The founding fathers were too well aware of the dangers posed by parties or “factions” forming in politics. Despite this fear, parties appeared soon after the adoption of the Constitution: rural versus urban, agrarian versus manufacturing, rich versus poor, North versus South; battle lines were quickly drawn and partisan demagogues were soon demonizing each other and the adherents of their opponents. These two parties evolved (or devolved) over time to become today’s Republican and Democratic parties. Although their core beliefs have merged, morphed and changed over the centuries, one thing has remained the same: the creed that “it’s us or them”.
Americans by nature are competitive. Competition is good in many things: in sports, it makes us strive to excel; in commerce, it drives us to innovate; in education, it makes us dive into the accumulated knowledge of the ages to better our minds and situations. In politics, it makes us and our nation weak. The two-party system as it exists today has made rational governance and cooperation impossible to the detriment of the American people. Politics is a necessary if unpleasant byproduct of government. It should not, however, be antithetical to government. The parties of today have become willing participants in a zero-sum game – any motion by one, however beneficial to the nation, must be opposed by the other. The masters of these parties recognize and exploit this competitive trait of American nature to our detriment. They cast support of and membership in a party as belonging to or supporting a sports team – minus the sportsmanship: we must win and our opponent must lose! They incite their supporters into a misinformed frenzy fed by distorted facts and manufactured lies to pit one citizen against another solely because they identified with the opposing party at an early age. But good governance is not a sport, is not a game – it is a sacred duty.
Today, the political spectrum is no longer a line – it is a circle. We’ve reached the point where the loonies on the left meet the loonies on the right behind the body of the nation. Both parties pander to the extremists on either side and leave the majority of the American people bereft of representation. Why? For campaign funding and for re-election. We’ll explore the sad phenomenon of “career politicians” in a later essay, but for now, let us agree that the core platforms of each party do not mirror the wants and needs of the average American citizen. Our elected representatives used to be able to see the bigger picture: the weal of the nation, to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. No longer.
When was the last time that politicians were praised for reaching across the aisle and compromising to institute policies that benefited the nation as a whole? It’s been awhile. In order to satiate the base who are the most intense party “fans”, our elected representatives will gleefully thwart any proposed legislation that does not pass their extremist litmus tests. Hypocrisy no longer shames them. When asked if they would support similar obstructionist or opportunistic actions propagated by the opposing party, they of course say “no” – but they are fully self-justified in employing these tactics to advance their own partisan agenda. Blind adherence to the fringe elements of each party has robbed our elected representatives of any sense of honor and selfless service.
Is there a solution? Is there a way to free our two dominant parties from the fetters of extremism? There are several and we will explore them in further essays. Steps such as embracing strong independent or centrist candidates; calling for and legislating term limits to dissuade politicians from making ineffective government a career choice; ending gerrymandered districts to force candidates to campaign for and represent a diverse cross section of American citizens. All of these are options to return our government to the people and free it from self-serving partisanship. The answer is for we the people to make wise choices and disappoint the party elites who are counting on you to root for your team to the exclusion of all else and revel in the defeat of your foe – another group of loyal Americans who only see different solutions for the Nation’s problems. I have faith that the good citizens that make up the body of the American nation are not the sheep our elected leaders count on us to be. Wake up! It’s time to think for yourself.