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So, this article states that 42% of Americans identify as politically independent. This beats the next largest political identity (Democrats, 29%) by 13%. Yet,

So, this article states that 42% of Americans identify as politically independent. This beats the next largest political identity (Democrats, 29%) by 13%. Yet, the political system has been rigged - obviously so, for anyone who cares to look - so that an independent party fails to get the 5% necessary to get onto the ballot and future funding for the next election cycle for presidential running. How is it that there is nothing that can be done to alleviate this type of obvious voter suppression and electoral corruption on a national scale? I understand this is tertiary to the title, but makes up a large part of the article, so I thought I'd bring it up.

MrYellowP 5y ago
Nothing can be done, because the system is owned by the corrupt, which means that the system is corrupt. The only solution against this problem is violence. Despite what a lot of completely delusional and clueless morons believe, voting solves nothing as long as all parties are basically run by rich people and or paid career politicians. And I'm not even going to dive into the details. They're not necessary. You have not just the politicians against you, you also have the media against you, which means that you have most people against you. Unless you manage to get people to realize what's going on, things will only change when those in charge want things to change. Then it'll happen on their terms, they will provide solutions to problems they created and we all are going to pay for it.
- vlunkr 5y ago
  I don't know what your political leanings are, but do you realize this is the position of the people who stormed the capitol building?
  - Ekaros 5y ago
    Ever wondered how that was even possible? Like how bad must the security be for bunch of unarmed random civilians to enter and have access to rather important location? Almost seems like manufactured. Or lot of people should be fired for incompetence...
    - x86_64Ubuntu 5y ago
      It happened because much of the establishment, especially in policing, were sympathetic to the goals of the 1/6 attackers. Everyone know about "Stop The Steal" in December when it was being mentioned frequently in places like Facebook. When we compare how BLM and Native pipeline protests are dealt with by the police, it's clear that they were essentially acting as accomplices.
  - MrYellowP 5y ago
    I don't have a leaning. I also don't care if it was their position. If you trust your government, no matter where you live, then you're a fool. Period. The fact that there's assholes out there who abuse this fact for an attempt to make things even worse isn't my problem. The fact that there's people like you, who draw a connection, is just as bad. I'm not from the US. This horrendously broken logic, where you associate people with each other based on their thoughts, thus basically destroying ideas, isn't mine.
datavirtue 5y ago
Most of the independents are not voting most of the time. The ones that do swing between parties because we have clearly demonstrated that there is no organized independent party. Like workers without a union.
vlunkr 5y ago
Ranked choice voting has been implemented for presidential elections in 2 states. Which isn't much, but it's a start, and it seems like there's popular demand for it. That would help to fight the annoying "A vote for [third-party] is a vote for [party-i-dont-like]" argument.
jollybean 5y ago
It's much more complicated than that those ostensible 'affiliations' indicate. Many Trump voters do not identify as 'Republicans'. Don't assume elections are 'rigged' because of some uneasy data. There are obviously specific issues with voting but even then it's more nuanced.
- UnpossibleJim 5y ago
  I just think of Perot, after which the voting rules, or rather the percentages for for entry were changed. Also the association running the debates went from the League of Women Voters to the Commission on Presidential Debates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_debates#:~:text=The%20same%20year%20the%20two,Committee%20and%20Republican%20National%20Committee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_deb.... That's when it changed from 2% to 5%, and on and on. It was the Perot incidents that make me lean towards a "rigged" system, more than anything, really.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  First past the post, plus two dominant parties, has such severe negative effects that "rigged" is a reasonable way to talk about it.
  - jollybean 5y ago
    First past the post is not 'rigged' is just one way of having elections.
MattGaiser 5y ago
There are very few true independents. They may label themselves such, but they don’t vote that way. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/few-americans-who-identify-as-independent-are-actually-independent-thats-really-bad-for-politics/amp/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/few-americans-who-ident... They just want to avoid the label of being one or the other.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  What is a "true independent"? Are they allowed to have any opinions about political parties? At a federal level, based on how strongly everyone toes the line, voting is basically just picking a party. So even if 100% of the way you choose is based on the individual candidate's actions, and your vote varies widely in more local elections, at a federal level the end result is probably the same party over and over for many years.
nonameiguess 5y ago
Did you follow the link to the actual poll? https://news.gallup.com/poll/388781/political-party-preferences-shifted-greatly-during-2021.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sendto_newslettertest&stream=top https://news.gallup.com/poll/388781/political-party-preferen... 42% may identify as "independent," but only 9% are independent without leaning Republican or Democrat. Not registering officially with the party, but still always voting for them, is quite a bit different from actually not having a preference or wanting a third party.

MrYellowP 5y ago

Nothing can be done, because the system is owned by the corrupt, which means that the system is corrupt. The only solution against this problem is violence. Despite what a lot of completely delusional and clueless morons believe, voting solves nothing as long as all parties are basically run by rich people and or paid career politicians. And I'm not even going to dive into the details. They're not necessary. You have not just the politicians against you, you also have the media against you, which means that you have most people against you. Unless you manage to get people to realize what's going on, things will only change when those in charge want things to change. Then it'll happen on their terms, they will provide solutions to problems they created and we all are going to pay for it.

vlunkr 5y ago
I don't know what your political leanings are, but do you realize this is the position of the people who stormed the capitol building?
- Ekaros 5y ago
  Ever wondered how that was even possible? Like how bad must the security be for bunch of unarmed random civilians to enter and have access to rather important location? Almost seems like manufactured. Or lot of people should be fired for incompetence...
  - x86_64Ubuntu 5y ago
    It happened because much of the establishment, especially in policing, were sympathetic to the goals of the 1/6 attackers. Everyone know about "Stop The Steal" in December when it was being mentioned frequently in places like Facebook. When we compare how BLM and Native pipeline protests are dealt with by the police, it's clear that they were essentially acting as accomplices.
- MrYellowP 5y ago
  I don't have a leaning. I also don't care if it was their position. If you trust your government, no matter where you live, then you're a fool. Period. The fact that there's assholes out there who abuse this fact for an attempt to make things even worse isn't my problem. The fact that there's people like you, who draw a connection, is just as bad. I'm not from the US. This horrendously broken logic, where you associate people with each other based on their thoughts, thus basically destroying ideas, isn't mine.

datavirtue 5y ago

Most of the independents are not voting most of the time. The ones that do swing between parties because we have clearly demonstrated that there is no organized independent party. Like workers without a union.

vlunkr 5y ago

Ranked choice voting has been implemented for presidential elections in 2 states. Which isn't much, but it's a start, and it seems like there's popular demand for it. That would help to fight the annoying "A vote for [third-party] is a vote for [party-i-dont-like]" argument.

jollybean 5y ago

It's much more complicated than that those ostensible 'affiliations' indicate. Many Trump voters do not identify as 'Republicans'. Don't assume elections are 'rigged' because of some uneasy data. There are obviously specific issues with voting but even then it's more nuanced.

UnpossibleJim 5y ago
I just think of Perot, after which the voting rules, or rather the percentages for for entry were changed. Also the association running the debates went from the League of Women Voters to the Commission on Presidential Debates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_debates#:~:text=The%20same%20year%20the%20two,Committee%20and%20Republican%20National%20Committee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_deb.... That's when it changed from 2% to 5%, and on and on. It was the Perot incidents that make me lean towards a "rigged" system, more than anything, really.
Dylan16807 5y ago
First past the post, plus two dominant parties, has such severe negative effects that "rigged" is a reasonable way to talk about it.
- jollybean 5y ago
  First past the post is not 'rigged' is just one way of having elections.

MattGaiser 5y ago

There are very few true independents. They may label themselves such, but they don’t vote that way. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/few-americans-who-identify-as-independent-are-actually-independent-thats-really-bad-for-politics/amp/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/few-americans-who-ident... They just want to avoid the label of being one or the other.

Dylan16807 5y ago
What is a "true independent"? Are they allowed to have any opinions about political parties? At a federal level, based on how strongly everyone toes the line, voting is basically just picking a party. So even if 100% of the way you choose is based on the individual candidate's actions, and your vote varies widely in more local elections, at a federal level the end result is probably the same party over and over for many years.

nonameiguess 5y ago

Did you follow the link to the actual poll? https://news.gallup.com/poll/388781/political-party-preferences-shifted-greatly-during-2021.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sendto_newslettertest&stream=top https://news.gallup.com/poll/388781/political-party-preferen... 42% may identify as "independent," but only 9% are independent without leaning Republican or Democrat. Not registering officially with the party, but still always voting for them, is quite a bit different from actually not having a preference or wanting a third party.