There is a solution to fix the problem.
When there are 40 people, and we divide them into two groups, then the two groups can end up with very specific ideas about themselves and about the other group.
It’s a bit like asking two groups to pick a number for themselves, and a number for the other group — and then just the numbers 1 and 0 available to pick from.
- What do you think would happen?
The most logical choice for a group is to declare themselves as 1, and the other group as 0.
Yet both groups will pick that same outcome. Each will see themselves as valued, expressing that with picking that number 1, and they will then declare the other group with that zero number.
—
In politics, when a nation is organized via two political parties, both groups will be of course not homogenous themselves. There is plenty of coloration going on in each party.
- Many individuals will make a group.
Yet the individual coloration occurring in one’s own group, accepting that as a given, that acceptance will not likely happen for the other group.
Folks inside each of the two groups will find common grounds while opposing the common grounds of the other group, either slightly or strongly so.
In effect, a tug-of-war got established.
- We got split into two because the setup made it so.
Winning the tug-of-war can make the group that lost more anxious to win next time around. As such, the strongest bullies can move into the spot of most admiration. The losers need help and the strong-arms have to come to the rescue.
These blokes are often not the smartest on the block. Yet they are smart enough to guide the group to their much-desired victory next time around.
Hip-hip-hallelujah!
—
In a nutshell, that is the two-party problem.
Each groups makes the other group go deeper and deeper into figuring out how to win next time around. The loss is simply too great, and all that must be done to win… is done.
That is how normal politics can become warped.
As long as the nation is successful for the center (and the elite, of course), politics as usual can get pushed out a little bit until the stretch is reached.
Then, either one party takes full control (dictatorship), or the bottom falls out (and the elite still reaps the benefit of the disaster).
In the USA, we had the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that caused the bottom fall out (for us and th rest of the world). It appears we are repeating ourselves.
The bullies are strong-arming themselves toward winning to the point there is no tug-of-war (of power) left.
—
Had there been three parties or more, like six parties, this two-party problem would not have occurred.
When groups can organize themselves organically, they will not organize themselves into two groups.
—
Review all nations in the world that allow voters to decide who gets to govern them, and it depends on the voting system how many parties there are.
Vote in districts, a single winner occurs.
Vote proportionally, multiple candidates secure their seats in a single election.
How people vote in a nation warps not just the outcome, but also makes it possible for the problem of their voting system to haunt the nation and the world.
- Immediately, one can see that the USA has the most restricted version of democracy in the world. Today, there is no other nation around that is stuck so deeply in its two-party outcome.
Obviously, there are other nations stuck even more in their political systems because they are dictatorships. Or they are thinly veiled democracies where for some reason the voters always vote for one and the same man (!) or party….
All other nations have a better political outcome, embracing more political diversity than we have.
—
How can one become un-stuck when living in a nation with a serious two-party problem?
The answer should be obvious.
The solution is to make it viable for third parties to have their say.
In the United States, without changing the US Constitution, that option is readily available.
- At State levels, all elections can get changed to multi-party elections.
- At County levels, all elections can get changed to multi-party elections.
- At City levels, all elections can get changed to multi-party elections.
When folks realize they do not need to copy+paste the election format of the Federal level and mimic that format at State and local levels, then we can get our political freedoms. No more straightjackets. There is a way out.
—
Today, in the USA, the top level declares:
- You are limited in your political freedoms when picking your Federal representative.
But that is the official truth, and it stops right there.
At the State and local levels, there is no such declaration.
The Fourteenth Amendment declares it very clearly:
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.
Claim your privilege today. The US Constitution is with us when we demand our political freedo. The voting straightjacket can get removed at all levels, except for the Federal level.
Can we please get some more diversity in our political system?
It is up to you to make it so. Stay silent, and nothing will change. The bullies will grow on either one side of the political isle, or on both sides of the political isle.
—
Let’s change the voting systems where we can:
- State level
- County level
- City level
P.S. Embracing electoral freedom at all these levels will also improve voter turnout, because right now there are way too many of us who are turned off by the political restrictions in place everywhere. The USA has a really low voter turnout compared to nations with greater political freedoms.
