Third parties are good for making out
Ha! You thought I meant actual parties. Nope. Politics. Nobody wants to make out with someone who only cares about politics and comic books. Well, nbody except me, and as previously stated, I am weirded out by the idea of making out with myself.
Anyway, I've lately come to the conclusion that part of the Democratic Party's long, slow implosion basically ever since I was born has been due in no small part to its majority status. They got the New Deal, and the civil rights, and the feminism, and the Roe v. Wade, and then they basically just had to defend the status quo. Sure there was health care, and gay rights, but it all stems out of pre-existing civil rights and social safety net arguments. Republicans got to be the party of reform, railing against the government.
And railing against the government is always good for business.
So here's my newest argument for a multi-party (why just 3?) system in America: If your interests lie with liberal politics, and you aren't the worst kind of partisan Democrat, then it's in your interest to have at least 2 liberal parties. Let's call them Dems and Greens, you know, just some made up names, for argument's sake. This way when one party is in power, like the Dems in '94, then you can have liberal reformists from the Green party. That way your vague liberal ideals don't get swallowed up by you being The Man, and conservatives don't get to lay claim whole hog to "fighting the man for the little guy."
There will always be a pendulum of conservative and liberal, and sometimes it will swing conservative. But I think this system buys both sides an out in terms of reform. When liberals are in power the reform doesn't need to be conservative, it just needs to be reform. Vice versa as well. For instance, right now I would be plenty happy with a Conservative party which espoused any of the conservative values I actually appreciate, like fiscal responsibility and state's rights (DEAN!). I imagine a lot of moderate conservatives, and a hell of a lot of Libertarians, feel the same way.
So get me my IRV, and get it for me now. Everyone will win. Promise.
Anyway, I've lately come to the conclusion that part of the Democratic Party's long, slow implosion basically ever since I was born has been due in no small part to its majority status. They got the New Deal, and the civil rights, and the feminism, and the Roe v. Wade, and then they basically just had to defend the status quo. Sure there was health care, and gay rights, but it all stems out of pre-existing civil rights and social safety net arguments. Republicans got to be the party of reform, railing against the government.
And railing against the government is always good for business.
So here's my newest argument for a multi-party (why just 3?) system in America: If your interests lie with liberal politics, and you aren't the worst kind of partisan Democrat, then it's in your interest to have at least 2 liberal parties. Let's call them Dems and Greens, you know, just some made up names, for argument's sake. This way when one party is in power, like the Dems in '94, then you can have liberal reformists from the Green party. That way your vague liberal ideals don't get swallowed up by you being The Man, and conservatives don't get to lay claim whole hog to "fighting the man for the little guy."
There will always be a pendulum of conservative and liberal, and sometimes it will swing conservative. But I think this system buys both sides an out in terms of reform. When liberals are in power the reform doesn't need to be conservative, it just needs to be reform. Vice versa as well. For instance, right now I would be plenty happy with a Conservative party which espoused any of the conservative values I actually appreciate, like fiscal responsibility and state's rights (DEAN!). I imagine a lot of moderate conservatives, and a hell of a lot of Libertarians, feel the same way.
So get me my IRV, and get it for me now. Everyone will win. Promise.
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