The Illusion of Choice In American Politics

Alex Allen | The New Cultural Narrative

For decades, we have been propping up a two-party system in America that has been destroying our system of government and providing a false sense of choice.

Our nation was founded on the idea that every person should have a voice in the electoral process. Regardless of what you believe, your opinion is supposed to be heard in America. However, during the last few decades several important voices and issues have been ignored by the candidates, the debate moderators, and the media, specifically with regards to the presidential elections. Not only is this harmful to our democratic system, but it is characteristic of a totalitarian state, and certain aspects of it are just plain illegal.

Our last 31 presidents have either been of the Democratic or Republican party. However, what most people don't realize is that there have been more than two candidates running in each election. (This includes all third party and independent candidates) Why then, have these candidates not been included in the numerous televised debates? Whether you believe it is a deliberate conspiracy on behalf of the mainstream media or simply a blatant disregard or political ideologies that do not fit into the mold of the two-party system we have been forced into, the fact of the matter is that these candidates and their messages have been ignored.

Totalitarianism is defined as a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed. In today's "democrat" America, the Democratic and Republican parties are, indeed, the political authority; and based upon the lack of coverage of other political parties and philosophies in the media and the debates, it can be said that they do have a sort of centralized control over the system and that other philosophies are shunned and suppressed. So is there anything that differentiates us from a totalitarian state or are the remnants of our Constitutional Republic simply serving as a mask to hide from the mass public the fact that they don't truly have a say in the elections or in their government anymore?

Not only is the blocking of candidates and ideologies from the eyes of the American people not characteristic of our system of government, it is simply illegal based on our current system of laws. The Sherman Antitrust Act, passed in 1890, is a statute on competition law which prohibits businesses and organizations from participating in certain corrupt or somewhat conspiratorial actions that reduce competition. By not including the third party and independent candidates in the debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates and the Democratic and Republican parties are attempting to reduce competition.

Regardless of whether or not one agrees with any of these third party or independent candidates, one cannot deny the fact that our democratic system, our Constitutional Republic, and the political philosophies of hundreds of thousands of Americans are at stake and that this destruction of our great nation through the implementation of a two-party system must come to an end before the American people are, once again, forced to vote for the "lesser of two evils."