Perspectives on Electoral Politics and Levels of Evil

A Moderated Discussion

Below is an edited transcript of a brief discussion I moderated with two voices in my head focusing on the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Before this discussion, I didn’t pay much attention to these voices, but after a barrage of requests from both sides, I agreed to hear the arguments.

To start, I’ll introduce the voices…

Until 2016, I deferred all my questions about electoral politics to a single voice I’ve trusted since I became a U.S. citizen in 1996. I’ll call him Voice #1 (V-1). At heart, he is a “none-of-the-above” voter seeking solutions outside the electoral process and refusing to support the lesser evil. Depending on the election and the mood of the moment, he has advocated boycotts, protest votes, and votes for candidates who deviate sufficiently from the corrupt normative center.

Voice #2 (V-2) erupted in my head after the 2016 election. Eager to expose what he sees as the naivete and purism of V-1, he argues that wars don’t offer us clean choices -- and we are at war. He understands, he says, that the lesser of two evils is evil, but it is still a categorically superior choice, morally and politically. In 2020, we face a binary choice, and “none of the above” is a cop-out that aids evil.

Me

I was reluctant to have this discussion because I’m not sure we even have a decision to make. But you both felt strongly that “this election is different,” so, fine, I’ll hear your arguments. Would you like to begin, V-1?

V-1

Yes. My position is unchanged. I understand that November 2016 felt like a watershed moment, but here’s what hasn’t changed: you still don’t have a way to vote against the interests of the pathocracy. By voting, you are only helping legitimize a farce.

Me

Well, you’re certainly right that your position hasn’t changed. But, in a way, mine has. Not only am I still inclined to stick to this position, I am even more committed to it in 2020. From the start of the Trump presidency, it’s been clear that the democrats are mainly opposing Trump symbolically. With the nomination of Biden, the DNC’s complicity in the pathocracy is as undeniable as the reality of the Emperor’s New Clothes. What say you, V-2?

V-2

I do agree that DNC’s nomination of Biden reinforces V-1’s argument. How much clearer could it be that Trump is essentially running unopposed, which is exactly the reason to take every conceivable step to oppose the metastasizing malignancy. If that means voting for the old-school corruption that Biden represents, so be it.

You used to say yourself, perhaps jokingly at times, that even if the DNC nominates a lobotomized monkey to run against Trump, we must vote for the lobotomized monkey. So the DNC came as close as it could to allowing you to show the courage of your new convictions. What has changed?

Me

Well, I felt the impulse to vote against Trump “no matter what”, and I expressed the impulse in colorful language. But the reality is that voting for the duopoly is more objectionable now than it was in 2016. We just know too much about the severity and epidemiology of the pathology to pretend that voting for the less demented figurehead of the pathocracy is justifiable.

V-2

Look, I know that you don’t want Trump to stay in office. Why not express yourself by casting a vote?

Me

I’m sorry but I’m not hearing anything new here, and I don’t want to go in circles. Please come back to me when you have something new.

Both these voices are open to suggestions from the Medium community.