congress. He supports alternative energy subsidies as well as federal tax incentives for solar energy.
As I stated in my previous article, many Americans, and indeed, citizens across the world, are returning to a policy of isolationism. This trend can be seen in Trump’s huge support. But while Trump’s pipe dream of “building a wall and making Mexico pay for it,” isn’t viable, Gary Johnson’s plan is.
He knows, as do thousands of Americans, that we can no longer shell out billions of dollars in foreign aid. But he also recognizes the importance of trade allies as can be seen in his support for the removal of the embargo on Cuba in September of 2011.
But perhaps one of the biggest issues of this election has been the debate on immigration. Everyone knows Trump plans on building a wall, whether metaphorically or literally, between us and Mexico.
However, Gary Johnson has worked in New Mexico for 8 years and lived there for longer still. He knows what he’s talking about when he stated in January of this year, “Bigger fences will only produce larger ladders.”
He supports a compromise I think we can all agree on: a 2 year grace period for illegal immigrants to attain work visas and proof of employment. Once they have those visas, he supports a one strike and you’re out policy if you violate terms of those visas or cannot produce proof of employment.
All in all, Gary Johnson is someone I’d want to vote for because he actually takes a stand for what he believers is right. And as I said earlier, since Bernie’s endorsement of Clinton, his polling numbers rose from 10% to 12% almost overnight. I believe that if he were to reach 15% and attain national coverage, his numbers would soar even higher.
So just consider this: you can either vote for Hillary, whose views change depending on whatever way the political wind happens to blow, or you can vote for Trump.
Now whatever Trumps other qualities and qualifications, it all boils down to this: he’s trying to defeat hate with hate. He’s trying to build walls and shut out the rest of the world. He’s trying to put Americans, who happen to be Muslims, on a register.
Think about what kind of message that is sending. Put yourself in their shoes. You're a 16 year old Muslim living in America. You were born here. You've always considered yourself an American. And now along comes someone who might be your next President, and he say’s “You are not welcome here and we are going to need all your personal information in order to put you on a register.”
How quickly do you think that young man could become radicalized? You’ve now instilled a sense of injustice and hate in this young man all in the name of security. And in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “Those who sacrifice liberty for the sake of security will find themselves with neither.”
And while I know this may be a bit of a stretch for some people, Hitler didn’t start by saying, “let’s kill all the Jews.” In fact, he never said that to the German people. Ever. What he started saying was “Let’s put them on a register. Let’s make them wear stars so we know who they are.” And my friends, the rest is history.
So before this November, do some research. Do some soul searching and really think about who you want to cast your vote for. If it’s Hillary, that’s fine. If it’s Trump, that’s fine too. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. We’re all adults. But we’re also all in this together. So I hope you vote for someone who actually has a bright future in mind for this country.
If you want to know more about Gary Johnson, check out this website http://www.ontheissues.org/Gary_Johnson.htm It gives a great summary of his political leanings and plans.
