No alternatives

Donald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election despite receiving 2.87 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton

- Jonathan kronstadt

He won because of our impossibly antiquated and anti-democratic electoral college system - his 46.1% of the popular vote translated to 57.3% of the electoral vote - but that wasn't the only infuriating deciding factor. Also playing a key role was someone you may never have heard of: Jill Stein, the nominee of the Green Party, who won enough votes in the swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania - votes that almost surely would have gone to Clinton - to hand Trump the White House.

I've written here before about the devastating effect ego has on our body politic. The process of running for state legislature, much less president, involves an invasion and examination of one's life that only egomaniacs and truly dedicated public servants would dare undertake - the current Catch-22 of US politics. Previously, I focused on how ego keeps politicians in office long after age has robbed them of the physical and intellectual energy needed to be effective. What I failed to mention are arguably the most harmful egos around: third-party candidates such as Stein.