But we *don't* have a two-party system. It seems that two parties have garnered enough critical mass to be on every ballot. Two parties are typically voted for in order to "make the votes count". Sounds a lot like the Closed-source arguments. "No one ever got fired for buying <insert monopoly here>" and the like have plagued our nature, yea our world, for too long. I vote one way because of the two parties one I agree with in areas I value the most. I am not saying that I would ever vote for the other side, but do find that my interests tend to often be better represented by other parties (Sir Not-Appearing-On-This-Ballot). At the national level, it seems that one vote doesn't make much difference. Perhaps it's better to get involved more with local politics because you can really know something about the local people. Perhaps we could even begin to trust some local politicians. But also, perhaps we'd vote our conscience instead of voting for whoever the elephants or asses put in front of us.
It is this same grass-roots adoption which has given us Open Source Software. People willing to work extra hard for some better options. Options, most specifically, in the interest of the common good. Linux, BSD, Mozilla, Apache, MySQL, and millions of other projects have come from this way of thinking, to our benefit. Perhaps it is coming time for those of us malcontents who are idealistic enough to begin a new or grab hold of an existing movement to further the cause. It's the same old war we've been fighting for years: the changing of minds. Linux has been growing in adoption for some time now, partly because it makes sense, and partly because we made the commitment to further it in our actions and in our words.
Perhaps the Libertarians are next to rise? Maybe the Greens? Or possibly the OpenSource Party (OSP)?
Collins Richey wrote:
On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 10:03:22 -0500, Alma J Wetzker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Lonnie will love it... but you've opened the door for a *ton* of stuff coming
from the other side. Best to drop it.
Why do there have to be sides? I believe we are all on the same side. I suspect that we all want pretty much the same things. Peace, security, freedom, that type of stuff. I suspect that that also cuts across national boundarys.
There will always be sides, since we have a two party system, and the two parties will always have different views about how to achieve the things we want. In this case the one side hates the incumbent with a passion seldom seen even in American politics, and the other side believes that the challenger does not have the qualifications to be commander in chief. There's plenty of blame to go around on all sides.
The unfortunate part of this is the results of the US election will have global repercussions and we are currently trapped between two bad choices. The current state of politics leave both "sides" so polarized that there is no room for any middle ground.
See note above. The core of each party does not believe that we are facing a bad choice. There is only one choice (in their respective views). That's the nature of the two party system. One party is progressive (what we have is never good enough). The other party is conservative (what we have inherited is pretty damn good). Somewhere between these two viewpoints lies the middle ground, but the middle ground is seldom good enough for elections, and the middle ground has been shrinking for a long time.
A big cause of the furor in the current election process is due to the change in the election financing laws. Ad campaigns that are not under party control are now the only way of financing essential viewpoints, and both sides have employed this to the max.
It will all come out in the wash at election day. Like everyone else, I'll be unhappy if my guy looses, but the world as we know it will not end. That's the beauty of the American system.
One especially sad note: the usual suspects are gathering an army of lawyers in advance to protest the outcome of the election.
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