The Significance of Farage
And why it’s time to support Johnson
Until this article, I was fairly convinced Trump would not win. As a lifelong Conservative, I am the guy who could no longer just follow the party line. Don’t me wrong, it wasn’t just this election. It has been years since I felt my values were represented in Washington. In fact, I would say that my values have been misrepresented.
As a Conservative, I have felt the condescension loudly propagated from the ruling class elite. By both Republican and Democrat I am told, my views are archaic, I am unintelligent and uninformed. According to many, I get my views from an all but useless ancient text. My beliefs, they say, are old fashion and oppressive.
Funny thing, most people don’t really know my beliefs. They heard a version twisted to fit a narrative which stoked division.
I have been called “one of the most Conservative people I’ve ever met” by a Republican Party leader. I received this as a compliment, recalling a sentiment Reagan expressed, “at the heart of Conservatism is a Libertarian”. I have also been called a Democrat, by a well connected Democrat family. A Socialist by a couple of very well informed women and a Liberal by Conservative friends.
The point is this, those who know me know that I, like most people, don’t fit into a box. My life experience has taught me that loving your neighbor, should be our highest priority. Like most people, I have had to spend my life learning how to do that. And I still have a lot to learn.
I have learned that our banking system is broken and I am an example of the problem. I have learned the our prisons are broken. Our poverty programs are broken. Our schools our broken. And that our nation cannot sustain ridiculous debt.
I have learned that others may make choices I would not make for my own life. I understand that without choice there can be no true love or freedom. I know I cannot take away another’s choice.
I believe life is precious and our children deserve better than they are receiving. I believe our children need to know they are greatly loved and their life to be greatly cherished. I believe every life needs to matter and it is our duty as humans to work to ensure that every person believes their own life matters.
I believe strongly in the words that once offended my heart because I had to question myself, ‘why had such a beautiful thought never rested in my heart?’. Words that were spoken by the niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King when she said, “I cannot reconcile a better life for my children, if the same is not true for their community.”
I share all of this because I believe that you feel much like I feel. You share similar values. You want to live a peaceful life. You want to be with family and friends. You want your children to have a better tomorrow.
You want to “live and let love” and you want to freely determine how to live the rest of your life.
We are not so different.
Though we may currently wear different political labels, there are many, many people just like us in America. We are every day people, making every day mistakes and just trying to live and be better.
There are many people who do not trust the establishment and feel undervalued. On one side is a party which does not really represent us and on the other a party that wants to turn people against us.
Why would we trust either?
I look around society and see brokenness. I see two parties which have made many promises and few deliveries. And when they fail to deliver, find a way to blame somebody else. We live is a word of leaders who lack accountability.
So again I say, there are many, many disenfranchised voters hoping for a significant change. Many young voters wanting a change. The message is strong and clear.
“Enough. We want meaningful change. We will no longer accept empty words. And if that means starting all over and doing it ourselves, we will.”
Enter Faraj.
Faraj, the man who just led the UK out of the European Union. The leader of the first major secession from big government just endorsed Trump. The Calvary has arrived.
The Populist movement is one which seeks to represent the values of ordinary people. That is a message that will play well for many people.
People on the left will cry out against Faraj and talk about how dumb people were for voting for the Brexit.
The ordinary people will once again hear the condescension prepared by the elite ruling party and their loyalists. This will further embolden the Populist brand.
Faraj is Trumps knight in shining armor. The globalists will denounce Faraj. They must. In so doing, the anti-establishment rhetoric will increase. The movement will move more vigorously. Even aligning behind Trump, if it must.
If this happens, Trump will win the White House.
But there is another option. The Libertarian platform can carry the anti-establishment message (which Hillary cannot) and unify with social inclusion. Gary Johnson and Bill Weld have already laid out clear plans in which most Americans will find something they can support.
This election must become about compromise among the electorate, while simultaneously delivering a strong message of change. We must respect that our voices are diverse, but our values quite similiar.
In an odd twist, America has the opportunity to unite Classic Liberals and Conservatives around common, mutually acceptable values. And if we do not, there is a very good chance Trump becomes our next President.