Our system is grossly flawed. It was built for a sprawling and relatively sparse new nation with an experimental democratic representative government. It was built by a united colony who rejected the idea of a monarch or church controlling any aspect of their lives. It was also, ironically, built in a time when slaves - humans treated as property - were commonplace.
So, fair representation wasn’t quite a reality either in intent or practice and we’ve been dealing with some of the ramifications of vague or all together missing wordings in our constitution.
The system was intentionally built to ensure provocation and infighting just as much as to ensure negotiation and compromise. This is a good way for a committee to function, not so much for a government to govern. What we’re currently seeing is a small group of political outsiders walking the thin line dividing what is and is not permitted in our government. It’s nearly impossible for a “christofascist” state to become reality because we have laws preventing it. We also have a populace who misunderstands or is unaware of the boundaries of some of these laws and how slow our government operates. Although, there is a very real fear that a government who controls the judicial system could have an enormous impact on our reality. We’ve already seen this play out.
There are a million things millions of us would like to see our government do or not do because we believe them to be just and ensure liberties for all. But much of our attention is focused on the power of the federal government while much power lies with the states themselves. As technology has connected us, we’re inclined to look collectively at the peak of power to give a top-down approach to governing a semi-sovereign collection of states - which is often wrong. So, applying the standards and ideologies practiced in other countries is a bit misplaced.
A two party system as we have it (especially with today’s real-time collaboration), in my opinion, leads to what we see today - polarization and tribalism adopting economic and social issues as tools to divide us for the sake of the wealthy and powerful. The People are not winning and not being fairly represented and our government is perpetually teetering on crumbling. We’re being used today just as much as we were used 250 years ago.
• Ranked Choice Voting would greatly calm polarization and foster cooperation between candidates and representatives.
• Financing political campaigns exclusively with tax payer money would dissuade corporate and outsider involvement and even the field for the candidates’ voices. This would also foster more third and fourth party involvement.
• Increasing funding for and rewarding independent journalism / dismantling the near-monopoly on news media outlets would hold candidates accountable and better inform the public.
… theoretically.
These three things, in my mind, would establish a new-er foundation that’s even stronger than what our founding fathers penned. It’s in the same vein as their intent while adjusting for the technological advancements that have proved to divide us.
Yeah - these people who seem so proud of “democracy and freedom” are a bunch of self-righteous jerks. These are the same people who want to take rights away from others because they’re fearful of losing the privileges they’ve had for generations. These people are supporting political leaders solely based on their fears. And, honestly, their fears are entirely justified.
There is no freedom in war and our two parties are at war. Few people care to listen to anyone who has a differing opinion than them. We are most assuredly a nation divided and our broken needs mending.
I firmly believe there’s more compromise and progress and empathy found in a system of Ranked Choice Voting, reformed political financing, and a free-er press.