Make America have choice again

We’d all like to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate.

– Kin Hubbard

Being a foreign observer of the US elections, I’ve spent two decades watching from the sidelines, initially with great interest, then bewilderment that slowly developed into mock laughter and, finally, scorn and horror.

While it took a while for me to understand the US electoral system, I’m pretty sure quite a few Americans are still perplexed by its convoluted workings and question why Democracy needs to be this complicated. The whole process of whittling down the field to two major candidates (parties) seems unnecessarily elaborate. Unfortunately, it provides the illusion of fairness and accountability for the casual observer, of which there are far too many.

The process of selecting a president is so cleverly executed that it passes legal examination (somewhat), but it is actually tainted with corruption.

I have concluded that American voters are under the illusion they have a choice between objectively different candidates with clear and distinct policies and values. However, the carefully manipulated electoral system ensures that candidates are pre-chosen for them by an elitist donor class who influence and control the political narrative through lobbying and “donations.”

It’s an intrinsically corrupt system that will continue to be maintained by voter ignorance. It is kept alive by an illusory divide fueled by manufactured culture wars. There is little to no difference between the candidates. They primarily serve their donors’ interests by enacting favourable legislation while keeping the electorate at bay with other mundane acts of governance.

For their part, the electorate is culpable in perpetuating the system through their participation and the eagerness with which they embrace it. Election cycles provide entertainment for them. Heck, they even willingly donate money to candidates to be used to produce mind-numbing adverts and stage political rallies. In short, they pay politicians to tell them what they want to hear entertainingly.

For the candidates, however, the electorate is useful only as voting fodder and worshipful spectators at staged soapbox events, where they get a chance to read insulting rhetoric from a prepared script with recycled false promises. It is not hard to please an audience that craves attention while steeped in a shallow culture of celebrity worship.

With the November 5th election looming large, the illusion of choice has never been so stark. Both candidates are objectively equally deplorable. The consensus in the outside world is that both are evil, primarily for supporting Israel, which is conducting what is, without doubt, a genocide in Palestine. Yet, Americans are being implored to choose the lesser evil.

Only choosing the lesser evil is still choosing evil.

While Donald Trump verbalizes his demented policies at every opportunity, Kamala Harris cloaks hers’ in liberal nonsense while making it plain she’ll maintain the diseased status quo of continuous wars and entrenched imperialism. They’re both no good for America, but more importantly, no good for the world, which bears the brunt of selfish American foreign policy.

Trump certainly does not belong in the White House. He’s more fit for a mental institution… or jail. Harris had the opportunity gifted to her because of Joe Biden’s failing health (to put it kindly). She’s demonstrated her willingness to be manipulated by the donor class and is already compromised.

Ironically, the lesser evil would be the third-party candidate, Jill Stein. She’s been trying for ages to get elected but stands no chance unless she finds favour with the shady corporate donors that matter. That’s the only path to the White House; all who take it are corruptible.

If the Republicans put up an alternative candidate who served Republican values while being mentally sound, I have no doubt that person would trounce Harris at the polls. As it is, Trump’s lunacy might ensure Harris wins by the slimmest of margins. Like most of the world, if she does, all we can hope for is that she does something entirely different to the shit show she promises.

If Trump contests the election results, I’ll be getting the popcorn out to enjoy my share of the election cycle entertainment, which has been rather grim up to this point.