Reply #56: ah ok so i should vote for Nader? [View All]

[Caution]

take a look at the electorate. While you may not like it the US is comprised of mostly centrists. Limbaugh and Gingrich can talk all they want about the silent majority and Moore and Franken can talk all the way about how most Americans are liberal, but when it comes right down to it look at how people vote.

Dean and Kucinich were slaughtered. Dean had a ton of cash and still managed to lose in Iowa (before the Dean scream so please don't go crying about how the media killed him. his message and his manner killed him. the media just played to it). Nader couldn't get enough of the votes to qualify the Greens for public financing.

What are YOU doing about it? Are you putting together ballot initiatives? Or are you just trying to get DU'ers to do it for you?

Who are you voting for? If you are voting for Nader or the Green candidate (whoever that is this election cycle), you are working to put Bush in office. If Bush is put in office what do you think is going to be the net effect on Democracy?

And go ahead and spout off about the corporate media and establishment all you like. Guess what? A very large portion of Americans make their living off corporate America. If the profits of the oil industry plummeted what do you think would happen? Do you think the people would rise up and demand a share in ownership? Hell, they might because they wouldnt be able to put food on the table. This isn't 1900 anymore. People have been taught to behave a certain way and to understand the power of the ruling elite in a certain way and if you seriously think that people like Ralph Nader have any shot at challenging the status quo without the media taking him seriously you havent been paying attention.

Noam Chomsky is a great example. Here is a guy who has been spouting off about the business parties for decades, he has been advocating exactly the kinds of things you are for decades. He is a highly visible, highly successful speaker who is also hugely popular the world over. The media IGNORES him. Why? Because what he advocates is a threat to their powerbase.

I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm saying that you haven't said anything new. You certainly havent proposed a single thing for anyone to do other than to vote for people outside of the establishment. But guess what? more than 90% of those who vote think this is a TOTAL waste of time. They don't believe they can upset the establishment this way. What is the solution? I honestly don't know. But unless you get the media on board in some way there is NO solution. You can't get people excited about a candidate by having him travel around. The messages needs to come through the media and it needs to resonate with EVERYONE. Dean's message, Kucinich's message, Nader's message doesn't resonate and if it did have a shot the media would eviscerate them.

The build up of alternative media is the only method. Internet message boards, blogs, zines, cable access television shows, things like AAR, documentary films, these are the methods at hand and they should be explored. If a progressive in every city vowed to start a local access cable channel explaining the progressive point of view, the media would take notice and people might start to get an inkling of real news. But until something is done about the media your ideas will never go anywhere and we are forced to vote for the lesser of two evils (though frankly anyone who thinks Kerry is some kind of corporate stooge is sadly misinformed).