I often hear the argument, "If you don't vote for Trump that's a vote for Hillary." Not only does this not make any sense at all, there are other problems with this kind of thinking which I think are the cause of many of America's problems today. I believe political parties and people's unquestioning allegiance to them are a major threat to the free individual and the American way of life. Some people say that they will support whoever ends up being the Republican nominee. This logic is bothersome as it indicates to me that they are not considering any individual for president but rather are beholden only to the party. Thus they have willingly surrendered their sovereign free authority to decide, and handed it over to a group. This is extremely dangerous to individual liberty and it isn't only my opinion. Other respected Americans have shared this view on political parties which I think gives my perspective some credibility.
George Washington said, “However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
Likewise John Adams said, "There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution."
Remember in the '80's the whole "Coke or Pepsi" rivalry? People on the street would be asked to taste two different colas, one was Coke and the other Pepsi. Then they'd be asked which one they would choose. Let's use this example to compare the "not voting for Trump is a vote for Hillary" logic. Let's say Tom's Grocery Store is trying to determine which cola to stock on it's shelves and decides to conduct a taste test. Whichever cola wins the contest will be available to purchase at Tom's Grocery. So Tom sets up the taste test outside his store and records people's choices. One person in particular tastes both the red cola and the blue cola but declines to choose either one. Tom is confused and asks the taste tester, "Why didn't you choose one?"
To which the taster replies, "I don't like cola and I think it is bad for my health."
Tom personally prefers the red cola and would really like to see the red one win the contest, so he tries to persuade the taster, "Are you sure you didn't like the red one? I think the red one is better. Would you like to taste them again? Maybe you'll see that the red cola is better."
However, the taster insists on not choosing red or blue and says, "I can't in good conscience choose something I don't believe in."
Irritated, Tom begins to yell at the taster, "Well you're messing up the voting and that is just un-American! Don't you realize that NOT voting for red is really a vote FOR blue? But out of curiosity, what drink would you choose if you could pick anything?"
"Orange," the taster replied calmly. "I think the orange one would be best for me."
Aggravated, Tom hisses through his teeth, "That's ridiculous. The orange one would never win. If the blue one wins, I'm blaming you because you didn't vote for red!"
Voting for a candidate I believe in is what makes me American. I am loyal to my country not only to a group or faction within my country. Doing that... would be UN-American.
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