The Third Party: Pipe Dream or Logical Fallacy? [View all]

[Iceberg Louie]

Right now the "extremists" on both sides are clamoring for a third party. However, best of luck to anyone who tries to put together a platform to unite these factions. On the right, we have bigoted knee-jerk reactionaries puppeteered by laissez-faire anarcho-capitalists. They call themselves "libertarians", but could give a hoot less about the liberties of immigrants, women, gays, underprivileged, or for that matter, anyone who sees Leave It To Beaver as anything but a wet dream. On the left are the progressives, social libertarians and proletarians. The very notion of accepting that the world moves forward is enough to disenfranchise the reactionaries, who since at least the Industrial Revolution refuse to let go of the whimsy that if they close their eyes, plug their ears and yell "lalala" long enough and loud enough, the "good ole days" will return, or, at least, the forward passage of time will be stunted. Without the capacity to move beyond this signature stubbornness which defines their very nature, the teabillies, Moral Majority, John Birch Society, KKK, or whatever new shine they slap on the old turd, will by definition oppose anything under the umbrella of "progress". The progressives, motivated by a zeal for social justice, concern for the realities of the future, and an arguably naive optimism for true equality, will, by their own nature, reject concessions to the reactionaries.

So both sides, equally disenchanted by the establishment wings of their respective parties, form a third and fourth party. For the sake of discussion, let's call them the Progressive and Regressive Parties. Rallying their base might not be so hard for the Regressives, for they have been well-conditioned to react to phony indignance and effectively bark on command (these are, after all, the ones who oppose teaching critical thinking in public schools.) For the Progressives, we must be honest. Many progressive idealists share a tendency towards individualism, and are often characterized by, for lack of a better descriptor, aloof intellectualism. While these can be positive qualities in generating ideas and discussion, they hardly form the basis of unity and action. Ideally, the pro-labor faction would be on this side as well, wherein we would see a greater cohesion than otherwise. However, this does not assume that the whole of the working class/middle class will become endeared to the message of fairness, equity, and a level playing field. Many among them have conservatism in their blood, and as such are easily spooked by whisperings of "collectivism", which the propagandists of the elite will never hesitate to implement.

Now we come to Election Day, where the voters have their choice of four (presumably) equally viable candidates, the Pros, Dems, Reps, and Regs. Bearing in mind the motivating factor behind the formation of the two new parties, it can be reasonably assumed that the financial/industrial elite now control the remaining vestiges of both the Democratic and Republican parties wholesale (as opposed to the populist facades they currently bear.) Unfortunately, the Regressives (nee Tea Partiers) are, as many of us are painfully aware, also herded and corralled by the same elitists, albeit through thinly-veiled backdoor channels like the American Enterprise Institute and other such sham operations. I highly doubt that the "Merikuh fer Merikins" set will have the wherewithall to marshall their own resources and exorcise these oligarchs from their leadership. The low-information and apathetic voters will remain easily swayed by whatever the corporate media convinces them, which of course will be that the Dems and Reps are the tried and true stalwarts of our democracy. Rest assured that the corporate agenda, dictated at the executive level, will have a great deal of incentive to discredit whichever side the labor is aligned with.

While my speculations are wildly oversimplistic and lack adequate metrics to make an informed prediction, I'll assume each candidate gets roughly 25% of the vote. The win margin, of course, could become as little as 0.25% of the electoral college. Whichever way the wind may blow, at the end of the day, the parties serving at the pleasure of the wealthy robber-barons now hold approximately 75% of the voting bloc.

The way to overcome this depressing inevitability, you may counter, is to pull together the masses. The populist majority versus the elitist minority. Return again to the beginning of this post, you find that this aspiration becomes a veritable Mobius strip of improbability. Why? Because those who truly pull the strings, the masters of the military-industrial-penal-financial complex and their minions who have made the establishment parties so revolting to idealists on both sides, have perfected the art of the wedge issue. They continue to pit us against each other, distracting us from their real agenda, the concentration of wealth and power and the suppression of the "peasant class". Until we all find within ourselves the capacity to transcend these biases (some justifiable, some manufactured), those in power will continue to remain so.

So, to those dissatisfied with the current state of establishment politics (like myself), do we branch off and form an initiative that is likely doomed to gain measurable traction, or do we pick the "lesser of evils" and do our best to uphold progressive principles in a party which includes imperfect politicians but also a platform of hope for a better future?