Well, looking over my old blog posts, including ones that didn't make it on here, I have really been grappling with the idea of supporting Clinton, or supporting Stein. Considering how Bernie has more or less endorsed Clinton today, I decided I would come to my decision of who to endorse. It should be mentioned this is fairly nonbinding and I reserve the right to change my mind, but as it stands, I support Jill Stein for president.
Look, I've been following the democratic party fairly closely lately. I was considering voting for Clinton if I felt that they made enough concessions to Sanders supporters, and they did make some, but everything about the process feels contrived. I don't think their hearts are in it, and I don't think the substance of their platform changed all that much. Yes, we got a $15 minimum wage, Clinton changed her college plan a bit for the better, and the democrats now oppose the death penalty and have fairly strong language against Wall Street, but let's face it, they didn't change much on universal healthcare other than language, they refused to openly oppose the TPP, and honestly, I kind of feel the concessions on the other issues were fairly minor. Clinton's plan for college still has arbitrary work requirements and family contributions and the like, and moving to $15 over $12 isn't much of a concession, especially since they refuse to index it. And honestly, who knows if the dems will even follow through. Sure, they're pivoting left now, but will they maintain these views in office? Hillary is a transactional politician, a pragmatist, one who is willing to sacrifice her ideals for the sake of her image and legacy. As long as she looks good, I don't think she cares what happens. I mean, I guess a lot of my views are based on my biases against Clinton and the democrats, but I just can't get behind Clinton. Not after supporting Sanders. She's too significant of a downgrade.
I may not always agree with Stein, but her platform is far more progressive and in line with the ideas I've talked about on this blog. Ending student debt, breaking the two party system, universal healthcare, basic income, etc. While I'll admit, Stein's personal approaches to these ideas may not be very practical, the ideas themselves are sound and can be implemented if the right person with the right expertise came around to do so. Since Stein is unlikely to win herself, I'm hoping someone else takes up the mantle and implements them in the future.
The fact is, if Bernie supporters want his movement to continue, we have to support Stein. She will raise awareness to the ideas, and this could, at a future date, better motivate the democrats to do better, or break the two party system. If we get behind Clinton, the movement dies, as they get corrupted and buried under Clinton's more moderate, watered down agenda. And that's why I want Jill Stein. We can do better than we are.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if the best we can say about a candidate is they're less bad than the other guy, you don't have a good candidate. The only reason to vote for Hillary is out of fear. But the establishment relies on that fear to keep people in line. If everyone votes with their conscience, perhaps we would have more and better choices. As long as we flock to the lesser evil, that lesser evil has no reason to ever be a greater good, and things will never change.
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