Fear and Ego are Bad Reasons to Make Choices

Steve Kerbel

7 years ago

Ego, Pride, Stubbornness, Inflexibility, Obstinacy, Bullheadedness, Rigidity, and Relentlessness are reasons that people do not choose to admit that they made a mistake. Fear is a big reason why people continue making the same mistakes.

People are loyal to teams that are not loyal to them. The Republican Party wants you to be loyal to them by supporting and voting for Republican candidates. Likewise, the Democratic Party wants you to be loyal to them by supporting and voting for Democratic candidates. If you support candidates that you dislike or mistrust, or with whom you completely disagree just because they are on “your team,” you are exhibiting loyalty to a team that is not loyal to you. In the long run, your misguided fear is a self-fulfilling prophecy, unless you are strong enough to see reality and change the future. No matter which of these people wins, you lose.

For far too long, people have voted from positions of fear and weakness. This fear and weakness is brought to you by the party to which you remain loyal, regardless of the statements of their candidates. You are afraid that there are only two options, and your option must win, regardless of whether you agree with the positions of their candidates.

Case in point: the 2016 Presidential election. Democrats who have been historically anti-war supported a candidate that was extremely pro-war and regime change. Republicans supported a candidate who, in 1998, forewarned that if he were to run for President he would do so as a Republican because “Republicans are the dumbest group of voters.”

Both of these candidates were quite different than their typical voting bases, but still received overwhelming support from these very bases that they insulted in no uncertain terms, and had serious disagreements in policy with as well. Still, after the election, anti-war Democrats were crying because their pro-war candidate had lost. Republicans celebrated their election victory besides for the fact that the Republican they put in office was more like a previous Democrat… actually, he previously was a Democrat. These people wanted to win for only one reason, so that the people that they perceive as their mortal enemies would lose.

All the while, there was a Libertarian candidate on every ballot in the USA, who was passed over out of fear and weakness. People who actually voted were more afraid that the other major party would win, so they supported someone they didn’t like. Most people agreed with many positions of the Libertarian nominee, but their judgment and actions were guided by fear and weakness. They still turned out in the majority, ignoring the person that they agreed with, to support one they disliked.

The first step to seeing reality is to make the recognition that this team mentality is a one-sided venture. You may support your team, but your team does not support you. As a matter of fact, your team thinks you’re a fool. They speak to you in terms that they know you will like, however, this is pure manipulation to get your support; and you give it to them every time. They know that they will not deliver what they promise. They know that many times they don’t even believe what they are telling you. But you are afraid that the other team will win, so you fall right into their trap.

Don’t play the fool any longer. Next time you get a chance to choose a candidate, ask yourself if your team actually helped you. Chances are the answer will be no. So why put your money, energy and vote into a political party that takes from you and laughs at how gullible you are? They are not “your team.” They are “their team” and you are not on it.

When you vote for a candidate, you are voting for that candidate… period. Don’t let the misguided members of your team convince you that your vote is ultimately for someone other than who you chose. They are using fear tactics on you. Don’t buy into these tactics any longer, it only hurts you.

If you want to choose a candidate, it’s best to get to know what they plan to do while in office and how they feel about issues that are important to you. If you agree, they have earned your vote. If you disagree, keep looking elsewhere. It is your one-sided loyalty and ability to be manipulated by the fear of your team losing that keeps this horrible duopoly in control of you, and continuing to hurt you when it benefits them to do so.

Media does hide other options from you, but while media is owned by people influential in the duopoly, they are a profit-making business first and foremost. If viewership drops, so do advertising revenues. Request your media outlets to cover all options and if they refuse, there are others that will tell you the whole story. Decreased viewership means lower stock prices, less revenues and growth of competition. Don’t let them get away with this.

I am not telling you who to support. I am telling you that there are other options that may suit you better that will not play you for a fool. If you want to participate in the system, do it with your eyes open, standing tall, informed, and not kowtowing to the fear tactics that have overshadowed our election processes for as long as I can remember. Make a brave and informed decision.

A popular author defined fear as “false evidence appearing real.” When it comes down to being afraid that the opposing team will hurt you if they win, so you support a team that will also hurt you, then I could not have said it better myself.