Be the Change

“In a national poll released last week by the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of Americans surveyed agreed ‘that there should be a third major political party in addition to the Democrats and Republicans.’" –Liz Fedor from the Minneapolis Post 2012

Have you heard of Jill Stein? If you haven’t, google her.

If the media is to be believed we have two choices for president. This is a lie. Anyone could win any election in this country. This does not have to be a two-party system.

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.” –John Adams

If we are to truly run this country as Americans, as the representation of democracy that it was intended to be, we need to wake up. We need to pay attention. Not to the dramas of the birth certificate debate or the Big Bird guffaws. Not to the things that the media and the politicians (who are probably paying the media) want us to hear.

The media doesn’t have to control our politics anymore.

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” -George Washington

The Occupy Movement showed us that we have a voice. The first few weeks they wanted to silence us, and what did we do? We posted. We shared. We tweeted. We have power now. Not just the power to share silly pictures of cats with our friends, not just the power to video chat with a soldier oversees like the Jetsons. We have the power to make real change. We watched Egypt do it. They protested, they took to the streets. When the government shut down their internet they found loopholes. I followed twitter accounts of people who were in the center of Cairo, the center of the blackout, and still managing to find a way to connect with the world at large and get their message out.

“It is better to be alone than in bad company.” -George Washington

The argument that a vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Romney (or Obama) is a cop out. The key is that a vote for Obama is a vote for status quo. And a vote for Romney is a vote for status quo. We cannot change this country so long as we continue to fall for the illusions of the media. We need to believe in the power of our voices. We need to spread our messages through the internet.

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” -George Washington

I know I put that quote twice, but it's important.

I see the statistics, I know that the change isn’t going to come this election. But the key is to prove to the citizens of this country that there are other choices. We do not have to vote for the candidate who scares us a little less when we could vote for the candidate we actually believe in. the candidate who we actually believe could change this country for the better. If enough people vote third party, enough that the results actually show a third choice then perhaps, next election, a few more people will have the courage to vote with their hearts and not vote against their fears.

Pipe dream? Maybe. But Imagine…