In Dante's Hell, there are nine circles representing ninedegrees of sin. The closer the circle is to the Earth's core, theworse the crime and the harsher the punishment.
Then there's the Vestibule of Hell. This lies on the brink ofthe first circle. Those who dwell here aren't even allowed in. Whywould Hell turn a damned soul away, you ask? Who could be soforlorn that even Hell rejects them?
The Opportunists. Their crime? Indecision.
These are the uncommitted, the neutral, those who are neithergood nor evil, but only for themselves. Essentially, they can'tmake up their minds, so they sell their soul to a third option, onethat means nothing, one that can't give them any satisfactionbecause it has no power in the two party system of life: good andevil.
This is all starting to sound familiar. It seems there's somekind of parallel situation, but what does it bring to mind? Oh,yes, there it is!
Third party voting.
It has been generally agreed upon that a vote for a third partycandidate is a wasted vote. We all seem to realize that in this twoparty governmental system of ours, someone like Ralph Nader willnever quite squeeze his way into office.
But does that mean that we all should abandon that hope? Do wehave to settle for the "lesser of two evils?"
Yes, and no.
For now at least, we have to accept the reality that either"evil" or "not quite as evil" will make it into the White House.Which is which is hard to say. But that doesn't mean that we haveto give them our vote.
Some argue that the only way to implement a change is to jointhose you disagree with and by some means help determine thedirection in which the administration will go. Somehow, this putsyou on the "inside."
Here's another reality check. The average American can never beon the "inside," regardless of how a person votes. Once a man is inoffice, very nearly the extent of our power has been used up anddried out. We elect other men to make the laws and run the country,but we have little to do with it ourselves, with perhaps a few rareexceptions.
Thus, the importance of a third party reveals itself.
We have two evils -- a lesser and a greater -- as we haveestablished. With those two parties dominant, we cannot escape theinevitability of "evil" running our country this time around. If,however, a future third party is given its fair share of thespotlight in a free country with more than two sets of widespreadideas, we now have a realistic and much needed option -- screw thetwo evils and vote for someone more promising.
But as long as we're convinced our vote doesn't count, itwon't.
The priests tell us that a vote for Kerry equals a one-wayticket to Hell. Could that mean that God is hiding somewhere inthat burning Bush?
Doubtful. But apparently a vote for Nader or Badnarik will leadus to nowhere. We'll be running around chasing after elusivebanners while the bipartisan bees sting us in their perpetual fury.We'll be the Opportunists, uncommitted to either of the "real"parties.
Well, I guess it's better than Hell.
Write to Nick at
nick_davidson02@yahoo.com
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