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I titled this thread as it is because it is my opinion that political discourse in this country, for the most part, has devolved into an Us vs Them mentality - Red vs Blue, Left vs Right, Republican vs Democrat. We are becoming slaves to this competition.
In his farewell address, George Washington warned of the pitfalls of the party system, and I think his words are more true today than they ever were:
"It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."
When we look to have some influence on how our lives are impacted by government, we leapfrog our local and state governments and go directly to our Washington benefactors. We assume that nearly all problems must be solved at the federal level, rather than the local level where our voices can be heard and we can actually make a difference.
Then, when things don't go the way we want them to, we distill our problems down to one person. "Bush's fault!" "Obama's fault!" We forget the fact that there's a Congress & Senate responsible for a whole lot of whatever currently bugs you. We treat our presidents like Kings, and so they act like it.
The people of a democracy always get the government they deserve, and we are living proof. We keep voting in Republicans, then Democrats, then Republicans and on and on because we think it will actually make a difference. It is a classic false dilemma. It feels like we are in a perpetual state of hate, blame, and partisanship fueled by news outlets, talk radio, and the internet. We spend more time talking about who said what and when they said it, rather than discussing the issues and really educating ourselves on the impact our government can have, good or bad.
Imagine if there were no parties and the candidates had to run based only on their own personal beliefs and convictions. Would most of our population take the time to research who they'd vote for?
Apologies for the soap-box tone. It is understood that not everyone acts in the way I've described, and there are plenty of people who think Independently and cast a skeptical eye toward those politicians who would promise that which we know can't be delivered. I hope to see more of it, but I'm afraid we enjoy the competition too much to realize the harm it's doing.
Does anyone else feel this way, or is this cynicism mine alone?
P.S. - It is my hope that this thread does not turn into a series of examples of why one side feels like the other side is at fault for any of what I have suggested in this post. Rather, I hope to hear whether others feel like I do about the current state of our political discourse, and what we think we can do about it.
I agree with most everything you're saying. I have a slightly more positive outlook on things, though. I really do think its a case of the loudest 1% drowning out the much more reasonable but much quieter majority. Maybe it's 10%, but still a minority. People also make noise about how what our country and our world are going through now are the worst things that our anyone in history has gone through. That this is the worst crisis ever or that the fall of society is imminent. I guess people will keep saying that until someone is right. What little history I've studied has taught me that things are probably better on the whole today than they've ever been. I certainly can't think of an era in history I would rather live. That's not to say life isn't hard and that no one should complain, just the sensationalism that every crisis is the worst ever and that the human race is doomed.
If we want to get rid of the two party system, we need to get rid of the winner-takes-all nature (simple plurality) of our elections. Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of parties seems to be through the government, which is run almost exclusively by party members. If you think that people are only involved on the federal level then you must not have spent much time in New England. Even in this one party state people are very interested in state and particularly local issues. In my town we have an annual town meeting where every interested eligible voter meets in the high school gym to vote on the town's business for the year. Even though there was some bickering and grandstanding it really did renew my faith in democracy. Unfortunately there isn't a big enough gym for the whole country.
Then, when things don't go the way we want them to, we distill our problems down to one person. "Bush's fault!" "Obama's fault!" We forget the fact that there's a Congress & Senate responsible for a whole lot of whatever currently bugs you. We treat our presidents like Kings, and so they act like it.
I agree with what you are saying. There is a real us vs. them mentality, this forum is a good example. I don't understand why we can't act like people with different political views and not enemies. I have some close friends that I disagree with on many issues.
I agree with most everything you're saying. I have a slightly more positive outlook on things, though. I really do think its a case of the loudest 1% drowning out the much more reasonable but much quieter majority. Maybe it's 10%, but still a minority. People also make noise about how what our country and our world are going through now are the worst things that our anyone in history has gone through. That this is the worst crisis ever or that the fall of society is imminent. I guess people will keep saying that until someone is right. What little history I've studied has taught me that things are probably better on the whole today than they've ever been. I certainly can't think of an era in history I would rather live. That's not to say life isn't hard and that no one should complain, just the sensationalism that every crisis is the worst ever and that the human race is doomed.
If we want to get rid of the two party system, we need to get rid of the winner-takes-all nature (simple plurality) of our elections. Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of parties seems to be through the government, which is run almost exclusively by party members. If you think that people are only involved on the federal level then you must not have spent much time in New England. Even in this one party state people are very interested in state and particularly local issues. In my town we have an annual town meeting where every interested eligible voter meets in the high school gym to vote on the town's business for the year. Even though there was some bickering and grandstanding it really did renew my faith in democracy. Unfortunately there isn't a big enough gym for the whole country.
I'm right with you on the fear-mongering. It really heated up with 9/11, where anything could be justified in the name of (personal) security, and now it continues with the economic crisis, where anything can be justified in the name of (financial) security. Overall, I am happy with the time I live in, too. I just wish that more people would spend more time discussing the actual issues rather than labeling or otherwise marginalizing those who disagree with them.
I also agree that people do get involved with local governments, but I think that when it comes to issues like welfare, gay marriage, health care, energy, abortion, etc we look too quickly for a federal solution. Things like these can be addressed at the state level. The beauty in that is we'd have 50 different examples to evaluate and determine what works and what doesn't work. I believe that our country would be stronger through such diversity.
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