I Have Been Properly Scolded

South Burlington, VT

I am used to being in the political minority.  My libertarian views put me in a tiny minority that is mostly dismissed as inconsequential.    But this year, I may be in the majority; I don't want to vote for either Trump or Clinton.

But twice in recent weeks, I've felt scolded by online comments that make my views seem lazy and any lack of potency my own fault.

1. Like many others, I always felt that a vote for a 3rd party in a US election was a waste, and a useless gesture.  But an online comment said, "That may be true for one election, but patience and long-term support for a third party can make its share of the vote grow.  Over the course of a lifetime, a tiny party could grow to become a majority."
2. In another case, I whined online about how I don't like the game of democracy; how I wanted the choice of "abolish this office" to appear on the ballots.  Someone else scolded me.  He said, "Libertarians must learn patience, and accept the fact that the only way to get the things they want is to play in the political game that they find so distasteful."  Mea cupla.

The common thread between those two comments had to deal with patience.  If people like me are forever impatient, we'll be forever politically impotent.  It is analogous to celibate friars dreaming of world domination.  Impatience is self-defeating.