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Article Title

Beautiful Losers

Document Type

Article in Response to Controversy

Abstract

In the months before the 2000 election, full of tenured radical smugness, I had argued that the best vote was a vote for Ralph Nader. I told my friends that all the truly meaningful political changes in U.S. history—abolition, women’s suffrage, the 40-hour work week—had originated in third parties, so it was important to push the Green party vote count above five percent, so they would be eligible for federal funding. Bush and Gore were the same, just like Republicans and Democrats were essentially the same (it was Bill Clinton, after all, and his draconian welfare “reform,” who completed the Reagan Revolution). They were paid by the same people, they went to the same schools, they were members of the same clubs, and they would always protect the same interests. It didn't matter who won. What mattered was laying the groundwork for the meaningful expansion of true democracy in the future.

Genre/Form

articles

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001; Democracy--History--United States; Patriotism--United States; Democracy and education--United States

Geographic Coverage

United States

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

Type

Text

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Included in

Education Commons

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