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our political system is a farce. Really, we should get rid of this phony two-party "democracy." And we will. In the meantime, we ought to ignore it.Rall's blanket suggestion that Americans simply ignore the Democrat-Republican two-party political charade should be qualified to some extent. On the one hand, it is undeniable that much of what passes for 'politics' among Democrats and Republicans is nothing but narcissistic grandstanding, strategic distraction and outright deception. Political independence means not allowing oneself to be captivated by the corporate media-driven political spectacle characteristic of the two-party state, and not allowing oneself to be drowned in the meaningless minutia of the political news cycle. On the other hand, however, innumerable policies routinely promulgated by the Democratic and Republican parties constitute a grave threat to fundamental rights and freedoms, and even the very principle of constitutional government. We ignore them at our peril.
The two-party system made simple: Two worthless scoundrels are on the ballot. If you vote for one of them, a worthless scoundrel will win. If you don't vote, a worthless scoundrel will win. It's a pretty unappealing sales pitch. How did it last 200 years? The two-party system, a mutation unanticipated by the Constitution and dreaded by the Founding Fathers, mainly relies on the "lesser of two evils" argument . . .
The argument that we, the people, are somehow to blame for the failings of "our politicians" is absurd. Even partisans of the two major parties are substantially dissatisfied with the nominees who emerge from the primary system . . .
The two-party system is a twisted con based on fear. If you don't vote for Party A then Party B, which is slightly more evil, will win. If "your" Party A wins, all you get is the dubious, incremental pseudo-victory of somewhat less suckiness. But Party A gets something infinitely more valuable: political legitimacy and the right to claim a mandate for policies that you mostly dislike.
It's a terrible, lopsided bargain. You get little to nothing. They use your vote to justify their policies: No jobs. One war after another. Wasting your tax dollars. Corruption. More pollution . . .
Should we just ignore the Democrats and Republicans?
In an opinion piece for the Colorado Springs Independent, Ted Rall takes on "the evil of two lessers," and argues that we should just stop paying attention to the Democrats and Republicans. Excerpt:
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I agree. We ignore than at our peril. The fact is that the Democratic and Republican parties have power. I wish we could ignore them and all their empty noise. The question is how does one mount a credible, potent opposition to the two-parties? Many Americans seem to be dissatisfied but reluctant to actively demand major changes. The dissatisfaction is seen by people registering as independents, but reluctance to change is seen as continued votes for the two parties.
How does one break through the mental barrier? Just wait until things are so bad that real change finally comes? It would be nice if the process could be sped up. That could blunt some damage from the two parties could before our situation becomes really critical.
I guess that the best one can hope for is seeing the two parties wake up and come to their senses. However, I am not holding my breath waiting for that low probability event.
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