Breaking the duopoly
On January 5, 2021, with the Georgia runoff elections for two US Senate seats, the 2020 election cycle will finally come to an end.
Although a plurality of Americans are dissatisfied with the two major parties, every single winner in the 471 federal races will be a Republican or Democrat. The duopoly is firmly in control of the electoral and legislative machinery; Congress ignores many systemic issues in America, giving them an approval rating that hovers around 20%. Despite that, their reelection rate is north of 90%.
In 2020, the Phoenix Congress offered America a constructive alternative to the two party system. Over the spring and summer, a legislative package was crafted that would address some of the largest problems in our country, the triple evils identified by Martin Luther King Jr.; poverty, racism, and militarism.
The legislation was especially relevant as millions grappled with the economic injustice of the coronavirus pandemic and the racial injustice highlighted by the murder of George Floyd. The final product, called the Blueprint for a Better America, established universal basic income, a public option for health insurance, implemented police and prison reforms, and downsized the US military. The 159 pages were published online and made available for everyone to read.
Hundreds of summaries were mailed to incumbents and challengers for federal office, including the President of the United States. The terms were simple; end poverty, end mass incarceration, and end the endless wars by enacting our legislative package and earn the endorsement of the American Union, a union of swing voters collectively bargaining for a better social contract for America. It was a take-it-or-leave-it offer for every candidate for federal office.
To be more specific, it was an offer to reelect every incumbent who acted before the election, regardless of party. Although the duopoly specializes in pitting Americans against each other as Republicans and Democrats, the American Union declined to take the bait, preferring to put people and policy over partisan politics.
For a third party to triumph over the duopoly, 35% of voters would need to reject the two parties. The American Union, on the other hand, needed only 3% of voters to decide the presidential election between the two establishment candidates, and a similar percent could determine the balance of power in Congress. We could defeat the duopoly by ignoring it, and establishing a nonpartisan metric to decide our votes. We could be deciders, instead of spoilers.
President Trump did not accept our offer, and lost reelection. However, the two runoff elections in Georgia sent the 2020 election into overtime. This time, with the balance of power in the US Senate up for grabs, we took a different tact for our endorsement process. This time, we offered Mitch McConnell control of the Senate if he passed our legislation through that chamber. If he refused, Nancy Pelosi had the opportunity to demonstrate Democrats would act by passing the legislative package through the House.
Neither responded by our Christmas deadline, and another offer was made; hold a straight up-or-down vote on the Blueprint for a Better America, just like Congress had done with the omnibus appropriations bill. Who would end poverty, end mass incarceration, and end the endless wars?
Again, they refused to act, and the 116th Congress came to a close with nothing being done. Who will the American Union endorse?
Voters have to choose a team.
Nowhere in America is this clearer right now than in Georgia. Based on the ads running constantly, the four candidates are among the most evil individuals this planet has ever seen. The Democrats hate America, the military, and the police, while the Republicans are gazillionares who spent 2020 sipping champagne while investing in body bags.
Also, the Democrats are radical socialists, and the Republicans are campaigning with white supremacists. (Narrator: They weren’t.)
If Georgia elects the Democrats, all the gridlock will magically vanish as a radical socialist agenda, complete with gun grabbing, open borders, and hyperinflation, is pushed through the halls of Congress at ludicrous speed.
If Georgia elects the Republicans, the Senate will act as a firewall to maintain the status quo where 1 in 9 Americans live in poverty, two million Americans are behind bars, and we have the largest military budget in human history.
Which of these is the lesser of two evils?
Is it any wonder that the founding fathers warned us about the dangers of political parties? Alexander Hamilton referred to them as the “most fatal disease” of government by the people; George Washington spent large parts of his farewell address spelling out exactly how they would enmesh themselves in government.
Besides twisting the legislative process in their favor, their control over the electoral process is so complete that third parties won’t even appear on the January 5 ballot in Georgia.
They insist that we takes sides, and grant legitimacy to their rule.
But what if, like Melville’s scrivener, we prefer not to? Choosing not to vote — like George Carlin advocated — is an option exercised by tens of millions of Americans frustrated and disgusted with the system. Others might write in Mickey Mouse to register their disapproval of the choices.
The power of the American Union is in being deciders, not spoilers. We can break the duopoly by sticking together as our own team; the block of votes that Republicans and Democrats need to win.
Selecting the lesser of two evils based on a metric not previously agreed on could cause a rift in the Union. (The Blueprint contains a 10 year truce on two of the most polarizing issues, guns and abortions.) Instead, we would need to find a way to flex our power in way that doesn’t offer any value judgement on the candidates.
We can decide which half of the duopoly to endorse with the flip of a coin.
It should be said this election involves special circumstances. The duopoly, smugly confident that voters will have to play by the rules it created, has refused to negotiate. When a group of workers approaches management about collectively bargaining and is rebuffed, a strike is often the result.
This is a general strike against the two party system.
The lesser of two evils is still evil; we can refuse to pick an evil. Instead, by deciding the outcome of the election based on a random event, we reveal the benefit of cooperation. As Dr. King wrote, “We must develop, from strength, a situation in which the government finds it wise and prudent to collaborate with us.”
At 8pm ET, on Monday, January 4, 2021, the American Union will make its endorsement live on YouTube. All Georgians who want to end poverty, end mass incarceration, and end the endless wars are invited to vote with the American Union on January 5th.
Depending on the election outcome, either Rev. Raphael Warnock or Sen. Kelly Loffeler will be up for reelection to a full term in 2022. When they see that the decisive segment of Georgia voters expects them to act, they will work to meet the legislative goals of the American Union to qualify for our endorsement; they will find it wise and prudent to collaborate with us. Together, we can build a better America by breaking the duopoly.
