Multinational corporations are using huge campaign contributions to control who becomes a candidate in the two major political parties. The shameful voter turnout in America is due to voters having figured this out. They see no reason to root for one team over another, when both teams are owned by the same rich guys.

Also, in The Tyranny of the Two–party System, Lisa Jane Disch criticizes two-party systems for failing to provide enough options since only two choices are permitted on the ballot. America’s faith in the two–party system begs the question: Why do voters accept as the ultimate in political freedom a binary option they would surely protest as consumers? The Economist adds, “America’s two-party system is a creaking monstrosity that has helped bring its politics to a grinding halt. The country urgently needs a nationally competitive third party (if not a fourth and a fifth) to crack up its frozen ideological landscape.”

So, what can you do with your one little vote?

Think about this: The Federal Election Commission set 5 percent as the percent of the popular vote that a third party must get in order to receive public funding in the next election, which would add millions of dollars to their campaign funds. Recent history (1992 and 2000) shows that the Green and Libertarian parties have the best chance of reaching that 5 percent.

So, what can you do with your one little vote? The most meaningful thing you can do with your vote is to join the movement to vote for a third-party candidate to end the corrupt two-party stranglehold. If you vote for the lesser of evils, as many of us have been doing for years, you will have the same two-party game being played in the next election. If you vote your beliefs this time, in the next election, or the next, you might be able to vote for a candidate that you actually believe in. Let’s do it!

Maddy Williams

Mancos