“I don’t vote for the party… I vote for the person.”

“What does that mean?”

“Huh?”

“Honestly, what does that mean?  Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand that there are good, decent people who exist at all points along the political spectrum.  There are also some truly disdainful people along that continuum as well.  What does their charismatic charm have to do with their political philosophy?”

“I will only vote for honest, moral leaders.”

“Of course, but does that mean your vote could sway between a follower of Mahatma Gandhi one election to a devotee of Stalin the next?”

“Wait, what?”

“You say your vote centers on the individual… what are the political and philosophical principles that guide that individual?  What makes his ideology appealing to you or, conversely, turns you away from his opponent?”

“Well, all I know is that I liked the message that my new representative put out there.”

“Really, what was that message?”

“Umm, well, he is against President Trump.  President Trump is a racist.”

“Ok…  perhaps he is, perhaps he is not.  Before he became president, he was a darling of the Rainbow Coalition so the Reverend Al Sharpton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson obviously did not feel that way about him.  But let us, just for the sake of argument, say he is… so what?”

“What?!”

“Seriously… so what.”

“I’ll go one step further… let us assume that he is completely evil, yet only operates within the constructs of Constitutional government.  While he may be disdainful, and even evil, the power he holds over you is unbelievably limited.”

“On the other hand, what if you have a benign dictator, one who has an agenda that directly controls the direction of your life?…  What if you have a dictator who has the power to determine winners and losers and ignores the restraints of the Constitution… but is generally a ‘nice guy’?  Would you vote for him?”

“Well, no!  I would never vote for a dictator!  Besides, I don’t think that Trump follows the Constitution!”

“Yeah… there is that.  I blew a gasket myself when he stated that due process should be an afterthought after the Parkland massacre.”

“Yeah… besides, he is a Nationalist!  He said so!  Hell, he even boasted about it!”

“Ummm, okay.  What is the opposite of being a Nationalist?”

“That is code for racism!”

“Really, well in my mind being against nationalism is code for being a Globalist.”

“I am a globalist!”

“So, you voted for your candidates because they, too, are Globalists?”

“Well… I assume they are.”

“What if I told you they, too, are Nationalists.  Worse, they are Statists.  Their philosophy is to empower the State at the direct expense of the People.  They are not interested in their constituents… they are only interested in the advancement of the State.  They are the party of big business, because more people can be controlled if they are economically dependent on an employer.  It is far easier to control a handful of employers than millions of business owners across the country.  They seek to control the levers of government because they feel they are infallible.  They also feel they are substantively smarter than you.  If you question them, question their motives, question their policies then you are the enemy.  Your job is to be compliant.  If you fail to do that job, they will bring the power of the State down upon you.”

“Oh come on… that is not how it goes!”

“Really… look at the riots that happen in cities spurned on by anti-capitalists.  Look at the demonstrations on college campuses.  Look at how young students seek, no demand, that their civil rights be taken away by a government that will protect them.  Their faith in the government borders on the religious.  Questioning that faith makes you a heretic and someone who must be silenced.  They even said that unless they are returned to power… unless the Statist-controlling regime becomes ingrained in daily life, they will continue to make violence… since their powers of dialectic persuasion are not enough.”

“I think you are taking this too far.”

“No, my friend… I am taking them at their word.  The left has never been without charismatic leaders.  The mass graves across the world are testament to that.  Next time… before you vote for a candidate, stand in front of the mirror and ask yourself… What does this candidate really stand for?  It is not enough that he is ‘not the other guy’.  There must be a robust political philosophy that animates this candidate… what is it?  Once you have been able to articulate that, then ask yourself… will that philosophy enhance our freedom, or limit it?  Sadly, in this last election, too few asked themselves that question… we will see what comes of that.”