The following entry is from Common sense Anew:


"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

US Declaration of Independence

Party Lines
When we talk about elected representatives, it is usually in reference to party loyalty or the effect their actions have on their parties. We hear little about loyalty to the people who elected the representatives. When our representatives vote, shouldn't their vote be based on the voice of their constituents? Our founding fathers intended for our elected representatives to represent the people who elected them, not their political party.

This focus on party loyalty has created a great divide in our government. It is no longer about doing what's right but doing what it takes to beat the other side. Polarizing tactics have become a great weapon. Both sides shamelessly waste time trying to convince us to be afraid of the other side or believe the other side is incompetent. Watching this makes me afraid and question the competence of both sides. The result is that the right has been pushed further to the right and the left further to the left. This has created a wide gap in our government. This gap threatens our democracy.

The division in government has added to the division in society. The battle lines have been drawn, and we are supposed to choose sides and adhere to the party checklist. We must be for everything our side says, and against everything the other side says. It has become a sporting event, where we the people are nothing more than fans that elect our players, then are expected to blindly support and root for our team and against the other team. Yet, we are all on the same team. In essence, we are rooting against ourselves.

I don't think our two-party system was meant to create a two-party society. As political parties have drifted farther apart, so has society. It has split into two teams and become about beating the other side. Neither side encourages thought or knowledge that might lead to understanding. Both sides are determined to win and consider compromise a defeat. So much wrong has come out of this we can't help but question our two-party system. However, before we consider our two-party system a failure, should we not first determine whether we have failed it?