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.
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!
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