Political Parties

The United States government is hindered greatly by the use of political parties. The whole country is divided in half in increasingly polarized groups, and this separation promotes hate among the citizens, as well as unproductive environments for government officials to accomplish anything of value.The idea that political parties are bad for the country is nothing new, George Washington, the first president, said himself that it would likely be the greatest downfall of the US. He was appalled to see them arise almost instantly and thrive after he left his office. It’s true that these political parties arose naturally and perhaps inevitably, but there is no reason that they should be so built into our system that it would seem impossible to have an election without them. Because current events and generations change constantly, it’s often out-dated to rely on a mostly static definition of what each party represents, and because of how rigid the expectations are for them, politicians loose their ability for creative and innovative approaches to government. It’s a brain-stifling system which emphasizes the fight between the parties as much as the fight between the candidates, and citizens are so deeply attached to their ideologies that they don’t bother to learn much about the opposing parties’ candidates (aside from sharing posts on Facebook of pictures and articles making fun of and harshly criticizing them, often without substantial sources), or even their own candidates. It’s easy for citizens to think, “as long as it’s a Democrat, I don’t care”, which represents how much we are distracted by the party system, and lose focus on the candidates running. This country would be very different, and much improved, if we got rid of the Democrat vs. Republican craze, and instead as a nation elected individuals based on their specific set of ideas and opinions. The public would be more united during elections and take more responsibility for getting to understand the candidates. There would be more intelligent discourse of politics rather than constant offensive and childish "shit-slinging". With all the great minds in America, there would surely be several attractive alternatives to this system we could think up, if only we'd lose our fear of change and realize that things can and should be better, and we are not innately tied to the current party system, as vital as it may appear.