I think it’s time we start taking third parties seriously.
Not just as protest votes or long-shot statements, but as real vehicles for change.
The two-party system in this country has locked working-class people into a cycle of disappointment—every election feels like choosing the lesser evil, and meanwhile the things we actually need get pushed further out of reach.
When I voted for the Socialist Workers Party (no regrets!!), it wasn’t because I thought they’d win. It was because their platform actually reflects what I care about—jobs, housing, education, and peace.
I still love the Green Party too. Imagine if all working-class voters backed leaders like Eugene Debs, Ralph Nader, or Dr. Jill Stein.
These weren’t fringe lunatics—they were people calling for things we should already have: universal healthcare, a living wage, free public housing, and tuition-free universities.
That’s not utopia. That’s what other countries already do, while we dump billions into endless wars and police surveillance.
Meanwhile, our government lets corporations loot the planet and strip basic dignity from everyday people.
We could’ve built something by now. Something better.
Instead, we’re stuck in a system that props up fossil fuel giants, greenlights genocide, and ignores the climate clock ticking louder every year.
Voting third party isn’t throwing your vote away—it’s refusing to vote for your own oppression.
If enough of us did it together, they wouldn’t be third parties anymore. They’d be the people’s party.
Yet instead of realising this, most Lemmy’s still just stay mad that people like me didn’t vote for the duopoly. lol
Debs is someone I wish was around now. Not saying he was perfect or anything, but he had a set of beliefs that’s closer to mine than any President ever has been.
And I wish like hell Nader had gotten enough to at least divert some of the bullshit that led to where we are now.
I’m not convinced Stein could do the job, but the party at least gets kinda close to where I sit on most issues. I really wish they’d put someone up I could believe would handle foreign policy and situations like the current wars. Stein might be able to navigate that kind of thing, but she just isn’t convincing the way Nader was on that section of the office’s duties. Domestic stuff, she’d do fine with as long as she could wrangle the two big parties in Congress into acting like they have sense.
Debs is someone I wish was around now. Not saying he was perfect or anything, but he had a set of beliefs that’s closer to mine than any President ever has been.
Yep! And he even went to prison for his beliefs, still didn’t change his mind, and actually ran for president from prison! lmao
One of the many reasons I admire him!
Not sure if you have already read it or not, but if you haven’t, definitely try to find the book, “The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene Victor Debs.” It’s very hefty and goes into every detail. Great book!
Much appreciated!
The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene Victor Debs.
I have the paperback version, but I also have it as ebook. Lots of Debs books at https://annas-archive.org/
I’m sure Debs would approve getting it that way if someone doesn’t have the resources to buy the expensive printed version.
Thanks again, I always forget to check annas for some reason
The American green party pretty much just comes out of the woods every 4 years to run for president, and even then they can’t even reliably get the paperwork right. They are not acting in good faith, hence they can’t be trusted to actually work to keep their promises in the case that they should have the opportunity to do so.
The American green party pretty much just comes out of the woods every 4 years to run for president, and even then they can’t even reliably get the paperwork right.
Not true. Since 1985, Greens have won 1,582 elections. As of the November 2024 elections, at least 161 Greens hold elected office. In 2024, Greens won 50 of 92 (54.3%) local races and 0 of 92 (0%) state & federal races. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Green_politicians_who_have_held_office_in_the_United_States)
2024: 98 Races, 23 States, 16 Victories (https://www.greenpartyus.org/?t=2024)
And in fact, I’ve posted other articles in this community about local Greens running for smaller local elections currently.
Thanks, friend!
The list of greens in office starts with David Spanagel, who is on the board of Library trustees in Littleton, MA until 2028. Negligible like background radiation. Does anybody on that list hold a position that actually matters?
Doesn’t matter. You were implying that Greens only run in presidential elections. That’s just not true.
Many Lemmys thought that Green Party in the last election was just for spoiler. That’s not true either. Stein was running for pres long before Trump even entered the picture. Plus, even if every single person that voted for any third party, would have voted for Harris, she still would have lost the election.
The amount of non-voters added up to more than all of the third party voters combined.
Most green candidates run in local elections.
Green Party 2024 candidates: https://www.gp.org/2024_candidates
Green Party 2025 candidates: https://www.gp.org/2025_candidates
Green Party 2026 candidates: https://www.gp.org/2026_candidates
Does anybody on that list hold a position that actually matters?
You can say that about any smaller election in any city. Are you saying smaller local elections don’t matter? That seems an odd thing for you to think, since your initial complaint was that “The American green party pretty much just comes out of the woods every 4 years to run for president.”
And if you believe that they are so insignificant, then you shouldn’t be upset or worried that Green Candidates are running. Because you think they are “Negligible like background radiation.” So nothing to get worked up over, right?
Heck, the Green Party got more votes than the Socialist party I voted for. lol
And when the greens campaign, they try to win over Democrat voters, instead of non-voters or Republicans. If they’re genuinly interested in winning the election, they would go after all 3 groups instead of just Democrats. And if they’d have any genuine interest in their political goals, they’d be mindful of the spoiler effect. The greens are undermining the working class, and the best thing that can be said about them is that they’re incompetent.
If they’re genuinly interested in winning the election, they would go after all 3 groups instead of just Democrats.
And I am sure they’d love that. Republican are more than welcome to vote for Green too. You seem to think that people don’t know how to think for themselves and vote for whoever they want.
And if they’d have any genuine interest in their political goals, they’d be mindful of the spoiler effect.
There is no such thing as a spoiler effect. Firstly, even like I said earlier, even if every single person that voted third party in the last election, would have voted for Harris instead, she still wouldn’t have won. That’s how big the margin was that she lost by. lmao
Secondly, people should vote for who they want. So there is no spoiler, because if someone wanted to vote for Green then they would vote for Green and not Democrats. People get to vote for whoever they want. That’s not spoiling. That’s democracy.
You seem to think that people don’t know how to think for themselves and shouldn’t vote for whoever they want. How is it a spoiler effect when someone doesn’t like your candidate so they choose to vote for a different candidate?!
Using your logic, I can say that Harris had a spoiler effect because people voted for her rather than my Socialist Party! lol
best thing that can be said about them is that they’re incompetent.
So if they are so incompetent, then ya shouldn’t worried about them or bothered by them. Right? :)
The democrats deserved to lose to Trump because they bow down to corporate interests just like the Republicans do. Both parties are the same!
Thanks, friend!
Presidential runs get the most media attention, but the Green Party has fielded hundreds of candidates at the local and state levels for decades.
Greens have won races for city councils, school boards, and mayoral offices in various states, including California, Maine, and Pennsylvania. Lots of Greens have served full terms and pushed for real reforms around climate policy, local democracy, housing, and police accountability.
I know, because I’ve voted for them in my state and in my city elections.
Lemmy’s going around reducing the party to a once-every-four-years BS, because they suck the teet of the Democratic and Repulican parties, but they ignore the year-round organizing and coalition work that often flies under the radar of mainstream media.
As for the paperwork critique: ballot access laws in the U.S. are deliberately designed to favor the two major parties, with constantly shifting requirements from state to state. The Greens, like other third parties, often face legal and logistical hurdles just to be visible. Mistakes do happen, but they’re usually the result of resource gaps, not bad faith.
In fact, the Green Party’s platform on healthcare, climate justice, demilitarization, and worker rights has been totally consistent over time. That consistency is itself a sign of good faith: they stand by their positions, even when it’s unpopular or difficult.
Also, Stein was not paid by russia. Lemmy wanted you to think that so that the existing corrupt dupoloy of Democrats and Republicans could stay in power.
For the record, I didn’t vote Green party. I voted Socialist party, but I admire a lot of Green Party ideas.
Oh, and before the people start yelling, “See!? See?! Universal Monk is a troll!” This is my fucking community that I started and mod. So nothing I’m saying is trolling. I’m providing facts about Green Party, in a Green Party community. That’s not trolling.
I’m quite certain that people will ignore facts, and just continue to try bullying and banning me some more. But just like Jeremiah Hacker, the 19th Century radical journalist/anarchist/abolitionist, I won’t stop. No matter what you all try to do to me. lol
