Why I'm Voting for Gary Johnson in November

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My political views are heavily influenced by two things. The first is George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and the other is the Roddy Piper movie “They Live.” The former taught me to be suspicious of any government that seems to be giving a lot of power to a select few. The latter taught me to be suspicious of any attempt to influence conformity. And, as this current election unfolds, those lessons are ringing in my head like a bell and are heavily behind my decision to throw my support behind Libertarian Gary Johnson. A few years ago, I started referring to myself as a cynical independent. This is because, while others see Republicans and Democrats, I look at Washington and see a political oligarchy similar to the one in “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Sure, on the surface at least, they seem very different, at least when they discuss what is important to them. But, regardless of who is in charge, the results are pretty much the same. The majority of the masses go on with their lives without noticing any real change while the oligarchy continues to support the groups that line their pockets, whether it’s pharmaceutical companies or the gun lobby. Furthering this oligarchy viewpoint is the efforts of both parties to quickly crush any outsiders, even if they run under their banner. The Democrats did it with Bernie Sanders. The Republicans tried to do it with Donald Trump (they only failed because their other options weren’t exactly great choices either) and, regardless of who they choose, go out of their way to convince the public those are the only two choices they have. They even purposely avoid discussing third-party candidates because doing so would be publicly acknowledging Americans have another option. The exception to this, of course, is the obligatory “if you vote third party, you’re just wasting your vote.” It can even be argued the Republican/Democrat oligarchy has grown a bit overconfident because of its stranglehold on American politics. How else could you explain the decision to nominate a Republican, albeit reluctantly, who is horribly under qualified (and possibly a little senile) and a Democrat who is probably one of the least-trusted politicians in history (and that’s saying a lot)? To tell you the truth, even with what I said above, I did have some hesitation about looking at a third-party option. Like most American sheep, I have, in the past, chosen to vote for the lesser of two evils rather than “waste” my vote on a third party choice. The difference this year is the Gary Johnson/Bill Weld ticket, which consists of two former two-term governors. This is something that sets them apart from other third-party choices (including Green Party nominee Jill Stein, who I do actually have quite a bit of respect for) because, between them, they have several more years worth of executive experience than the two established party tickets combined. That is not a fringe ticket. If they were running as part of the establishment, they would be frontrunners. Now, just to be clear, my dislike of the Republican/Democrat oligarchy isn’t the only reason I am going to vote for Johnson in November. The other (and main) reason I’m voting for him is, unlike the other two “major” candidates, instead of just talking about the issues, he’s offering real solutions. For example, his plan to end the War on Drugs, allow for the legalization of marijuana (at the state level) and reform the criminal justice system would reduce violent crime, reduce prison overcrowding, eliminate roughly $51 billion from the budget and significantly reduce racial tensions. His push for Congressional term limits would bring an end to countless other issues (though I suspect that might be a hard sell). Sure, there are some issues I don’t fully agree with him on, such as putting safety nets like Medicare and Medicaid in the hands of the states (some would do much better than others). But, in all the years I’ve been voting, I pretty much could say the same thing about every other choice I’ve had and, at least in this situation, the good outweighs the bad by a considerable margin. In fact, even though I’m casting my vote for a candidate who will have to beat considerable odds in order to win even a small percentage of electoral votes, I’m confident I’ll be able to cast my vote in November and go home feeling very comfortable with my decision. This is because my vote is my voice and, come November, win or lose, I’ll be casting it for someone I actually think would make a good president rather than just picking the least-worst candidate in a two-party oligarchy.