If Either Trump or Hillary Wins, I Am Moving to Canada

“If….wins, I am moving to Canada” is a response that gains popularity every time the presidential elections roll by. This time is no different. With the announcements of the nominees of each party taking place, social media has once again been infested with this response. Both the Democratic and Republican parties stand divided from within. While many Republicans refuse to vote for Trump, many democrats, on the other hand, refuse to vote for Hillary as they are Bernie Sanders supporters. This leaves a majority of Americans searching for an alternative option.

Thus, although many media outlets adhere to the two party system, some have opted to report about the other two third party candidates also in the race: Gary Johnson (The Libertarian Party) and Jill Stein (The Green Party). Although Jill Stein remains at 5% in the polls, Gary Johnson is at 12%, which is quite an unconventional amount of popularity in the polls for a third party candidate, according to The Intelligencer . America’s obsession with the two party system is evident with “Trump or Hillary” trending all over social media despite the presence of more options. Unfortunately, even though most people are complaining about the two options,  in this obsession, other potential voices are being dismissed. This is not novel to this election: in 2012, the Green Party presidential candidate was not allowed to partake in the Presidential Debate and was arrested when she protested for permission to enter.  Therefore, the choice was between two in the American psyche even at that time, although there were more candidates in the race.

Recently, as people are becoming more aware of the other options, the myth of  “voting for a third party candidate is equivalent to throwing a vote away” has come under the spotlight once again. Democrats, mainly, have attached themselves to that myth as they fear not voting for Hillary equivalent to voting for Trump, someone they perceive to be a xenophobic demagogue. Meanwhile, others are simply showing their frustrations with the system by planning on not voting at all. Both of these show how deeply rooted the two party structure is in America. Even with more options, even with more choices, Americans choose to uphold this political tradition albeit it makes them unhappy and harms the United States.

Interestingly,  Americans would rather stick to “if Trump wins, I am moving to Canada” or “if Hillary wins, I am moving to Canada” as appropriate responses rather than actively change the political traditions that are clearly eating the country inside out.

Featured Image via Wikimedia