A government truly cannot exist without the consent of its people. Apathy is sufficient consent. It is generally known that the government of the United States is corrupt and horribly inefficient. The condition of your government is your responsibility. The corrupt elected officials are in office because you voted for them, or because you didn't vote for someone else. The non-elected officials were placed there by the ones you elected.

I once believed that no amount of any political action could improve our government. I believed that irreparable deterioration was inevitable. The government was going to collapse or be overthrown.

This belief was a result of my assumption that Republicans and Democrats were the only real options.

Then I began to discover the Third Parties, and I believe they can actually fix things, if you vote for them. I believe any political party has a better chance at improving the government than the Republicans or the Democrats.

Republicans and Democrats are wastes of votes. You may think that by, for example, voting for a particular Republican instead of a particular Democrat, your rights will be eroded less slowly. This may be true, but your rights will most certainly continue to be eroded, in both the short term and the long term if you vote for either a Republican or a Democrat. "Republicans" and "Democrats" are two names for the same problem.

As long as Republican and Democratic parties can count on your vote (or your not voting), they have no reason to care about what you want.

By voting for a third party you have a real chance of improvement. Yes, in the short term, as a result of voting for a third party that my not get elected, a candidate that you most strongly dislike may become elected, and cause your rights to be eroded even more - in the short term. But in the long run, I believe that voting for a third party is the only way to keep our government intact, and I believe it will improve it at the same time. And as we get more third party candidates in office, they can repair the damage of those who did not deserve a vote.

I think the best explanation of why not to vote for Republicans or Democrats was written by Douglas Adams:

[A spaceship landed on Earth, and a 100 foot tall robot walked out.]

"I come in peace," it said, adding after a long moment of further grinding, "take me to your Lizard."

"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."

"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"

"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."

"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."

"I did," said Ford. "It is."

"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't people get rid of the lizards?"

"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."

"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"

"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."

"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"

"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"

"What?"

"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"

"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."

Ford shrugged again.

"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."

"But that's terrible," said Arthur.

"Listen, bud," said Ford, "If I had one Altarian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say "That's terrible" I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin. But I haven't and I am."

• I Want a Real Choice
  
• Directory of U.S. Political Parties
  
• Insurgent America On Line
• 3rd Party Central