The first blog I wrote, back in 2013, poked fun at both the Democrats and the Republicans for their misguided attempts to corral enough voters to make the false claim to a Permanent Majority. That is never going to happen, and yet both parties are still orchestrating a macabre circus of ad campaigns funded by our money and trying to sway the opinions of the American voter.
In review, I pointed out (last week) that scientifically conducted research by the PEW Foundation has identified eight distinct political entities subsumed, to no one’s benefit, under the banner of one or the other of the big two (Democrats and Republicans). PEW research also identified a ninth type, but that is made up of people who could care less.
Proposed: Let’s work towards having eight equal parties in America by starting with just four. Anyone can see that both the Republicans and the Democrats are fake representing at least two ways of thinking, perceiving, and dealing with our problems and the world around us.
Some may jump to the erroneous criticism that four parties, instead of just two, would needlessly complicate things. I don’t think so, or I am at least certain that would not need to be the case.
Suppose for a minute that we stop paying lobbyists to market ideas with massively expensive ad campaigns trying to sway public opinion. Suppose, instead, that each of the four parties elects representatives to tailor legislation in committee before passing it along to a President with a line-item veto. Cooperation instead of gridlock!
The majority would win the day, but even after carrying the day, the majority would not rake in all the chips.
Proposed: Let’s stop handling our politics like it is some sort of all-night poker game where somebody goes home broke and somebody else gets to buy a new car, winner take all.
Proposed: Look again at the pictured diagram that creates four equal quadrants by dividing the whole plane along two axis lines. Please note, the following will be the opposite of what was suggested last week. Label the Horizontal Axis Ideology. Put yourself somewhere along that line depending on how far “left or right” you are feeling. Label the Vertical Axis Economics and place yourself somewhere on that line between on your position on American spending of our money. Let’s put the big spenders on the top and the fiscally conservative on the bottom. Connect the two dots to find your party.
A word or three about naming the four American parties: The only elephants in America are confined to zoos, and the venerable donkey is no longer the powerhouse behind American agriculture.
Proposed: However, let’s stick with the animal theme! I suggest: Ospreys (fearsome hunters from out of the skies), Dolphins (intelligent, playful, and helpful creatures in the sea), Cougars (America’s Big Cats), and Alligators (the undisputed kings of the amphibious world).
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