Now, onto valid soutions that will actually work. (see part one above for pretext)
Some of the only disadvantages the corporatist rich have is sloth, corruption, hubris and greed against average Americans. And, in their sloth, corruption, hubris and greed they get caught in their many half-truths and lies. But, don’t expect the media they own to report much on this.
These corporatist transgressions are only going to be heavily reported on by left-wing and moderate blogs, alternative online news and places like Boing Boing who (no offense) are just a drop-in-the-bucket compared to the reach and influence of mainstream, corporate media (with mainstream television, print and online vehicles combined). Once again, see my corporatist power list in my previous post above if you question this.
While online media and the sharing of information between average citizens has exploded in recent years, we’re still paying the price for past transgressions of voting in the greater evil (please don’t ignore that link) instead of consistently and consecutively voting in lesser evil in the past.
That’s why in the short-term we’re basically screwed and the only hope we have is to continuously educate one another online (as the internet continues to progressively encroach upon television media saturation), get civically involved, practive civil disobedience/whistleblowing and vote in the lesser evil locally and nationally consistently for decades.
You may see this as bleak and “unsexy”, but I see this as reality and cope with it. I’d rather do the smart thing in the long term and see our world get better when I’m old and grey than strut around now screaming that Democrats are “fucking stupid” and spin my wheels to my grave.
All we can do is slowly (but persistently) push the establishment over the long-term into a better direction instead of a progressively worse direction as we’ve already done by:
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Thinking in the short-term.
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Not voting or throwing away votes locally and nationally.
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Ping-ponging back and forth leading to stagnation.
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General apathy and not getting involved en masse in direct actions.
Pushing the lesser evil establishment that’s already in entrenched power (please face that reality) is the only way we’ll ever see a crack in the door in the long-term for a more honorable (more representative of average Americans) third-party that has a chance in hell of unseating them.
Allowing in greater evil Republicans and pushing Democrats further to the right by not supporting them is shooting yourself in the foot and nothing more. The establishment isn’t afraid of you and your relatively small cadre of Greens and Libertarians. They fear average Americans at large educating one another online (and in the streets) and persistently and consecutively (finally!) voting in the lesser evil locally and nationally for decades.
Once the Democrats get to a point where they cannot blame Republican fillibusters and obstruction for their actions and inactions, we’ll be in a much better position to force them to change or remove them for a third party. Until we as Americans put Democrats in that actual position, many are just living in a pipe dream by voting for third party candidates.
Granted, this is not to say that one shouldn’t support third parties with time and money (if they have it to spare in this economy). And, it’s not to say that one shouldn’t take action in many other ways as well. But, just voting for a third party in hopes that the establishment will notice (or care) hasn’t worked in the past and won’t work now until far more groundwork is laid down for decades.
Right now, after two consecutive, greater evil Bush administrations with a greater evil rubber stamp congress… we’re still in nothing more than massive damage control. After that utter disaster and complete failure of the American public to do anything about it, we’re lucky to have even someone as shitty as Obama in office. It’s that BAD and it’s because we screwed up that BAD.
It’s time to learn from past mistakes. Many of those of us reading Boing Boing right now are getting far more nuanced information from the Internet than many average Americans. We are not in the majority right now but we’re growing. Don’t hinder that slow progress with hasty short-term thinking and frustration. This struggle is going to take decades of perseverance. If you don’t have the fortitude, patience and critical, strategic thinking for this kind of long-term battle, then we don’t have much more to discuss here and just need to agree to disagree.
Disclaimer: I have never said that voting in itself that is all that is needed. But, to dismiss voting entirely is to dismiss the reality of its proven power. If voting wasn’t important, then corporatists wouldn’t spend so much time and effort attempting to thwart it. Voting is a vital element despite the lack of proper representation. As a matter of fact we got to this point of even lower representation because not enough Americans have been voting. Vote locally, nationally and consistently. At least try it. We NEVER have in modern, American history.
