Life Between 0 and 1

So, I watched 50 minutes of the Trump vs. Clinton debate last night, streamed it through Twitter. It’s 50 minutes that I won’t get back again. I should be angry. I should be frustrated with the choices we’ve been provided. I’m actually disappointed for the whole damn system. My blame stares aren’t directed at anyone in particular, all the parts of the machine are to blame, though some more than others. We have Trump because voters in this country are angry with corporate America, of which, Trump is a member. We have Clinton because the DNC was caught manipulating the primary process in favor of Clinton. We have a corrupt government that is no longer, by any stretch, interested in the common American. We have a financial system configured in such a way where only a select few of the population control a ridiculous percentage of the country’s total wealth. We have media that is filtered, censored, manipulated, and controlled by a handful of companies with ties back to the corrupt government. We have a population that has been duped into believing that the “news” they watch (as their parents did, and there parents’ parents, etc.) is truthful and based on fact.

The only hope I see are the nearly 10% of the country (if you can believe the accuracy of the 5 CPD polls) has seen through this facade and is supporting a third-party. I no longer care which third party is represented at this point so long as any third party can break the two-party dinosaur that has existed for over 200 years. The names have changed, ideals and issues have changed, but the fundamental choice of only two people is obsolete. Several foreign countries have multiple party systems and are functioning in a greater capacity than the U.S. has been functioning over the last 2 decades. We need to adopt a multiple party system. While I have opinions about the Electoral College (EC), I do understand the function it provides and believe that changes are required to bring it into the modern century. The EC was created for two reasons; provide a buffer between general population and the selection of the President and provide extra power to smaller populous states. Hamilton and the founding fathers didn’t trust the population to make the right choice (tyrants had potential to manipulate if EC didn’t exist) and the EC only met once per election cycle removing the manipulation over time by foreign governments.

My main problem with the EC is the concept of “winner takes all” in all but 2 states. A candidate can win a state with 50.1% of the vote of 90%. There were several states in the past elections where the winning candidate received only 55% of that states votes but was awarded the entire EC count for that state. In this manner, 45% of the voters in that state did not choose the new President. State votes for the EC is not mandated by the constitution making it up to the state how the EC votes are distributed. Using Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, a candidate receiving 60% popular vote would get 12 EC votes and the other receiving 40% of the vote would get 8 EC votes. Changing the EC in this way would not necessarily make the Presidential Election based on popular vote, but would put it as close to possible based on popular vote while maintaining the integrity and purpose of the EC. This change would also allow for third parties to have as fair a chance as Democrats and Republicans.

Returning to my original thought though, the debate last night has provided me the justification that I’m making the right choice to support a third-party. Neither candidate, Trump or Clinton, I believe is right for the next four years or this country as a whole. The fragile nature of the world economy, propped up on debt, will collapse equally regardless of whether Trump or Clinton wins as the country is polarized in a near 50/50 split. My support of a third party is based on research and knowledge that is not provided by mainstream media outlets. A third party candidate winning the Presidency has the potential to make everyone stop and think, breathe a sigh of relief, and start to shed the “sheep” mentality that’s been forced on us for 40 years.