Death to Political Parties

Left vs. Right is harmful to our society. The Founding Fathers hated political parties because parties create “factions of people.” Nevertheless, we have adopted the political party system in attempts to widen candidates’ base and platform. Unfortunately, this has been derived from a strategic tactic to get the most votes. It’s much easier to beat one person than it is to beat five other highly qualified candidates.

The entrenchment of the parties does not allow any wiggle room for actual opinions. In congress, if you’re a Republican Congressman, you almost have to oppose gay marriage, yet there is a notable sum of Republican voters who wouldn’t mind if gays got married. If you’re a Democratic Senator, then you almost have to be Pro-Choice, because that’s what the party stands for, but there are countless liberal voters who oppose abortion.

Because the political parties have turned into these “all or nothing” super powers, we have seen a contradiction within their policies. The Republican party (the Tea Party in particular) is hell-bent on trying to cut taxes and government spending, but almost any of them would support an increase in military spending. Building another aircraft carrier? Yeah, that’s about $13 billion in tax dollars, while smaller programs that they insist on cutting are only a couple million. Republicans say they want as little government control as possible, yet support the government dictating what women do with their bodies and a complete federal government blanket “protecting the sanctity of marriage.” They hate sex education and contraception use, then refuse to pay child support welfare. Isn’t that paradoxically cyclical?

Most Democrats support personal freedoms but support government intervention in small business and taxing the rich more than the middle class. According to the democratic party,  personal freedom does not go hand in hand with personal privacy: Nixon wire-tapped two rooms and got impeached; Obama wire- tapped the entire country and nobody flinched. Democrats are for separation of church and state except when they begin each congressional meeting with a prayer or swear the oath of office with their left hand on the Bible.

If we abolished the political parties we could vote for a Congressman, Senator or President who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. We could vote for a candidate who supported:

  • A decrease in government spending across the board (including military spending)
  • Support for gay marriage
  • Freedom for small business
  • Stricter gun regulation
  • Sex education and contraception
  • Less welfare dependency
  • Social Security reform
  • Pro- Life

In modern times the candidate above would be ostracized from both sides of the aisle while millions of Americans would support him/her. Many fiscal Republicans supported how the economy boomed under the Democratic Clinton administration. Many liberals would have loved Republican Abraham Lincoln’s social policies and Ronald Reagan’s amount of government spending.

If we eliminated political parties then we could see people coming to consensus, instead of have an absolute Republican vs. Democratic win. Congressmen wouldn’t feel obligated to vote for something because their party leader told them to. They would instead ask themselves, “What is morally right and financially responsible for the people in my district?”

This tug-of-war between the Left and the Right is not benefiting anyone except the candidates who receive unparalleled support from their party. We should take a stand against conformity so we can have our own morals and ideas. Currently, throwing your vote away to a third-party independent is not looked highly upon, yet all of us are upset with the childish banter between the Republican and Democrat government leaders. Because with Red (Republican,) White, and Blue (Democrat) as our nation’s colors, voting “purple” seems….unamerican.