To the editor:
Regardless of your individual political party affiliation, one universal truth exists about our federal government — it feels broken beyond repair.
Leaders from both parties repeatedly lie to constituents, put the interest of their party above that of citizens, flip-flop opportunistically on key issues and are more focused on reelection than in doing their jobs well.
Increased access to information via cable TV, satellite radio and social media has made our leaders’ priorities painfully obvious to all. This malpractice, combined with the increased brazenness of elected officials has crushed our hope for a government “for the people, by the people.”
Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, major architects of our government’s design, studied the Iroquois Nation government and constitution as a framework for our own. The fact that there were six different tribes effectively governing was not lost on our leaders. The possibility of several separate but cooperative groups left little room for the abuse of power that is now rampant within our government.
Our early leaders warned about power being so concentrated that it hampered cooperative action. Yet here we are today, and we commonly see both parties drive for outcomes good for their own party at the expense of our country’s and citizens’ security.
Over time, both parties have moved toward the extreme edges, despite most citizens identifying themselves as closer to the middle. According to polling, most voters agree with one party on some issues and the other on other issues while not aligning with the beliefs of either extreme. We realize the need for more options, but don’t vote for third parties for fear of “wasting our vote.”
As dysfunctional as our leadership is, and as apathetic the voters have become, a solution is within reach. Both parties are facing identity crises as extreme factions exist within each party. On the right, we have the moderate and the very conservative, who can agree on little. On the left, moderates are unable to reach consensus with the progressive members.
Either party splitting into two would make our situation worse as the remaining whole party would have a stranglehold on the two new parties. The obvious answer is for both to split simultaneously into moderate and extreme versions of their old selves. Republican and Democrat candidates alike can then realign without fear of retribution by their old parties.
Having four viable options, from the far-right to far-left with multiple centrist choices, would allow each voter to more closely align with a party that represents their beliefs and ideals. Four parties would force each to work together to get individual legislative ideas passed. Having four choices for president would likely minimize our current culture of voting for the “lesser of two evils.”
As effective as this solution is, it will be difficult to achieve due to politician self-interest. Both parties have spent decades creating rules that effectively block new parties from becoming viable. The deck has been stacked against challenging the current two-party system.
A four-party system would require the legislators that enforce barriers to entry to now unwind those rules to level the playing field. Like term limit initiatives, there is little interest by our current legislators to open the doors to increased competition and a decreased chance of reelection.
Given this, what are citizens to do when the federal government is no longer “for the people, by the people?” Here’s where the easy part comes in.
Contact both parties’ national committee and your legislators to demand this change. Will they respond favorably? Of course not, we wouldn’t be in this situation if they were open to selfless, productive change. In response, vote them out.
Ignore their party affiliation and campaign promises. Vote anti-incumbent against every elected federal politician each election until they realize that they work for us, not special interest groups, campaign contributors or their party. Like tantrum-throwing children, they will learn quickly when the punishment results in their own job loss.
We are well past the point of counting on the foxes to manage the henhouse. They have let us down spectacularly, time and time again. It is on each of us to secure the henhouse door and ensure the foxes can’t get back in. Ignorance of the tragic truth about our dysfunctional government is no longer an excuse. If they refuse to change, and we continue to vote them in, then we’ll be the ones to blame, period.
Darren Johnson
Greenwood
