I am frustrated. I see everyone all of a sudden very moralistically concerned as they just now begin to grasp the concept that lesser evil voting, especially as a Christian, is damaging the country in numerous ways. I have been saying this long before now and it has been a staple in my political ideology (aka: a moralistically pious reason for me not to exercise my right to vote). However, I’d be willing to bet you haven’t thought this matter all the way through (and you know what, I won’t claim to have either). However, I can almost guarantee I am about to give you a perspective that offers a view of the political ocean of opinion, from a window seat I’ll be you haven’t sat in yet. Now I will actually share my thoughts on the matter of lesser evil voting before these ones too are discovered by the stream of social media, and degraded with quick quips and memes that attempt to encompass and entire ideology, promoting shallow thought.
People who are realizing that we should not simply pick a lesser evil are almost all doing the same thing: running to vote for Gary Johnson. Wow. Do you realize that you are still voting for a lesser evil? Unless you agree with all of his policies and think he would be a genuinely solid representative of this country (which I am sure many people do), aren’t you just voting for someone who is less, well, awful? I know what you’re thinking. We are never going to agree with everything a candidate says, so how can I ever not vote for the lesser evil? (Exactly! So why are you claiming that voting for Gary Johnson is the solution to the lesser evil reasoning for voting? Voting for him isn’t the issue; it’s saying that you are doing it in opposition to lesser evil voting that is the issue).
The question then becomes do you have to agree with everything a candidate says in order to feel right about voting for them? When does the paradigm shift from voting for lesser evil, to greatest good? I have no answers. We could look to our conscience for guidance on the issue and say if we can vote for this person in good conscience, then I am following my moral compass. But since when does our conscience decide and define the morals we ought to live by as Christians? Is our moral judgment not fallible? If it were perfect we wouldn’t need to lean on the word of God.
So how do we vote according to the standards set by Christ, in a way that honors Him, if every candidate is going to have a view that does not align with what we believe is right? You cannot. There is no way around lesser evil voting because people are flawed and it will always boil down to that. And why? Because that is simply how our government is structured, this is the world we live in, a broken one and a fallen one; one filled with sin. Do I agree that lesser evil voting is killing America because every election the candidates see that they can get away with more, and more, and still get our vote because we have no other options? Yes.
The candidacy is monopolized by people with money and influence, our options have been taken away, and so competitiveness in the political industry has been destroyed and our politicians have grown fat and complacent knowing that they can get away with whatever they want. They have us locked in. Our government is no longer a representative republic, but a bipartisan political monopoly disguised as one. We merely have the illusion of choice and power in government, and call me pessimistic but I do not believe for one second that we have a say in the presidential matter.
*In the vast majority of elections, the candidate with the most money wins. Nine out of ten winners in the house, and eight out of ten winners in the senate elections, are the ones who spent the most on their campaign. Listen to this excellent podcast and learn up on what dark money is, because it is kind of important.
This is not a coincidence folks. We have a broken system, and lesser evil voting is the fuel it runs on. So unless you are willing to take up arms like America has before and fight tyranny, fight for change, stop being satisfied with OK, and desire great, things are never going to change. We don’t need a new political face. We need a new system. That is what started this country, people who were not satisfied with being pushed around, taken advantage of, and left with no options. We rose up, made a change for ourselves, and went and started one of the greatest countries in history. Those are people to be proud of, ones that made a wish, took a chance, made a change, and broke away*. It starts with the people. Change starts with people. It starts with us.
*Side Tangent
*Credit to the great politician Kelly Clarkson
