{"id":3544,"date":"2019-10-15T05:50:21","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T05:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2019\/10\/15\/third-partiesdiscussion-societies-in-political-drag\/"},"modified":"2019-10-15T05:50:21","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T05:50:21","slug":"third-partiesdiscussion-societies-in-political-drag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2019\/10\/15\/third-partiesdiscussion-societies-in-political-drag\/","title":{"rendered":"Third Parties: Discussion Societies in Political Drag"},"content":{"rendered":"

A so-called 'third party' is any party in U. S. politics other than the Democrats and the Republicans.  There are many<\/a> third parties. My thesis is that third parties are discussion societies in political drag.  Corollary to that is my claim that anyone who has anything to do with a third party thereby demonstrates ignorance as to the nature of the political. (Recent possible exception: the Reform Party when it backed Ross Perot.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Politics is not theoretical; it is practical. There is political theory, of course, and it divides into political science (empirical and non-normative) and political philosophy (normative). But politics is neither of the two. It is praxis<\/em>, not theoria<\/em>. The political life is a form of the vita activa,<\/em> not of the vita contemplativa<\/em>. Here is a working definition of 'political activity.'  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Political activity is human activity in concert with like-minded others in pursuit of governmental power for the purpose of implementing programs and policies contributory to the common worldly good or the worldly good of those the party represents.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now the vast majority of third parties have no chance of coming to power. It follows that those who vote for third-party candidates are almost in every instance wasting their vote.  These voters don't understand the nature of the political as above defined.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some vote third-party to 'make a statement' or to 'lodge a protest.' But these gestures are futile. No one gives a damn about Joe Blow's 'statement' or 'protest' or would even be aware of them.  Consider the American Solidarity Party<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Writing for First Things<\/em> in July 2016, David McPherson, assistant professor of philosophy at Creighton University, urged<\/a> voting for the ASP ticket as \u201ca protest vote against a system that presents us with such poor choices.\u201d Moreover, by supporting the ASP, he argued, \u201c\u2018a man [sets] an example,\u2019 so that the idea of human solidarity, based on the equal dignity of all human beings, may not die away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The sentiment is noble, but the proposed course is impractical. Politics is a practical game! It is not about having the right views. That does no good unless one can implement them. And only a fool lets the best become the enemy of the good. Politics is a matter of better or worse, not perfect or imperfect.  It is about accomplishing something in the extant suboptimal circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what should you do if you are a Libertarian, or rather 'Losertarian'?  Do what Ron Paul did: become a Republican and try to push that stodgy bunch in a more libertarian direction.  Similarly with ASP members. Stop wasting your time and become Republicans. Try to inject some subsidiarist ideas into the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, ASP members ought to vote for Trump, and not abstain. It is folly to believe in 'political equivalentism' as between Left and Right in the present constellation of circumstances  here in the States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don't confuse a discussion society with a political party!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A so-called 'third party' is any party in U. S. politics other than the Democrats and the Republicans.  There are many third parties. My thesis is that third parties are discussion societies in political drag.  Corollary to that is my claim that anyone who has anything to do with a third party thereby demonstrates ignorance … Continue reading “Third Parties: Discussion Societies in Political Drag”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,56,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-morality","category-politics","category-social-and-political-philosophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}