The two-party system. Democrat or Republican? Liberal or Conservative? Communist-like intervention or free market capitalism”? Especially with that last dichotomy, both sides of the political spectrum seem very extreme. Oh wait, I’m sorry. What spectrum? You must fall into one of these two sides and completely shut yourself off from the other side’s arguments. Don’t listen to them; they’re just selling you propaganda. It’s just radical conservative talk. It’s just communist liberal wokeness. Oh, and if you’re in the middle on something, you’re a fencesitter, and we both hate you. Pick a side, you coward.
If you’ve been exposed to the political space in the U.S. at any point, you’ve probably heard buzzwords and phrases like these. Radical, woke, communist, right-wing, these words make up any political argument at the Thanksgiving table. However, the fact of the matter is that they reflect the hostility and closed-mindedness of our political culture. So, in this short article, I want to explore some of the effects this two-party system has had on the way we think and how it limits our ability to compromise and actually resolve issues in our country.
The main issue here is a lot of intolerance. According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, around 62% of republicans and 54% of democrats had a very unfavorable view of the other party. If both parties feel they are morally right and the other is totally immoral, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of never finding a solution that suits both their beliefs, only those of their own party. If you’re at a pizza party with a bunch of friends, how is anyone going to get to enjoy the pizza if half of your friends believe they deserve all of the pizza, and the other half believes they deserve all the pizza? It’ll just create a cycle of hatred, and the problems that need to be addressed will never get addressed. We even saw this during the Biden-Harris administration. Since the senate was split almost evenly between the parties, and neither were willing to budge on their beliefs or reach a consensus, bills were a lot harder to pass. Hostility and animosity towards one another aren’t going to get us anywhere. Only if we try finding a middle ground can we make progress.
Oh, so you want to start a party representing the working class? Or a center party? Or a green party? Good luck getting the support. You’ll need over $1 billion in support to even have a chance of competing with the main party campaigns. You’ll need giant conventions with celebrities who support you, advertising, and massive public traction. However, getting the level of support needed is nearly impossible for independent parties, since most of the country’s mind is set on the democrat versus republican debate. Even the country’s issues like immigration or economic inflation are focused on only two perspectives, democrat or republican. The green parties and other independent parties have never been a threat to the 2 major presidential candidates because they lack the support and following of the two biggest parties. It can feel frustrating for people who genuinely support these causes to never get sufficient representation in the political space, since everything revolves around a two-party system. Having multiple perspectives from different representatives, like environmentalists, working classes, minorities, etc., is better for making decisions based on the good of all the people, but this system can make certain voices go unheard.
However, I never like to leave an article on a sour note. No matter what your beliefs are, I encourage you to keep an open-mind, always give people a fair hearing, and never be afraid to compromise your beliefs. I believe that this more accepting attitude can lead us to a more peaceful life and can make the world a better place, one debate at a time.
