There is a secondary discussion beyond the obvious (and redundant) back-and-forth about who was worse during the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump: Is the duopoly, (a.k.a. the stranglehold on American politics perpetrated by the Republicans and Democrats) in need of retirement?

Many (if not most) people agreed it was indeed time to “switch things up.”

As we can see, most agreed the best way to do that was to put a non-politician into office in the form of Donald J. Trump … so be it.

Like it or not, President Trump is indeed doing things in an unconventional manner (to put it VERY mildly) and my sincere hope is that this will loosen the grip of establishment politics on Washington’s throat.

The reality TV star and real estate mogul (turned president) will pave the way for more unconventional candidates who are equally sick of all the bullshit (there is no other way to put it in my mind , sorry for the profanity).

But Trump only has two terms, that’s the law of the land.

Then what?

I highly doubt that we will ever (and overwhelmingly hope that we never) end up with a President Pence; it would be a throwback to a Republican Party most do not want.

I guess my bourbon fueled rant comes to one, single point: who replaces the Republicans and Democrats once they are gone?

The obvious answer is the Libertarian Party (LP).

For starters, (don’t worry, we will tackle the rest in a second sweetheart) it is the third largest party in the country and the only one who’s numbers have actually grown in the last decade. But who does it replace; the Republicans? Hmmm, I question that one.

While the economics and constitutional approach is certainly on par with your average “Elephant,” the southern US is still far too socially conservative to fall in with legal weed and a nuanced policy on abortion.

The LP replacing the Democrats is an even trickier concept to tackle.

In the first scenario, the social conservatives are really the only ones left out. Luckily, they still have the Constitution Party (what a joke of a name that is).

With Democrats, a major chunk of them would have to abandon how they were raised when it comes to fixing economic problems. They would have to learn that its people, not government, that fix economic and societal problems.

But, in my experience, most Democrats know very little about libertarianism, let alone the Libertarian Party.

In this last election, I was able to convert so many to either classical liberalism or straight-up libertarianism solely on its merits – also because a few were pot heads who liked Gary Johnson’s stance on marijuana legalization.

The overall reaction however, was “this shit is great! How have I gone my whole life not knowing about this?”

“Yes” I said confidently, remembering my own trip from the moderate left to libertarianism…“how indeed.”

But it wasn’t “how indeed.” It was a sickening look at modern-day academia that pushes the divisive narrative that only a Republican or Democrat can win, and in a way it’s true.

Our current system was only built to accommodate two major parties. Any third party (a term I despise) simply throws the election to the House of Representatives for the office of President, and to the Senate for the office of Vice President.

We would literally be handing more power to people we consistently criticize for already being there too long and having too much power!

I think most of us don’t want that!

But let’s move past that and ask (as well as answer) another obvious question: no matter which side the Libertarian Party replaces, who will replace the other side?

Of course it is completely possible only one party even gets replaced, but let’s just say for the sake of argument they both get replaced; who becomes the new opponent?

If you’re thinking the Green Party, think again!

A party so left-wing that it makes Democrats go “yeah, those hippies are fucking crazy”? They are right too (you just need to listen to the music of Jill Stein’s failed second career to figure this out).

Will it be the Constitution Party? Yeah right!

I do not want any kind of a theocracy – even one based around my own religion!

So here we are, back to square one; we are either infiltrating the duopoly from within (which has failed repeatedly) or we will have to continue to try and force either the donkeys or elephants into extinction.

As I conclude this article I hope you did not think I was going to suggest which way this will go – I don’t know. But I am hoping to spark an idea, a thought, and a debate.

Do we finally put our foot down and say “enough is enough! You guys all equally suck!” or do we continue to run non-establishment candidates with “R’s” and “D’s” next to their names, in hopes of change from within?

One thing is for certain, we all have a very big decision to make in 2019 and 2020.

Between taking care of his dogs and his father, Bryce Jackson cooks amazing food and enjoys good bourbon. He lives in Woodstock, Vermont and is from Chelsea, Vermont.

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