Two-party death spiral is killing us

[dblack]

For my money, the biggest problem we have in US politics today is the lack of consensus. Partisan idiocy undermines everything we do, costing us money and lives. Our system actively discourages consensus and blocks out alternatives. Time to fix it.

Ideas?

I think both ranked-choice voting (to get rid of LO2E) and multi-rep districts (to reduce gerrymandering) would help a lot. Of course the problem is that any reform has to make it through the two-party shitshow before it can be implemented. And the partisans have an vested interest in preventing that.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

For my money, the biggest problem we have in US politics today is the lack of consensus. Partisan idiocy undermines everything we do, costing us money and lives. Our system actively discourages consensus and blocks out alternatives. Time to fix it.

As long as the American people insist on voting with blinders on there isn't much anyone can do to change things. There are usually plenty of candidates running but over 90% of the population limit themselves to just two choices. The rest of us are the smart ones.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

The gulf is too wide between the ideologies. Secession is the only answer.

 

[TNHarley]

The gulf is too wide between the ideologies. Secession is the only answer.

There is another one. Use government and the private sector to force their "morality" on everyone else. Which, is happening.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

There is another one. Use government and the private sector to force their "morality" on everyone else. Which, is happening.

Get the jab and shush

 

[$ecular#eckler]

For my money, the biggest problem we have in US politics today is the lack of consensus. Partisan idiocy undermines everything we do, costing us money and lives. Our system actively discourages consensus and blocks out alternatives. Time to fix it.

Ideas?

 

[night_son]

For my money, the biggest problem we have in US politics today is the lack of consensus. Partisan idiocy undermines everything we do, costing us money and lives. Our system actively discourages consensus and blocks out alternatives. Time to fix it.

Ideas?

I think both ranked-choice voting (to get rid of LO2E) and multi-rep districts (to reduce gerrymandering) would help a lot. Of course the problem is that any reform has to make it through the two-party shitshow before it can be implemented. And the partisans have an vested interest in preventing that.

America needs, desperately, another George Washington—a unifying force in human form capable of uniting all Americans under one common goal. Such a person would have to first raise/recruit and lead an army against the forces of "darkness" tearing our nation asunder. His path would be one of bloody, intense internal domestic warfare. Hopefully, at the end of it, we'd be back on track. He would need to embody the Spirit of '76. He would be neither republican nor democrat nor independent nor whatever else half-ass party; he would identify only as American.

 

[TNHarley]

Get the jab and shush

From my sig
No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power - Jacob Bronowski

 

[SassyIrishLass]

From my sig
No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power - Jacob Bronowski

Yeah.... globull warming

 

[Dogmaphobe]

We have the two party system, but we also have a school system that is more concerned with creating conformists instead of thinking individuals.

Just look at this forum and all the dozens and dozens of posters who know no more of the world around them than what team they are on.

 

[dblack]

The gulf is too wide between the ideologies. Secession is the only answer.

It's really not though. So much of the opposition is gratuitous and hypocritical. Neither side follows much of an ideology, other than sheer, unbridled lust for power.

 

[Votto]

It's really not though. So much of the opposition is gratuitous and hypocritical. Neither side follows much of an ideology, other than sheer, unbridled lust for power.

And that is the key, power corrupts.

The only way to right the ship is to reduce the scope and power of the Federal government. That way, half the country will not want to secede every Presidential election.

Increase state power the way it was intended, and return to Federalism.

But the collectivists have subverted the system over the years to where the Executive Branch pretty much runs the entire country. The only way to fix this is the Article V movement. States for the first time need to amend the Constitution and reign in the US federal government.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

It's really not though. So much of the opposition is gratuitous and hypocritical. Neither side follows much of an ideology, other than sheer, unbridled lust for power.

Yeah, neither side really does. Hypocrites is probably a good description. There is no shame. I have no doubt though that the country is in the twilight and fading fast.

 

[Confederate Soldier]

In my opinion, there is but one way to solve this - form a Confederacy.

No, not the slave states of the 1860s kind, I mean "a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action" kind of Confederacy. A nation where the federal government is subservient to local and state governments, even more than it is now.

 

[Independentthinker]

For my money, the biggest problem we have in US politics today is the lack of consensus. Partisan idiocy undermines everything we do, costing us money and lives. Our system actively discourages consensus and blocks out alternatives. Time to fix it.

Ideas?

I think both ranked-choice voting (to get rid of LO2E) and multi-rep districts (to reduce gerrymandering) would help a lot. Of course the problem is that any reform has to make it through the two-party shitshow before it can be implemented. And the partisans have an vested interest in preventing that.

While I totally agree with you, this is nothing but a fantasy thread. Both parties have the system rigged so that only one of the two parties can win. Even at that, they continue tearing down any ways in which bipartisanship can happen. I have a lot of fantasies, some of them quite good, but the reality is this is a one way street and you can't turn a river around to run upstream. In order to return to what you want, we would have to do things that just aren't possible to do. We would have to get rid of the House being able to do whatever they wish at will with a simple vote of 218-217, get rid of the nuclear options, outlaw social media altogether, and a few other things that are all pure fantasy such as adjust the electoral college to account for more than two parties. Whatever would get us going in the right direction will be fought tooth and nail by BOTH parties.

 

[gipper]

For my money, the biggest problem we have in US politics today is the lack of consensus. Partisan idiocy undermines everything we do, costing us money and lives. Our system actively discourages consensus and blocks out alternatives. Time to fix it.

Ideas?

I think both ranked-choice voting (to get rid of LO2E) and multi-rep districts (to reduce gerrymandering) would help a lot. Of course the problem is that any reform has to make it through the two-party shitshow before it can be implemented. And the partisans have an vested interest in preventing that.

I can’t agree. The two criminal gangs agree on nearly all big issues. After all they are both owned and controlled by the same people, big corporations and billionaires. The rancor and disagreements are all for show. They know they must keep us divided to continue the status quo of enriching and empowering themselves. This forum is proof their strategy of division works.

 

[Mac1958]

For my money, the biggest problem we have in US politics today is the lack of consensus. Partisan idiocy undermines everything we do, costing us money and lives. Our system actively discourages consensus and blocks out alternatives. Time to fix it.

Ideas?

I think both ranked-choice voting (to get rid of LO2E) and multi-rep districts (to reduce gerrymandering) would help a lot. Of course the problem is that any reform has to make it through the two-party shitshow before it can be implemented. And the partisans have an vested interest in preventing that.

These elected "leaders" (ha) wouldn't behave like they do if their top priorities were not fundraising and re-election. Anyone who denies that is in abject denial.

So, short term limits and publicly-funded elections. And sure, let's add on ranked-choice voting.

This doesn't change unless and until we change the system under which these people operate. As long as we willingly allow it, we're a part of the problem.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

Of course the problem is that any reform has to make it through the two-party shitshow before it can be implemented. And the partisans have an vested interest in preventing that.

This problem can be solved with term limits.

Of course, to get term limits, we need the very people in office, the duopoly, to agree, which is the same problem.



my head hurts

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

These elected "leaders" (ha) wouldn't behave like they do if their top priorities were not fundraising and re-election. Anyone who denies that is in abject denial.

So, short term limits and publicly-funded elections. And sure, let's add on ranked-choice voting.

This doesn't change unless and until we change the system under which these people operate. As long as we willingly allow it, we're a part of the problem.

Publicly funded elections still make me a bit gun-shy. Otherwise, I agree.

 

[whitehall]

Look around, independent parties are a dime a dozen. Latch on to one of them if you think you can make a difference. Democrats already have a socialist voting with them. Go for socialism if you think it works. The dirty little secret is that most of the people who claim to be dissatisfied with the two party system are democrats who suffer from buyers remorse.