Life Between 0 and 1

Inspired by In which I reluctantly “choose” Hillary by The Monster in Your Closet

There are some topics of discussion that will always get people fired up, one of them being politics. Reading the personal view from one such writer that I’ve been following for a while now, I felt it was about time for me to get out a subjective and honest post about my internal points of view and why I am or am not voting for specific people. As is the case with every political conversation I’ve ever had since forever, my points of view are largely based on observation, reading, listening, and forming an opinion from all those sources (both individual and mainstream). We won’t agree on all of this, but one of the things I find amazing in this country is being able to share opinions with others, not for acceptance, but because we can. Thousands of people do this every day without the need for violence or anger, so lets keep this civil, ok.

Donald Trump

I’m smiling and chuckling right now. Where do I start with this guy? Obviously I’m not a supporter of Trump at this point despite having a brief glimmer of hope very early on that he’d be the one to shake things up. Well, he’s shaken things up, but not for the better. I see Donald Trump as the poster child of the anti-government establishment and a member of the, often not thought of like this, the 1% (Bernie Sanders plug). I’m often left thinking how people who support him don’t see that he’s part of the group of people that have caused so many problems for all of us. I feel like the 1% see’s the rest of us as minions that help make them more money while we all get poorer. Mr. Trump is portrayed as a buffoon with little or no experience with politics, I offer an alternative theory. Mr. Trump is a lot smarter than most give him credit for and a White House with him a the helm gives me a very nervous view of the future. I see the potential for him to push through legislation that further separates the poor, low, and middle classes from the upper classes, further compounding the problems we’re currently experiencing. The 2008 housing crisis should have been a wake up call that the wealthy are gaming the system to make as much money as they can. They need to be knocked down a few pegs. Lets bring back some of the top tax bracket taxes that existed in the Regan years for starters.

Donald does not have my support or my vote in November.

Hillary Clinton

Being the polar opposite of Donald Trump, my gut is telling me she can’t be trusted. I hear her say words, make promises, endorse the right groups and initiatives. I see her doing things that contradict what she says all over the place though that goes back years or in some cases, decades. Call her what you will; flip flopper, waffler, etc. Her track record is spotted with controversy through her whole career, which her husband didn’t help at all to improve. I’ve been in technology for my entire career and still can’t believe that a person in her position would even think that using a personal server was a good idea. This one action of hers forever made me distrust everything she has said since. She does do the right thing when required, she says the right then when people need to hear it, but her actions blatantly say otherwise and anyone who reads just a little (from reputable sources) will see the pattern emerge.

Hillary does not have my support, but could potentially get my vote in November.

Libertarian Party

I’ll be the first to admit it, I’m behind on their agendas and candidates. Having seen a few of them in the news lately, I decided that a third party vote from me might be worth it. After reading a lot on Ross Perot and Ron Paul, I see the potential as well as the damage that a third party candidate can do. In the previous elections, especially Perot, they pulled votes from the mainstream party candidates and made what could have been a wide margin a very slim margin. I’m hoping that the strength of the third party here this election cycle could actually make a difference. Anyway, never in a million years would I see myself leaning to a party that also included John McAfee. My personal views on him are technical related and I think he’s just a complete moron.

I am supporting Gary Johnson at this point as my potential third party candidate. He has impressed me with the few speeches I’ve seen online and his agenda is actually quite logical and straightforward. The three front runners to his agenda are eliminating personal/corporate taxes, scale back government spending and U.S. entanglements overseas, and create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. I hate paying taxes and will endorse a plan that eliminates them provided that spending is cut more steeply than the lack of revenue from lost taxes. (See Time.com – Can Libertarian Gary Johnson Be a Factor in 2016?) I also support citizenship for undocumented immigrants because, at one point in our history, we were ALL from other countries revolting for independence from all of them. His main support is coming from the fact that he is neither Trump or Clinton, but that isn’t enough for me. I need to do more research.

Johnson has potential support from me and quite possibly my vote as well.

Weirdo 2016

This year has been one for the record books. Reality TV star as the Republican nominee for President, race violence at an unprecedented coverage level, rich people getting richer, not so rich people getting poorer, and multiple conflicts and wars sucking everyone’s money around the world.

Perhaps migrating to Canada isn’t such a bad idea after all….