07-06-2016, 10:20 AM
I doubt the FBI report changed anything. Hillary did not pass along secrets. Emails called "classified" by others later were not marked when she received them on her server. Using private servers was routine practice when she became Secretary. So, what's new? Nothing, really.
Libertarian Party ideology is too narrow and utopian. It pretends to be for liberty, but its principle purpose is to enable the rich to became ever-more powerful and thus squelch the liberty of the people through their economic power. Because without the state, some individuals do not voluntarily contribute their wealth to society nor limit their ambition and greed. Most people realize that the result of such policies, which have been pretty-much already-adopted these last 35 years, is rampant inequality, less-mobility, more poverty, and general economic decline. So therefore, the Libertarian Party can never be more than a fringe operation because it is doctrinaire, utopian, impractical, and in-fact very authoritarian by totally deferring to big business power. At this point, to vote for Gary Johnson, is essentially to vote to continue the current failing policies.
Our political system does not favor such narrowly-based third parties. The Greens are broader, but the country is not liberal enough for us either. Third parties can get a share of power in parliamentary systems with proportional representation, ranked-choice voting, and without gerrymandering. If we want a system where more than two establishment parties are represented, we will have to change our system this way. There may be opportunity for this during the 4T. Independents are a growing share of the electorate, and may not favor our current system much longer. Trump may be inserting a wedge between xenophobic-authoritarians and libertarian-authoritarians within the Party, and if the GOP thus collapses, then the opportunity to change the system will open up.
But this year, the USA is still severely polarized, and most people will vote out of fear that the other Party would win unless they support one side of the duopoly. So third party candidates, usually also fairly narrowly-based, fall by the wayside as the election approaches.
Libertarian Party ideology is too narrow and utopian. It pretends to be for liberty, but its principle purpose is to enable the rich to became ever-more powerful and thus squelch the liberty of the people through their economic power. Because without the state, some individuals do not voluntarily contribute their wealth to society nor limit their ambition and greed. Most people realize that the result of such policies, which have been pretty-much already-adopted these last 35 years, is rampant inequality, less-mobility, more poverty, and general economic decline. So therefore, the Libertarian Party can never be more than a fringe operation because it is doctrinaire, utopian, impractical, and in-fact very authoritarian by totally deferring to big business power. At this point, to vote for Gary Johnson, is essentially to vote to continue the current failing policies.
Our political system does not favor such narrowly-based third parties. The Greens are broader, but the country is not liberal enough for us either. Third parties can get a share of power in parliamentary systems with proportional representation, ranked-choice voting, and without gerrymandering. If we want a system where more than two establishment parties are represented, we will have to change our system this way. There may be opportunity for this during the 4T. Independents are a growing share of the electorate, and may not favor our current system much longer. Trump may be inserting a wedge between xenophobic-authoritarians and libertarian-authoritarians within the Party, and if the GOP thus collapses, then the opportunity to change the system will open up.
But this year, the USA is still severely polarized, and most people will vote out of fear that the other Party would win unless they support one side of the duopoly. So third party candidates, usually also fairly narrowly-based, fall by the wayside as the election approaches.