The American people are faced with a disastrous choice this election. A choice between statism and statism, between less freedom and less freedom. But behind all this liberty-hating, lies a very clear alternative.

The United States of America was founded over two centuries ago as a state which promised to hold freedom and liberty as ultimate ends in their own right. A state which enshrined the rights of the individual over the state itself in a written constitution not to be edited with ease. A state where the people told the government what to do, rather than the other way around.

But what has America given the people? Has the modern day United States given the people a choice that upholds these principles? No. It has given nothing but a false choice. A choice between two parties which both claim the other doesn’t support America’s founding principles, when in reality neither does.

Think about it. A country built on liberty given the choice between a party that supports some economic freedom but no social freedom, and a party that supports very little economic freedom and only some social freedom. What kind of a choice is this? Surely a country founded on liberty cannot be given a choice solely between two parties who fundamentally oppose it?

But that raises the question: does an alternative exist to the choice between the GOP inhibition of personal freedom and the Democrat inhibition of economic freedom? A party that supports both personal and economic freedom? The answer, if you’re willing to search among historically unsuccessful parties, is clear: the Libertarian Party.

The Libertarian Party, with Gary Johnson as its nominee, is a clear choice for Americans who still value America’s founding principles of individualism, liberty, and freedom from government. And this choice is especially important in 2016, an election where the likely nominees for the Republican and Democratic parties leave a larger gap in the political spectrum than at any point in history. Never before has libertarianism been so underrepresented. Not since Goldwater and Johnson has America been faced with a choice between a candidate so socially conservative by the name of Donald Trump, and a candidate so averse to economic freedom by the name of Hillary Clinton. Not in decades has freedom been so far from the grasp of the American people.

There is an alternative. But as with any party, it’s important to consider what they actually stand for. This is perhaps best illustrated diagrammatically:

The Libertarian Party and Gary Johnson take the best bits of both parties, and then take them even further. They take the limited advocacy of personal freedom from the Democrats and extend that further to advocate policies of rational non-interventionism, ending the failed war on drugs, taking the government out of marriage entirely, and encouraging legal immigration.

They then takes the limited advocacy of economic freedom from the Republicans and extend that further to advocate large cuts in public expenditure to reduce the national debt and the role of government, large cuts in the levels of taxation, and massive deregulation of the economy.

The Libertarian Party combines and extends economic and personal freedom into a party that represents pure liberty and represents American values. These policies show us nothing less than the fact that only the Libertarian Party can guarantee the American people freedom, guarantee that you will be able to spend your own money how you please, and guarantee that you will be able to live your life how you want without the constant interference of government.

However, upon being faced with this alternative, the natural response of most people is to say that a vote for the Libertarians is a wasted vote, that the Libertarians can’t win the presidency. And it’s not irrational to ask, can they actually do it?

Yes. The Libertarians can win.

Why? Well, recent polls have shown Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, on 10 and 11 per cent. This may not seem like much, but if he can manage to scrape 15 per cent in the opinion polls, he may be able to get into the presidential debates themselves. And once Americans see this alternative, it’s likely they will warm towards it.

Many Americans hate Congress, they hate the two-party system, and deep down they really do want a change from Red and Blue. The Libertarians are that change. They are the choice for the Republicans who think Trump is not a true fiscal conservative, or that he is too socially conservative. They are the choice for the Democrats dissatisfied with the shift away from basic economic liberties embodied in Clinton and Sanders. They are the choice for the disillusioned advocates of freedom, with no one left to represent them.

So remember when you vote, that America isn’t purely faced with a choice between the untrustworthy and the racist, or the stupid and the stupid, or the statist and the statist. It isn’t purely faced with a choice between the two people who have changed their positions more than any politician of significance in decades.

Instead, you can vote for freedom. You can vote for the Libertarians.

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