For those of you living under a rock or for those who have never had a government class (pity you, pity us), the government of These United States of America is a Federal Republic and a Constitutional Representative Democracy. The basic meaning of this is that we live in a federation of semi-autonomous political states which share one federal constitution and are represented by officials who have been elected democratically.
There you go, just in case you didn't know what type of government you lived under. Thanks, public education.
The general idea in a government like this is that the elected officials work together to pass laws which are generally the will of the people. Through three co-equal branches of government, those laws are created, defended, and upheld.
I can hear you laughing.
Within this federation specifically, there exist two main parties which attempt to work together to enact laws which affect the people of These United States. You know what two parties I am talking about: Democrat and Republican. Obviously there are a number of other political parties which exist in the United States, however, their influence is far less profound.
Every single day, countless political commentators and journalists give their two cents on the party system in the United States. Men and women debate for hours on television, back and forth yelling in each other's faces and calling each other rude names. They talk endlessly about how the two parties in this government need to work together more to solve the pressing issues of the day. For the good of the people man! The problem is, the two parties cannot seem to agree on the pressing issues, let alone their solutions.
The current political system which has gripped the United States for the better part of a century is killing it.
You know this, I know this. We just don't say it.
Most people don't even want to think about this idea. It's a simple one that I argue even makes sense to most people. If we continue down this path of two parties, constantly bickering and accomplishing very little, this great experiment we call democracy will falter. Some people say it is already faltering. Some people may be right.
In a general sense, the United States is still strong. On the world stage, we still have a very powerful seat at the table. Many countries and world leaders respect us. If they don't respect us, at least fear us. Regardless of your political affiliation or your view of the current administration, the United States enjoys truly rarified air in history.
Never before has a nation been so powerful. Never before has a nation been so wealthy. Never before has a nation been so connected. The problem is that the road which has led us to our best times is leading us to our worst. The party system in this country has worked for a long time, that's obvious.
But has it?
I would argue that the discourse of the day is worse than that of twenty years past, but people would have said that two decades ago about those twenty years in the past. Just because we can say the same thing as those twenty years ago doesn't mean that we are actually saying the same thing. Imagine if you lost $100 dollars every day. In twenty days, you would still be losing $100 a day, but you would have actually lost far more than that.
Negativity compounds, it is not static.
Many would argue that the success of this country has been largely dependent on the two-party political system which we live with. I don't disagree with that. We have gained enormous power, wealth, and connections. But what have the people gained?
Political parties are supposed to serve at the pleasure of the people. The same political parties which have served to make this country successful are failing to serve its people. Poverty levels are at their highest in nearly 100 years, while the 1% continue to amass greater and greater wealth. A war on crime has done nothing but create more issues to be solved. Foreign policy has toppled dictators and created voids filled by radicals in their wake.
I wouldn't dare propose a solution. I don't have the political power or knowledge to even begin to solve that problem, nor would I ever claim to. However, I think it makes a lot of sense to say that a country containing such overwhelming diversity as the United States cannot be properly governed by two political parties.
We need solutions, desperately. The current system doesn't seem to be finding them although there are clearly within sight. The answer to the most pressing issue is on our lips, yet we never speak of it. It's up to those who are governed to stand up a make a difference, even if that means creating a new political party from scratch.
Photo courtesy of https://assets.rbl.ms/19285554/980x.jpg.
