The Wretched Coin

Leap Second provides a good amount of insight into the trappings of the two-party state in a post on Democrats and Republicans, arguing that since Republican policies infringe on social liberties and Democratic policies infringe on economic liberties, then the two party system necessarily curtails both economic and social freedom: "the Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same, wretched coin." No truth is more vexing to partisan ideologists of the duopoly than this. They are ready and waiting with a laundered list of dissimilarities, from specific policies to grand visions, and point to the great partisan divide that separates the Demoblicans from the Republicrats. For instance, in a post on bipartisanship in the age of Obama, Jay Cost at Real Clear Politics writes, "Ultimately, partisan rivalry is generated by competing visions of the public good. Sometimes, the competition is more intense than other times. For whatever reason, this is a fiercely partisan era." How then to explain the apparent paradox? Perhaps a consideration of the narcissism of small differences could be of some help here.