American politics has historically felt like choosing between prison in either a steel cage or a padded cell. The padded cell being only slightly better because it would be more comfortable to sleep in. I have long held the opinion that monied interests can just buy whatever laws they want, regardless of the administration. That makes politicians, even the popular ones, nothing more than glorified prostitutes. The machine broke down decades ago, and every four years we argue over what color to paint exterior.

In the last 10 years, American Politics has gone crazy. Now it has come down to deciding between either allowing big corporations to inhale money unchecked, or allowing the country to descend into a caucasian ethno-state. Like, of course I’m voting against ethno-nationalism, but I feel sickened that it means voting for corporate greed. Yeah yeah, electoral college, ranked choice voting, Citizens United, blah blah blah. The machine will never provide you with the tools necessary to dismantle it.

As I learn about intersectionality, I am realizing that all of the divisions in the US come down to the gradual decline of the established order. That order being the hegemony of all the usual things: American exceptionalism, patriarchy, white supremacy, heteronormativity, and Judeo-Christian values. These are cultural problems. They’re the result of a country that is getting less white and less straight every year.The issue is the people that refuse to let it happen. Voting for politicians is not going to fix a demographic shift like that. Sure, federal laws that recognize and protect individual identities are great for protecting marginalized people from the government, but it’s not going to do shit to protect people from sectarian violence. Federal laws can be repealed tho, so not even protection from the federal government is secure.

The point is that voting for president isn’t going to fix sectarian conflict. Our current politics is a by-product of a backlash against the forward progress our culture has made. Voting democrat isn’t going to stop the country from creeping further to the right. Just look at the two “radical leftists” that are on the Democratic ticket: a former District Attorney and a Minnesota dad that hunts and fishes. They would have been the ideal Republican ticket in 2000.

So I am going to hold my nose and vote blue again, not because I like the candidates, but because it’s the only alternative to Christian Nationalism or a fascist dictatorship. But, I’m still going to be out in the streets protesting. One summer of street protests got more done than 20 years of voting democrat ever could.