Friend - Are you feeling free today?

We all grew up with the fairytale of Independence Day, that the Fourth of July is a celebration of democracy and freedom from the tyranny of an unaccountable ruling elite.

But that was never the real story.

From the beginning, our country was founded on white supremacy and genocide, governed by the wealthy, landed class. But 248 years into the American experiment, have we become a democracy governed by We the People?

Here’s where things stand today:

• 63% of US voters want a new major party (a record high) because neither Democrats nor Republicans represent the people.
  
  
• 77% of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Trust in government has also plummeted to historic lows, with just 22% saying they trust the government to do what’s right most of the time.
  
  
• An overwhelming majority believe (correctly) that moneyed interests have too much control in our government – backed up by an already-20-year-old bombshell Princeton-Northwestern study proving economic elites and organized big money interests determine US government policy, while average Americans have “near zero” influence.

All of these statistics tell a clear story: the United States is in the grip of an unaccountable ruling elite that doesn’t represent us - and what little democracy we have is on life support.

This is what “lesser evil” voting has brought us. The twin parties of war and Wall Street have thoroughly sold us to the highest bidder.

And if this election year has shown us anything, it’s clear that “politics as usual” is only getting worse. But we don’t have to live this way.

It’s time to declare our independence from the two-party trap.

It’s time to pull out of the duopoly death spiral and fight for real democracy.

“Politics as usual” is accelerating the climate emergency and dragging us closer to the brink of world war with nuclear powers.

It’s time to fight for real democracy as if the survival of humanity depends on it – because it does.

• We demand an actual democratic voting system that empowers people to vote for what they want, instead of voting against what they fear. That means ranked-choice voting for all elections, and proportional representation for legislative elections. These voting systems are common in democracies around the world - voting for “lesser evil” is not.
  
  
• We demand open debates with all ballot-qualified candidates. The recent Biden-Trump debate was a national embarrassment. It’s hard to think of a better argument for more voices and more choices in debates.
  
  
• We need to end anti-democratic, restrictive ballot access barriers, enact full public financing of elections, and provide free public airtime for candidates. The ruling class has created a system that ensures only candidates backed by big money can get on the ballot and reach the huge numbers of voters necessary to win major elections. Once again, the US is a major outlier, while many democracies around the world provide public resources that enable regular working people to run competitive campaigns at all levels of government.
  
  
• We need to revive our democracy with a full spectrum of reforms to empower the people - see our platform for more.

We can have real democracy, but only if we demand it - and vote for candidates who are fighting for it. Those who tell you to vote for “lesser evil” are telling you to give away any power you have to demand a better future.

Join the fight for democracy - declare your independence from the two-party trap!

In solidarity and gratitude,

Team Jill Stein 2024