The Deadlock of Democratic-Republican Political Practice and the Necessity of an Independent Politics

One of the central deadlocks inherent to the politics of the Democratic-Republican two-party state results from a contradiction between the means and ends of political practice among the great majority of both progressive and conservative activists. Take two simple examples. Progressive opposition to "big business" is doomed to failure so long as the Democratic Party remains the vehicle for that opposition, as the Democratic Party, like the GOP, stands for nothing more than the reproduction and expansion of the global warfare and corporate welfare state. On the other side of the duopoly divide, conservative opposition to "big government" is similarly doomed to failure so long as the Republican Party remains the vehicle for that opposition, as the GOP, like the Democratic Party, stands for nothing more than the reproduction and expansion of the global warfare and corporate welfare state. In an article for the Huffington Post, independent political activist Jackie Salit challenges "MoveOn to Move On." Via Memeorandum:

On May 2, 2010 MoveOn.org launched its "most important campaign ever," an effort to "end the stranglehold that big corporations and lobbyists have on our government." MoveOn.org seeks nothing less than to "fix our democracy and put We the People back in charge." . . . . More than 40 percent of Americans now self-identify as independents . . . But for MoveOn.org, independents don't seem to exist. Their strategy has been (and remains) to mobilize the most left leaning elements of the Democratic Party base. . . .

If MoveOn.org is serious about revitalizing our democracy it can go beyond jeremiads against "big money" and "evil corporations," and join with us to support structural changes that bring our electoral system in line with where the American people are already at. This means giving up any kind of strategic bottom line of protecting the hegemony of the Democratic Party within progressive politics. . . .

The biggest impediment to the advancement of democracy in our country is the two major parties. By blocking efforts at structural change, they seek to perpetuate (and in some cases reinforce!) a system in which smaller and smaller numbers of people -- the most ideologically committed party activists -- determine who we can elect to office and how and whether legislation is considered from Washington to City Hall.

As Nancy Hanks writes at the Moderate Voice, "there is a growing anti-party movement in America that is independent not only of the two major parties, but independent of partisan politics and structures altogether" (also via Memeorandum). Indeed, this would seem to be virtually inevitable as more and more Americans begin to realize that the Democratic and Republican parties actively represent interests that are diametrically opposed to the interests of the people of the United States. Today, freedom and independence begins with freedom and independence from the tyranny of Democratic-Republican party politics, from the reproduction of the ruling two-party state and the deadlocks of the duopoly system of government.