320 Years of History
Gold Member
Independent = Someone who doesn't need a party to spoon feed public policy to them and who is unwilling to debase themselves by answering to the same rallying call as the extremists in any party.
"What people call you doesn't matter. It's what you answer to that matters."
-- I can't tell you who first said that
Political parties weren't always defined by what they said. They were defined by what they did. Neither the Republican Party or Democratic Party have taken any radical extremist action ever. The other third parties haven't ever done anything radical either. Talking is not doing. The two mainstream parties are determined to do nothing these days. That's why they are being judged by the radical things they say because there are no actions to judge them by anymore. I'm optimistic. I think 2017-2018 we are going to see somethings happen either good or bad to give the parties a legitimate identity.
Political parties, like all other groups, have always been defined by the people who belong to them, and it is what they say and do that defines the party. That, of course, means that there isn't always a binary way of identifying what a party stands for, and that in turn poses a problem for those among us who cannot consider things multidimensionally.
As with all groups, there are leaders and followers in political parties, which are merely groups focused on achieving public policy objectives. But make no mistake, the objectives achieved are, by definition, those sought by the leaders, not the followers. That basic dynamic is so no matter the party.
That dynamic's verity is why I some time back created a thread asking why droves and millions of "regular folks" self-identify as Republicans. The GOP is not now nor ever has been in recent times a party aimed at achieving public policy that benefits anyone who is not among the nation's "haves." After all, a material part of the very purpose, nature and definition of conservatism is to resist change not embrace it. The fact of the matter is that the world in which we live -- the U.S. itself as well as the rest of the world -- has changed dramatically, and conservatives want to do as much as they can to impede (in cases reverse) not only the changes themselves, but also their impacts.
It's not hard to grasp why that is. Folks have lived with and in a given paradigm and change means they have to learn how to thrive under a new one. That takes work; it requires oneself to evolve. It's, quite simply, easier not to, but easier isn't necessarily better, or even good for that matter.