George Washington warned the Founding Fathers about political parties. If you didn't know, political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution at all.

Unlike a majority of opinionated articles online, I'm NOT trying to poke fun at anyone's political party affiliation. In fact, I think making fun of someone based on that is ridiculous. If writers truly want to be taken seriously, then they shouldn't criticize someone's political party or opinions without expecting backlash.

But is it possible that the end of strong partisanship is coming to an end?

The United States is in a very interesting state in terms of politics. We have so many various groups of people with all kinds of opinions, intersecting in one nation. It is fascinating to see the elderly, baby boomers, millennials, and even younger generations express their opinions because they are often so different, yet somehow correlate to the change occurring in our country. For example, a large majority of the elderly couldn’t care less about same-sex marriage, or are against it, while some baby boomers are accepting change and millennials are promoting it! The recent Supreme Court ruling, making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, has sparked tons of support for LGBT communities everywhere, but has also led to certain parties protesting this ruling as a result of their conflicting ideals. This vast range of opinions and partisanship has created what I believe to be the end of political parties and the beginning of people articulating only certain aspects of each political party’s platform.

I went to a private high school, and the school was fairly conservative, but the liberals were very outspoken. My AP Government professor was a Libertarian, and I was fascinated by talking about politics with him because he never outwardly accused parties of foul play. While there were certainly classmates who were on the extreme right or on the extreme left, I always found it interesting to hear all people's opinions on the most recent political scandal or issue.

Everybody had strong-hearted opinions whether they were liberal or conservative, and sometimes it just didn't work out. So, like high school, it became clear to me that the political party system wasn’t going to work well when the government shut down, due to disagreement between the Democrats and the Republicans, in 2013.

"Things like shutdowns are going to happen when you try to get that many people — who live in different places, make their livings in different ways, and have different goals in life — to agree on what the Federal Government should do via the channel of the 535 elected representatives in the House and Senate.
It is the prerogative of people in any given district to elect representatives who will not yield on topics that they consider important. Some of us see this as far right Republicans not yielding, and others see this as Democrats not yielding. This whole exercise in being a Representative Republic entails this question: what things do we want to do together and how do we want to do them?" - Ian McCullough

If we are really going to let our government shut down just because the Republicans and Democrats can’t compromise, then as citizens, it is our duty to make a change. I mean, if the large amount of people who work in a corporation suddenly decided to play hooky because they don’t agree with their boss on a business proposition, they’d be fired! I'm not saying the government officials were "playing hooky," but do you see what I mean? Teachers can't decide not to come to school because they don't like the curriculum that their fellow teachers are following. Surgeons can't decide not to perform a surgery based on a disagreement with another doctor or nurse.

So, why is the government allowed to throw a hissy fit when they have citizens to take care of? Partisanship has become an issue in modern politics, and it already caused a government shutdown, which means nothing great can come of it in the future.

What I am saying here is that many people in my generation, millennials, have started taking bits and pieces of Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and other parties' standard views and combining them (mind blown).

For instance, when I tell people I’m a Republican or conservative, they think of me as an individual who hates LGBTs, doesn’t want women to have the right to decide to have an abortion or not, would deport every single immigrant ever, and keep all my hard earned money to myself and not give any of it to charity or to people who really need it. Contrarily, that is exactly the type of person I don’t want anything to do with.

Nowadays, I tell people “I’m socially liberal and fiscally conservative,” because I believe in marriage equality and I believe women have the right to their own bodies and those rights should not be dictated by men who may clearly not understand. Also, I do believe illegal immigration should be controlled, yet immigrants should have the right to become American citizens should they so desire. I believe in a free market economy with minimal government involvement, as well as giving to charity and supporting those in need with benefits that can be kept under control. There comes a point when people try to take advantage of the system, so we have to keep an eye out for that, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be getting any help at all. Lastly, I believe the military should only be used in situations where it is absolutely necessary.

Although you may not agree with everything I believe in, hopefully you understand that just because I'm formally a Republican, I also don't have to agree with everything addressed by the party.

This year will be interesting, as it is election season, so the influence of each political party and candidate will be fun to watch.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I like Donald Trump. I also like Bernie Sanders. And Marco Rubio. Part of me likes Trump because, in reality, he has nothing to lose! If he loses the nomination, that’s just a few million dollars down the drain for him - meanwhile he has gotten so much press and fame to keep his name in the media for at least a few months.

Bernie Sanders is a cute old man who believes in a lot of ideas I have been trying to express for years, and refuses to be backed by big corporations and donors, like Hilary Clinton (oops, shots fired).

Marco Rubio has such a fascinating story: his parents fled Cuba to provide opportunities for their family that they could not have done there. Rubio is the only Republican candidate I really like, and would vote for.

I guess the point of this article is not only to share my observations about people my age, but also to say that no matter your political party, your opinion matters. You could want to build a civilization on the moon, complete with unicorns and magic fairy dust, as long as you believe in it. It matters and you can make it matter by voting.

I know there’s a lot of controversy over whether our votes really count, but if you don’t vote, then you really can’t complain at all if things don’t turn out they way you want. That’s why, if you will be 18 by this year’s election, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND (by that, I mean I command) YOU TO REGISTER TO VOTE! It’s actually so much fun! You get to go to a church or wherever the voting place is, and these old ladies help you figure out the machine and it’s so cool!

So is it the end of partisanship?