{"id":2449,"date":"2016-08-04T16:51:54","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T21:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=2449"},"modified":"2022-05-02T16:48:24","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T20:48:24","slug":"anti-trump-anti-hillary-whats-voter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/04\/anti-trump-anti-hillary-whats-voter\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Trump AND Anti-Hillary: What’s a Voter To Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anti-Trump AND anti-Hillary: What’s a voter to do? \u00a0This seems to be an endemic quandary in the current presidential campaign. \u00a0I have my own views, which I have blogged, ranted and wrote poems about. \u00a0My views are considered too radical and too scary by many, and perhaps even\u00a0somewhat\u00a0crazy by more than a few. \u00a0What might professional philosophers, trained in the rigors of logic and systematic thought, think about this palpable, contemporary quandary? \u00a0One\u00a0famous philosopher, Alasdair MacIntyre, an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, gives his esteemed analysis in Can\u2019t stand Hillary or Trump? Here\u2019s what you must do<\/a><\/em>, an article from\u00a0Intellectual Takeout,\u00a0<\/em>a nonprofit organization whose mission is to feed minds, foster discussion, and inspire action:<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t recall an election in which the two leading candidates were more reviled in both breadth and depth. The rejoinder I keep hearing is that 2016 is the Lesser of Two Evils Election.<\/p>\n

The data bears this out. A poll conducted in May by the Washington Post<\/em><\/a> found that 57 percent of people had an unfavorable view of Donald Trump; 45 percent of those polled had a highly favorable <\/em>view of him. Hillary Clinton, believe it or not, had even higher unfavorables.<\/p>\n

Both candidates, of course, somehow were officially nominated by their respective parties last month.<\/p>\n

Thus, many Americans find themselves in an ethical quandary. Finding both candidate X and candidate Y utterly repellent, they are left with the following choice: 1) Vote for the candidate they find less <\/em>repellent. 2) Vote for neither candidate (by either not voting or voting for a third party candidate who has essentially no chance of winning).<\/p>\n

What should one do?<\/p>\n

Alasdair MacIntyre, an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, is on the record on what voters should do in such a situation. He is unequivocal: Voters should reject both<\/em> candidates.<\/p>\n

Here is what he wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n

When offered a choice between two politically intolerable alternatives, it is important to choose neither. And when that choice is presented in rival arguments and debates that exclude from public consideration any other set of possibilities, it becomes a duty to withdraw from those arguments and debates, so as to resist the imposition of this false choice by those who have arrogated to themselves the power of framing the alternatives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Such a suggestion\u2014coming from a moral philosopher no less\u2014might seem jarring to the civic-minded citizen. MacIntyre concedes this, noting that it has been ingrained in our fiber to view not voting as irresponsible.<\/p>\n

So how does he justify not voting in an important election?\u00a0In MacIntyre\u2019s view, voting for \u201cthe lesser of two evils\u201d is a tacit vote for the system that put the two candidates in place, a system that \u201cpresents us only with unacceptable alternatives.\u201d By not casting a ballot, voters are, in effect, casting a vote against the system<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way to vote against the system is not to vote,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

Do you find MacIntyre\u2019s argument persuasive? Will it persuade you to not vote or vote for one of the also-rans?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I agree wholeheartedly that the logical and sensible solution is to withdraw from the boundaries of a seemingly forced false choice. \u00a0This would simply be\u00a0healthy boundary setting from a healthy electorate. However, positing the only other touted alternative as not voting at all seems to me like just another false choice, or, perhaps even more egregiously, a non-choice. \u00a0Shame on you, terribly uncreative moral philosopher (or reporter?). \u00a0There are third, and fourth, and fifth party presidential candidates running, for whom you can cast your ballot, that will profoundly more clearly register\u00a0one’s rejection of the two-party duopoly and rigged choices of candidates. \u00a0The amorphous category of nonvoter is especially un-instructive since longstanding low voter turnout is comprised of a large portion of apathy not well characterized as politically enlightened or active. \u00a0With our purported democracy in crisis, voting may be of limited importance. \u00a0Nonetheless, voting does have importance. \u00a0Voting is a relatively easy, and I believe cost-effective, way to move democracy forward. \u00a0However, in the end, electoral politics alone will not be enough to forge a positive political revolution. \u00a0Let US reject false and rigged choices foisted upon US and vote for a candidate outside the two-party duopoly. \u00a0Then, immediately — that is even before the election — join in non-electoral, movement political actions to change the larger system not worthy of our vote.<\/p>\n

Feel free to check out Top Pun’s election<\/a> and third party politics<\/a> designs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anti-Trump AND anti-Hillary: What’s a voter to do? \u00a0This seems to be an endemic quandary in the current presidential campaign. \u00a0I have my own views, which I have blogged, ranted and wrote poems about. \u00a0My views are considered too radical … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174,9,38,15],"tags":[563,747,642,546,682,397,336,427,272,671,646,156,392,672,532,475,155,477,658,17,215,110,530,197,502,185,701,723,561,647],"class_list":["post-2449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-poems","category-political-action","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-america","tag-anti-trump","tag-apathy","tag-argument","tag-ballot","tag-change","tag-choices","tag-crazy","tag-democracy","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-ethical","tag-evil","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-intellect","tag-logic","tag-moral","tag-philosophy","tag-poems","tag-political","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-president","tag-radical","tag-respect","tag-revolution","tag-third-party","tag-top-pun","tag-voters","tag-voting"],"yoast_head":"\nAnti-Trump AND Anti-Hillary: What's a Voter To Do? 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