in 2012 i turned 18 years old exactly five days before election day. something people like to forget about now, is that libertarianism was not only on the rise at the time, but was considered a viably left leaning ideology to young people of a certain creed. people like me who were just forming their political compass and were not super-well read on any particular school of thought yet.
we were freshly in the wake of occupy, the tea party movement, and the "end" of the iraq war. i was growing up in a mid size town in northern wisconsin. i had gone to catholic school my entire life up to that point. it was a very bizarre time and place to start engaging with the world politically, especially as someone who considered himself progressive.
gary johnson was the libertarian party candidate. and at the time, a lot of my friends who were gonna be old enough to vote talked big game about the promises he was making. but when election day came i didn't vote for gary johnson. i didn't vote for obama. and don't worry, i didn't vote for romney.
i voted for Jill Fucking Stein.
embarrassing. even at the time, with my limited knowledge and sheltered upbringing, i knew obama was not the savior of our country that liberals were preaching he was. i knew about the drone strikes. but i voted for jill stein for a pretty stupid, immature reason. one i suppose a lot of people who are first engaging in politics fall into making. especially white folks.
this idea that the two party system does not produce a democratic outcome. that it is therefore more "noble" a gesture to vote for someone you know will lose to "prove a point" about how the system is rigged. you know, the illusion of free will dot jpeg etc. it's a stumbling block i had to go through to understand what can actually be done to push back against oppressive systems and power structures when you exist within them. sure, the system is definitely rigged and both parties are mirrors of each other. that is factually the case. but you can do a whole lot more as an underclass to fight those powers than performatively abstaining from engaging with them. civil disobedience has never been a be-all-end-all in a progressive's toolkit.
but alas, i chose jill stein instead of gary johnson because she just seemed like she cared more about the environment and the climate crisis than he did. and as much as it is a funny/cringey story to say that i voted third party the first time i was legally allowed to vote instead of for the liberal establishment incumbent who was always going to win anyway... like... man.... with all The News this month i would much rather pick old jill again over the current choice of options. she's still running like she always does. i mean i'm not gonna. but bruh... we now have to wade thru an election with TWO meme candidates instead of just one. it has never been more joever.
also when i came home from the polling place in 2012 my dad (conservative christian white boomer) asked me who i voted for, assuming it was obama. i sad i didn't vote for obama. and then he said "well surely you didn't vote for romney" and then there was a silence for a few seconds before he went "oh my god... did you vote for the WOMAN??" and i'll never forget that.