Break Out of the Mould and Vote for a New Party

Shôn Ellerton, Jun 27, 2023
Stop Making the Excuse That It’s Too Risky to Vote for a new party!

I’m sick to death of hearing some of these most lame of excuses when I pop the question whether to vote for a new party to replace either the Democrats or the Republicans, or any party in a two-party system which has grown so inherently corrupt and self-serving.

“What’s the point? If you vote for them, Mr Bad Guy will get in.”

“We don’t need a new party at the moment.”

“They don’t know enough about politics and will mess things up.”

But the worst one of all.

“It’s too risky at the moment to vote for anyone new.”

What does that even mean?

“At the moment”

I’m sorry, but it’s been “at the moment” since I can remember, and that was a long time ago when John Anderson was on the ballot against Reagan and Carter back in 1980! Reagan, of course, smashed it and won with a resounding victory, leaving Carter and Anderson in the dust.

On a school trip to the voting centre in downtown Colorado Springs, our class did a mock vote after being given a rundown on all the manifestos in such a way that a 10-year-old can understand. I voted for Anderson because I liked a lot of the policies he was going to implement if voted in as a President. I don’t know if they do this anymore in elementary schools, but it was very interesting at the time.

Kids have a remarkable propensity at times to view sense and logic without the distractions of the wider picture. In this case, the distraction being precisely what I am referring to in this article. The lost opportunity of voting for someone else because of the fear that by doing so will give the opportunity to someone else you don’t like. It is this lack of hope which is so despairing to me. There is always hope, but one must break out of the proverbial mould and make that move.

That Aesop’s fable, The Bell and the Cat, springs to mind every time this argument comes about, that argument being if a new party should be voted at the risk of bolstering the vote for someone else. Of course, there is a risk, but if no one or very few vote for a new party because of being stigmatised by this dilemma, what’s the hope going forward?

If anything, it is the reverse of that Aesop’s fable because we are assuming that no one else will vote for a new party, whereas, in the fable, we are assuming that someone will do something. For example, coming across a broken pavement in the road and not reporting to Council because you assume that someone else will.

But coming back to my point of the feeble excuse of stating that it’s too risky “at the moment” to vote. Answer me this, then.

When will it not be risky to vote for a new party?

When there is global peace?

Sure, as if this will happen in our lifetime.

When the two main opposition parties are attending community events together and discussing and debating policies and proposals with civility and respect?

Yeah, right. How often is debate and discussion carried out without trashing the other side and focussing more on destroying the enemy rather than improving their own side?

When the flowers grow in all the fields dripping with honey and rivers start to flow with chocolate and Bambi is spotted prancing around a couple of merry bluebirds?

Yup. It’s sheer fantasy.

What’s the answer? The silence is deafening because there is never a time except the present!

We do not have to be limited to voting for the same two parties.

We do not have to be coerced into voting for one of two parties for fear of being branded as a supporter or sycophant of the party someone doesn’t like.

And we certainly do not have to be made to feel that as an independent voter, you are deemed an ill-informed and ignorant rebel.

So, if you don’t like either of your two main political parties. Raise a little hope, have a little faith, and break out of the shell.

Don’t be coerced or influenced by others in making the decision for you. It’s unlikely that any party will satisfy all your requirements, but the one that fits most of them could by that new party, and if so, take the plunge, and be a trendsetter.

There is no time like the present and it is always risky to vote for the underdog, but at least you’re giving it a shot by doing so.

Remember that where this is risk, there is also reward. Also remember that there have been many moments in political history in which a new party has come to power shaking off the old and tired incumbent parties which we have grown so weary of. Agreed, it does not happen often, but sometimes it does, and when it does, there is good reason. When the existing two parties have grown so fiscally and morally corrupt, that they have lost their people.

If everyone thinks like how most people think, change is unlikely to happen. Tired and established political parties drink from the nectar cup until time immemorial, serving not the people but rather themselves. They thrive on dividing and conquering the people and for this to happen, they need each other equally. They will also fight to the death to ensure that no new party will thrive, but the fight can be won by you, the voter!

If you believe that either of the existing parties is unsuitable to take the helms of guiding the nation, it is time now to break out of the mould and vote for a new party.