Voting for a third party is only valid if a movement, a real one, forms around it. It will never work if it only siphons votes out of the dem bucket and lets republicans to kind of win by default. It has to have real momentum, real commitments, have visibility and voice across the states, so everyone will know they will not be just giving the republicans the win, rather, committing together as a big one, to something better. Even better if the various ideologically motivated but distinct camps within republicans would join the effort. Libertarians are the classic example, but I bet if things get momentum and it looks like the two parties are simply getting fractured either way, a lot of people will jump on the chance to get actual real representation and voice, not just a small camp within a big ambiguous mess the two parties kind of force.
So instead of just voting for a third option and wasting your vote in the current system, organizing would be the real answer, the prerequisite for the third options to be valid. And it’s not that complicated, just needs to get viral and real commitments
Yeah I relate strongly with this. Once you get used to having more time and energy for the tough problems, the interesting stuff, it’s hard to go back to the mechanical and menial.
But I’ve found it’s a lot like riding a bike. You don’t really rust, because the stuff the agents can handle today are the kind of shit that you’ve done so much and from the start, that it has become menial and boring. Which means it’s pretty ingrained into the backbone, at least that’s what I’ve found.
But damn if I don’t feel bad about it, recognizing and being conscious about the societal and environmental cost the convenience has.