最近我的臉書帖子很熱鬧，只因為我貼了綠黨Jill Stein的競選綱要。令我失望的是，他（她）們沒有討論Jill的綱要議題，他們只是要告訴我“你在浪費你的選票”。

Focus on the Issue （注重議題）：

這和Bernie Sanders的全民醫保，免費公立大學和聯邦最低工資$15一小時不是很像嗎？而且她比Bernie更和平，減少50％的軍費開支。

Waste my vote （浪費我的選票）？

我的朋友中有少數希拉里的支持者，他們不希望選票外流；更多的人討厭希拉里，可是他們更害怕Trump，都一致認為當務之急是要把Trump擊敗。就連一個平常說話很溫柔很少發表自己意見的白人女孩也這麼說“I have so many memories of george w coming in to power, all the hurt that did our country, the economic meltdown, iraq. we need a multi-party system, but i don't think this is the way to do it, too risky. i would organize and advocate for a multi party system, but for the purposes of the election which is happening in this two party system, i will be voting for hillary.”（我有太多有關喬治布什當權後，給這個國家帶來災難的記憶：經濟蕭條，伊拉克等等。我們需要一個多黨派的系統， 但是我不覺得這是正確的方法，太冒險了。我會組織和支持多黨派的系統，但是就現在這個競選，我會選希拉里。）

我理解他們的觀點，但是我從來就是一個理想主義者，我只想做我認為是對的事情，不管這件事情會不會成功，會不會給我帶來現實上的好處，包括政治。儘管Bernie Sanders最後因為各種各樣的原因沒有贏，我傷心，我失落，但是我更驕傲我曾經那麼熱情的支持過他：從一月底到6月中旬長達五個月的primary，我不停的給Bernie捐款，輸的時候士氣低迷的時候我捐的更多；我這麼一個有兩個小孩的工作媽媽周末還是騰出時間給他擺桌子，打電話，甚至帶着全家給他敲門拉選票。

投票給希拉里，我真的下不了這個手。她離我的”good enough“政治家差的太遠了，她跟華爾街金融行業走的太近，她有太多的富人寡頭捐款，說明她不會真的代表99%的利益；她敢拒絕私人監獄行業的捐款，卻不敢拒絕石油化工行業的捐款，說明她不會花太多心思在綠色新能源行業上。而我最關心的議題就是”貧富差距和環境保護“。我老公說“政治家就是政治家，你不要太認真了。”我偏不，我知道這個國家很多職業都有自己的職業道德，像護士，醫生，心理諮詢師等等，為什麼負責一個國家的領導人我們卻容忍他（她）們欺騙，腐敗和無能呢？

當然以上只是我的個人偏見，我還是好奇別人，尤其是像我這樣的進步左派，會選誰呢？

JIll Stein，綠黨2016總統候選人

“。。。 All the reasons you were told you had to vote for the lesser evil—because you didn’t want the massive Wall Street bailouts, the offshoring of our jobs, the meltdown of the climate, the endless expanding wars, the attack on immigrants—all that, we’ve gotten by the droves, because we allowed ourselves to be silenced. You know, silence is not what democracy needs. Right now we have an election where even the supporters of Hillary Clinton, the majority don’t support Hillary, they just oppose Donald Trump. And the majority of Donald Trump supporters don’t support him, they just oppose Hillary. And the majority are clamoring for another independent or several independent candidates and an independent party, and feel that they are being terribly misserved and mistreated by the current politics. So to further silence our voices is exactly the wrong thing to do. 。。。So you can’t get where you want to go through the lesser evil. At the end of the day, you’ve got to stand up.”

Joshua Holland，曾是綠黨成員，現為Working Family Party成員，

in https://www.thenation.com/article/your-vote-for-jill-stein-is-a-wasted-vote/

“Many Greens think that their vote isn’t wasted because it sends a powerful “message” to Washington. But why would anyone in power pay attention to the 0.36 percent of the popular vote that Jill Stein won in 2012, when 42 percent of eligible voters just stayed home? Political parties are merely vessels. The Green Party provides a forum to demonstrate ideological purity and contempt for “the system.” But the Democratic Party is a center of real power in this country. For all its flaws, and for all the work still to be done, it offers a viable means of advancing progressive goals. One can’t say the same of the perpetually dysfunctional and often self-marginalizing Greens.”

Kashama Sawant, 西雅圖城市委員會委員，Socialist Alternative成員

https://www.thenation.com/article/dont-waste-your-vote-on-the-corporate-agenda-vote-for-jill-stein-and-the-greens/

“Many progressives will vote for Clinton in spite of their opposition to her politics, simply to prevent Trump from setting foot in the White House. I understand their desire to see him defeated, but even more important is beginning the process—too long delayed—of building an alternative to the pro-capitalist parties monopolizing US politics.

Stein’s campaign is an opportunity to rally support for what is widely wanted and needed: radical change. Even a few million people voting for her would be a powerful expression of the changing political landscape. It would be a down payment for a whole new kind of politics in the years ahead, and a new party based on social movements and ordinary people—a party of, by, and for the 99 percent.”

Noam Chomsky,麻省理工大學著名的語言學家，政治異見分子，

"In the primaries, I would prefer Bernie Sanders," Chomsky says. "If Clinton is nominated and it comes to a choice between Clinton and Trump, in a swing state, a state where it’s going to matter which way you vote, I would vote against Trump, and by elementary arithmetic, that means you hold your nose and you vote Democrat. I don’t think there’s any other rational choice."

所以說我住在加州，投給Jill Stein也算是理性選擇囉？我真是鬆了一口氣。