Young independents grapple with frustration over the two-party system

…to be independent is to be frustrated with the two party system…
Like water is wet.

Jesus, if only there was a party the was in the primaries that supported a voting system that isn't first past the post.
Oh wait.
https://www.progressivecaucuscenter.org/ranked-choice-voting

Support ranked choice voting! This is the best way to move away from a two party system presently available to us. Also, Freakonomics had a fun episode on duopoly (episode 356)

So do old independents

Sigh. Welcome to the party.

- The problem is that the 'Not Perfect' party refuses to actually fight or advocate for universal, popular policies. Instead, the "Not Perfect' party sits on their hands, bullies their base, and waits for everything to collapse so that they are the default option.
  
  So vote in the "Not Perfect" parties primaries to get better candidates nominated, and at the same time work on getting a ballot initiative for ranked choice voting.
  
  The "not perfect" party got us gay marriage, the affordable care act, and the repeal of don't ask don't tell. The response was Trump's first term.
- Agreed. The Looters' Party is the reasonable choice. The best part with those guys is that you get to keep whatever you get your hands on.

The reason mainstream media switched to "both sides" after four years of defending Biden and pretending he was perfect is instead of Biden getting to place another corpo friendly DNC chair, the DNC got to vote and picked the most progressive chair in over 50 years.
Is Ken Martin perfect?
Nope, but billionaire owned media turning against the party almost on the day he was elected should be enough to tell us it was a victory.
Now is when progressives need to rally around the DNC, the neoliberals will vote Republican like they did in 08, but there's so few neoliberal voters it won't matter now either.
- I don't really want neoliberals in my coalition anyways, I don't like associating with people who smugly talk over other people to push shit ideas that don't work while innocent USians are suffering and dying everyday. I also don't like associating with people that bring nothing to the table but a liability to the legitimacy of the political coalitions they assume they are the heart and soul of.
  spits on the ground heck no I am never rallying around the DNC again and neither are other younger people, corporate centrists can come begging to our feet for our vote and we will give it to them if they stop wasting our time with empty feckless promises.
  It is up to the DNC to prove to the people holding the gas cans that it is reformable, and so far their argument still sucks.
  Try harder lights match while whistling jeopardy theme.
  Still waiting for proof centrists learned anything from this election other than that they are ok with genocide and that we must always accept the framing of conservative arguments and move right (which is the only thing US centrist neoliberals seem to be capable of concluding).
- mean when Democrats were falsely advertising hope and change but never followed through as usual and Obama just went to basketball games, but the workers never got living wages and nothing else happened from all the empty promises
  just enough crumbs were given out to brainwash the citizens into thinking Democrats were on their side and to hold up the two-party sham even longer with the basis being Republicans are evil
  both parties are just elite puppets putting on a grand theatrical performance
  
  the problem here is that nobody takes the time to think about how civics actually work in this country. the most important, qualitative elections people can participate in are municipal and state ones, but none of y'all ever turn up. guess who has been voting in municipal and state elections since the 80s? if you already guessed in your head, you're probably already correct.
  if you want living wages in your area, start by electing a mayor or city council that will actually do it. if you want police accountability, make your city or town do it. hate the entire political system that works in your area? you actually have the power to change that! they're basically the last civil workers who actually have to be somewhat pragmatic and not operate entirely on polemic lines. nobody cares if you're republican or democratic if the sewers aren't running.
  it's not that hippy-dippy — the phrase "think globally, act locally" is basically the play from here until forever.
  
  mean when Democrats were falsely advertising hope and change but never followed through as usual and Obama just went to basketball games, but the workers never got living wages and nothing else happened from all the empty promises
  Was that 50 years ago?
  Did Obama nominate a progressive DNC chair or did he ignore the DNC because the neoliberals running it actively worked against him, which allowed the neoliberals to remain in control of the DNC?
  Because buddy...
  It seems like you're not informed about the topic.
  Quick edit:
  To clarify I mean the first time the DNC pushed a more conservative candidate than Dem voters wanted in an attempt to steal Republican voters: Jimmy Carter.
  The fact that he's remembered as the last "true left" president shows how much the party has fallen. At the time the party was fractured because Jimmy wasn't progressive enough for the Dem voting base. And we've only moved right since the, until the 2025 DNC chair election.
  Battles have been fought and the war was won, neoliberals do t run the DNC anymore

The solution is to have no parties. Everyone just runs for office on their own
- The first past the post system will still spoil the vote with more than two candidates. The solution is ranked choice voting.
  
  Ranked choice is a step in the right direction, but Approval Voting is better and more intuitive, imo.
  
  Well, yes. Ranked choice and no parties. ;)
- That only works if truly nobody is "backed" by a larger organization. Taking away party affiliation just makes it harder to identify where a candidates loyalties lie.
  
  No candidate should have loyalties to any group other than the American citizens.