Why I’m Voting Green in the Face of Trump
My interest in leftist political thought can be traced back to the September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. As a sophomore in high school with a budding passion for environmental activism and beginning to explore my organizing skills, I felt an immediate uneasiness with the intense Nationalism that flooded our airwaves. I clearly remember asking my mom at her birthday dinner that night if I was a “bad American” for not wanting to bomb the countries where the hijackers were originally from. Feeling the push for war sparked a Great Awakening in me. I grew up in a nearly all-white community, and seeing an immediate uptick in race-based & Islamophobic hate crimes finally exposed me to the disgusting underbelly of white supremacy in America.
Almost immediately after 9/11, we saw a great schism deepen in our society — on one side it was Bush, Cheney, Rove, Clinton, Republicans, Democrats, and most of the American people marching into 2 wars & giving everything over to the corporations; — The other side were the: anti-war, pro-environment, anti-racist, anti-corporate, student, worker, immigrant, and pro-people movements. I am forever grateful to the activist communities in Southern California that jump-started my understanding of global capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, white supremacy, and anti-black racism.
Voting has been part of my life since I was a young child, so there were no doubts in my mind I would participate in electoral politics. Although my mom was a Democratic-leaning Independent, I just knew I wasn’t a Democrat. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the impending climate crisis, along with the push for privatization of our public resources sealed the deal on the Green Party for me before I even turned 18. I missed my opportunity to vote in my first general election because I was out of town and messed up on the absentee ballot requirements. I cried that day, seriously just bawled alone on a bus in San Francisco. Not because I really wanted to vote for John Kerry — I was more excited about it being my first election and to cast a vote against George W. Bush (see a pattern here?). As we all know, California’s electoral votes eventually went to Kerry and Dubya was re-elected anyways.
Skip ahead to 2008. 2-thousand-fucking-8 man. That was the year we went hard for Obama and against Proposition 8 because that’s what you do when you’re a 22-year-old Progressive. My highly conservative hometown in San Diego was a battle ground — we’d make signs like, “Women & Pit Bulls Against Palin,” or the very original, “Protect Families, No on Prop 8” and they’d be taken down within 24 hours. I made flyers and walked through the North County Fair Mall in Escondido handing them out. I was screamed at by bros in lifted trucks and flipped off by old white ladies while holding signs on the corner of Poway & Pomerado roads. On election day, Obama won & Prop 8 passed. We drank cheap champagne in our poorly lit kitchen, simultaneously feeling proud and disgusted with our fellow citizens.
So what’s changed over the past 8 years? Besides my own political and personal growth, the Democrats are officially the new Republicans and Obama has become Bush the Third. Obama campaigned on ending the 2 wars, ending nuclear proliferation, providing healthcare for all, & reducing student debt. Here we are 8 years later and none of those things have happened. In fact, we’ve expanded our wars to at least 5 countries now, we’re developing smaller more deadly weapons, Obamacare is a goldmine for insurance companies with corporate stooges making millions off our bodies, and we are deeper in the throes of education privatization turning students into customers rather than human beings.
Some activists and/or feminists may feel like the right choice is voting for Hillary Clinton, because I felt that same way with Obama in 2008. He was the lesser-evil when John McCain & Sarah Palin were staring us in the face. After 8 years of W, voting for a Democrat really seemed to be the best option for women, minorities, and the planet. The reality is that the DNC & President Obama have completely failed the Progressive movement and completely failed at creating peace. The police state has been massively expanded under Obama, which both Clinton and Trump will do terrible things with.
Clinton will carry on Obama’s legacy of global terror as another War President who will intensify domestic and global poverty. She will not end the wars we have now, and she will authorize more military engagements overseas. Forget about HAVING the nuke codes, I’m more worried about who else in this Global conflict will use THEIR weapons on us because of the Democrats’ foreign policy. The peace will NOT last on our soil unless we make drastic changes to our international relationships.
Congress and the military are already gearing up to fund these wars with our money and our bodies. They’ll tell us it’s about equality, but expanding the Draft to include women is not about equality; it’s about preparing more lives to perish in the name of U.S. Imperialism. Making a big scene about trans people serving in the military does nothing to further the liberation of trans people around the globe. Equality in the name of Imperialism is not real, it’s unjust and it’s inherently anti-feminist.
Democrats thrive on “progress” as long as that progress serves the capitalist, corporate, imperialist, elite. Hillary Clinton will continue to let the bosses, bankers, and war mongers build their wealth through the blood, sweat, and labor of all workers — people of color, queer and trans people, and families already living in poverty will continue to be disproportionately affected by our unjust economic and cultural systems. NO ONE WILL BE LIBERATED NOR PROTECTED under a Clinton presidency. NO ONE WILL BE LIBERATED NOR PROTECTED unless we create a massive paradigm shift right now.
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Knowing this reality we are then faced with the question, can we *Actually* vote for a political revolution? The answer is no. Voting is a tactic in a sea of tactics to organize people to create reforms that will (hopefully) lead to peace, justice and unity. This year, we have an opportunity to bring fundamental systemic change that can produce massive reforms in our communities. Voting for Jill Stein is not a wasted vote, it is a vote for progress instead of the status-fucking-quo.
Stein earned my vote in 2012 with her pro-people, pro-student, pro-worker, anti-war, anti-corporate campaign. 4 years later in the face of Trump, I am voting for Jill Stein again because I am 30 years old and:
- I have worked 3 jobs at a time, doing 15 shifts per week
- I have over $30 thousand dollars in student debt and would like to finish college someday
- I lost the best job ever due to budget cuts to education
- I lost a house to foreclosure
- My mom can’t live her full life because she is trapped by insurance debt for her chronic illnesses
- I haven’t had doctor besides Planned Parenthood in over 5 years
- 99% of my friends rent their homes
- I fear my queer black roommate won’t make it home at night
- I have experienced the hellish conditions of our prison system
- None of the people who have sexually abused or harassed me, my mom, or my friends have faced consequences for their actions
- It is inherently anti-feminist to support war or war profiteers.
These are very personal reasons, but they represent the failings of our society after decades of policies from Democrats and Republicans. We need a significant shift in the focus of our society and a revitalization of our representation. We need to refocus the conversation around those most affected by the violence of systems built upon anti-black racism and fueled by patriarchal ideology. We cannot ever “Make America Great,” nor create unity until we acknowledge the system as it stands today is NOT for the people. We are not all free under the Stars & Stripes, we are not all represented by the way the system currently runs.
We will never convince those in power to change the system that gives them the power — Hillary Clinton is not going to wake up tomorrow and be like, “You know what fam? Let’s shut down the nuclear program.” That’s never gonna happen even though it’s best for humanity. Lots of people who supported Bernie believe that Clinton can be pushed to the left, but ultimately she cannot. Her bottom line revolves around corporate profits and she has no reason to push towards revolutionizing the system.
Jill Stein is NOT an establishment politician and that’s exactly what we need — someone with experience in other fields of study, other forms of community organizing, and someone who holds different perspectives. We have been fooled into thinking that Clinton is a good choice because she has so much experience in politics. We have been fooled into thinking that Jill’s previously failed campaigns are because of her lack of experience or her value as a person, rather than a lack of exposure or societal pressure for change. We must reject the notions that the Green Party ushered in the Iraq War when it was 100% Democrats & Republican congress members who voted for war. We must reject and undermine the media blackout of independent politics. We Millennials must reject voting for the same people who have gained their “experience” by bombing and incarcerating more people than any other country and have crippled our opportunities for stability.
Here are a few more reasons I will be casting my vote once again for Jill Stein:
CLIMATE CHANGE
The Green Party is the only party that treats climate change like the emergency it is. Stein’s “Power to the People” platform is calling for an emergency Green New Deal that will start the immediate transition to fully clean energy providing 20 million+ jobs, and will fundamentally change our foreign policy by ending our reliance on the resources and exploitation of the Middle East and Global South.
AJAMU BARAKA
Jill’s VP is a longtime activist for human rights and has been a fierce proponent for Black Liberation. His work against the death penalty, mass incarceration, & capitalism exposes the other VP candidates as the corporate shills they are. Baraka is also the only person of color on a mainstream ticket. If we are serious about breaking down white supremacy, we need to actively shift the power and shift the narrative to include those who have been historically disenfranchised. We need his perspective in our government and we need someone at the helm willing to pass the mic to those who need it the most.
ANTI-WAR, PRO-VETERAN
Stein’s call to immediately end the conflict in Afghanistan, then reduce the military budget by 50% is the only way to rescue our society and end our plight on global communities. Bringing our troops home, providing full access to physical and mental health care to deal with the trauma of war, and improving the quality of life for military families shows that Stein is the only candidate that truly cares about our soldiers, truly cares about global diplomacy, and truly cares about women’s rights around the globe.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Jill fully supports Universal Health Care, and breaking up the insurance companies that have bankrupted countless American families. As a medical doctor, Jill fully believes in the use of vaccinations, and has called for regulatory boards founded on science NOT on profits! Bottom line, Pfizer and Monsanto lobbyists have no place in the FDA.
Reproductive Justice is an ongoing battle in our society, hitting low-income communities of color the hardest. Every person deserves the bodily autonomy to make decisions regarding their health and their bodies. Jill is also an experienced organizer against environmental racism — a phenomenon that is poisoning communities of color for the benefit of corporate profits.
DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE
Jill Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka have condemned the DAPL and have personally supported the Water Protectors in North Dakota. A warrant was even issued for Dr. Stein for engaging in civil disobedience while visiting the Sacred Stone Camp. The Green Party is the only Party to condemn the DAPL project and to condemn ALL pipeline projects, including the projects overseas keeping us in constant warfare. Native and Black lives are valued by the Stein/Baraka campaign pledging to honor all treaties and provide reparations for all victims of US colonialism. Indigenous communities and descendants of African slaves have been set up to fail in this country, and the Green Party is attempting to rectify those injustices.
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Those of us who came of age around the Millennium are in an interesting position in our society. We are living this duel existence of knowing a life before the internet while simultaneously being digital natives. Thanks to social media and 24-hour news cycles, we are more in-tune with the despicable domestic and global actions of our government than any previous generation. Access to information has significantly altered our perspective on our roles in society and we have started to look for alternative routes to change “the powers that be.” We have been raised in an era of resource hoarding and upper class idolization that keeps us laboring while other people’s pockets grow. We are dealing with the trauma of economic turmoil, the backlash of neoliberal policies, and globalization on a massive scale. We have been in the middle of World War III for half our lives without seeing any disruption in our day-to-day activities. We grew up thinking that being a “liberal” was a good thing, but here in 2016 being a liberal is synonymous with corporate profit and making excuses for government corruption.
We are now faced with a crucial decision that isn’t just about the President, it is about whether we will even have a world to pass on to our children. If you are choosing to vote this election, make a choice that you will be proud of in the years to come. Please don’t condemn our children to being drafted into Clinton’s wars because you are scared of Trump — Trump is one of the shittiest people out there, but don’t let that overshadow the fact that Clinton has a solid track record of being one of the most dangerous people out there.
Jill Stein has access to enough electoral votes to win this thing, if you get out and #FlipTheVote we might actually have an electoral path out of this mess! It’s in our hands to vote for the greater good!
