i would agree with the assertion you made on the point about remaining wedded to certain philosophies so staunchly, but i would hardly consider the GOP a "regional party of little national interest"
Pretty good post Flashy.
The simple fact that people simply bounce back and forth between one corrupt, incompetent party to the other when they become dissatisfied is testament to the fact that the electorate really has no clue and rarely ever gives creedence to thinking of another way forward without these two very poor political dinosaurs
IMO
The problem with this analysis is that it imagines that any potential 3rd party would not be precisely as corrupt as the two we have.
Part of the reason we don't have a viable 3rd party is that the 3rd party platforms are even MORE polarizing and extremist than the GOP and the Dems... and the third party policies are founded in belief systems that are even less grounded in reality.
Libertariansim is nothing but a good idea taken to an unworkable extreme.
Desptie the "free" sounding title, its about nothing but rights of PROPERTY and OWNERSHIP superseding the rights of a society as a group.
The Communist party? Again, a fine idea predicated upon a belief about human nature that simply is not true.
I would love to see a viable 3rd party... but they tend to coalesce around factions that have extreme feelings about extreme idea... rather than reasonable thoughts about well established and provable ideas.
In that regard, I think the best strategy is to PUNISH any party that oversteps its bounds and allows corruption to become its stock in trade...
And thereby FORCE them back to the central ground of reasonable ideas and policies.
Republicans won power as the result of what seemed the liberal excesses and failures of the 60s and 70s.
But they went hog wild and WAY off the the beam, proving themselves unable to govern.
The Democrats have had a long time to re-calibrate their policies- and now they get to have a turn awhile the Republicans must figure out what they did wrong.
Flashy... to imagine any group in power will not succumb to the corruption of power is an idealistic notion that does not reflect human nature.
It ain't gonna happen.
With what we put our politician thru to get elected... only those who are the MOST avaricious for power and wealth will run that gauntlet.
I agree we tend to bounce back and forth from one corrupt party to the other.
But I think that is the ONLY mechanism we have to try and keep those in power in Check.
When their corruption starts to show... and their policies fail, we yank the office out from under them and hand it to someone who promises to do better.
I tried to explain to a friend in communist China about the difference between democracy and Communism.
What it came down to is that both kinds of government are subject to the abuses of power... both populations rife with scoundrels.
The only real difference is that in a democracy, the people can effect change a LITTLE faster.
Abuses of law can be corrected in a matter of years, rather than a matter of decades.
What you see as the bane of our political system, I see as the one shining hope we have ever had.
Fuck ideology. Don't swear allegiance to ANY party. Support the party that is acting in your interests.... because your interests change, and the parties change.
The American people's biggest failing is that they root for a party like they do for a sports team.
That is political idiocy.
Conservatives have backed the republicans... who, in fact, did the exact OPPOSITE of what conservatives CLAIM to want.
The first step in achieving what you want, politically, is to divorce your understanding of what you want from the slogans of party and ONLY examine the results of their actions.