Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

I'm not Lynda, and you didn't ask me, BUT...
I haven't gotten excited by a candidate in a long, long time.  I think 
working on a few campaigns during my college years jaded me a bit on 
politics and politicians.
About 15 years ago, I first heard about the Libertarian party-maybe from 
Rush or Art Bell...can't remember anymore...but I looked into it and 
thought "what a crock".   Then, over time, things began to make a lot of 
sense to me...but larger than Libertarianism is the party system in 
general.  The way I have begun to look at it is that we need a 
multi-party system, or at least a 3 party system-or maybe even a NO 
party system.  I realize we have infinite parties now, but really, we 
have only two, and those two really, in the eyes of many people, have 
become two sides of a worn penny.  You look at it one way and you see 
one side, you look at it another way and see another side, but at the 
end of the day, it's still a copper penny in your pocket, and it won't 
even get you a piece of gum...pretty useless as coins go.
BUT, I VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION, AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY, BECAUSE I STILL 
BELIEVE PEOPLE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  It won't happen overnight unless 
there is some great paradigm shift and it becomes faddish to be a third 
party guy/girl.  Eventually, there will be a great enough percentage of 
votes for a third party candidate to get equal media footing.  But, if 
you truly want change, and you don't like the candidates, and you feel 
like you still want to make a difference, vote third party.  It doesn't 
matter who is running or even what they stand for as they probably 
aren't going to win.  Voting is not about winning, so just forget 
winning.  If enough people "throw their vote" to a third 
party-Libertarian/Green/Communist/Independent/WHATEVER- then eventually, 
a third party will emerge...and once that door has been kicked down(Ross 
Perot almost kicked it open, but it was slammed shut) and not just open, 
then more and more variety will surface, and who knows who will be 
running.  We just need to keep voting, keep kicking at the door, and get 
others to kick at the door, too.
If you don't think it could happen, consider this..
Who would have thought, just 10 years ago, that there would be blogs and 
bloggers who in some cases, are almost as famous as TV personalities, 
and with You Tube, everyone has their 15 minutes of fame.  Just think of 
how these two entities have changed politics.
We are on the VERGE of Change, and it has nothing at all to do with 
Obama, Clinton, or McCain.  It simply has to start with us.  Until we 
change how we vote, how we live, how we spend, etc. etc., we will get 
more of the same.

Bev


> Lynda, I guess my next question to you would be, will you vote in this  
> election? Or withhold it because no one meets your standards? I have  
> mixed emotions about this because I live in Virginia, and therefore my  
> vote is almost always a throw away vote in this majority red state.  
> It's hardly worth the effort. But then I feel like if I just don't  
> keep take part in the process, I can't help nudge it the way that I  
> hope it will go, so I keep doing it.

--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky