Greetings all!
This post comes as the conclusion to my two-part
ending for July (albeit a little late, perhaps). In this post, I intend to take
on a notion which is widespread in the United States, but is also found in just
about any country. We like to think of everything within the bounds of black
and white, good and evil, and nothing more. There are innate problems with this
system, and the very fact that we let it exist obstructs much of our policy
efforts. This week’s quote comes from Bettino Craxi, the socialist prime
minister of Italy during a good portion of the 1980’s. He helped to ratchet up
Italian debt levels, but also made Italy into an economic powerhouse with
excellent standards of living, health, and education, so I look to him with
good grace.
As stated, we like to see politics through a lens of “this is either one thing, or the other, and nothing in between.” We can see it in many of our mantras: if you’re not with us you’re against us, we do not negotiate with terrorists, etc. We enjoy the simple nature of having to choose between two options; this allows us to avoid having scary things like complex situations arise. The biggest problem with this is that the world does not work this way. Things are not so black and white, and in fact there is far more gray than either extreme. And often, it is when we are presented with multiple choices that we make the best and most informed decisions.
I’ll make elections my first example. In America, we
allow for third parties, and yet in every election the only parties which
receive anything more than a negligible amount of the votes cast are the
Democratic Party and the Republican Party. There are two main reasons for this,
and the first is a systematic disposition towards two-party elections. Because
our constitution and election rules force parties to receive fairly large
followings, it’s quite easy for our nation to settle into the swing between two
opposing political groups. Since we fell into that pattern a long time ago, it’s
a very hard one to break. But the secondary reason why third parties receive so
few votes is because we do not want them to exist. Often, whenever third
parties make an issue known, people will simply ask that one of the two major
parties absorb that issue, and the third party is then moot. I’ll take the
Green Party of the United States as my prime subject here: http://www.gp.org/index.php. While the
Green Party itself has developed a full platform by now with an excellent
candidate, most people view the party as simply existing to advance the
environmentalism movement. This couldn’t be further from the truth, although
the party was founded on such principles. However, we refuse to acknowledge
them beyond their roots.
Now let me explain why this hurts us. A democracy
flourishes with more ideas having representation in government and during
election cycles. While this doesn’t mean a country should have tons of
political parties, this does mean that a country with three or four typically
ends up more vibrant than one with only two parties. Look at Israel, for
example. Israel is the strongest democracy in the Middle East, and it has a multi-party
system. From the extreme-right Likud party to the leftist Labor, Israel has
formed a flourishing nation which does quite well for itself despite being
strapped for resources and close to dangerous enemies. We consistently praise
Israel for its democratic successes, and in many ways we are right to do so
from time to time. Meanwhile we are stuck having our two main parties battle it
out over all the issues, forcing both parties to adopt opposite stances or risk
looking like “sell-outs”. This effectively filters moderates out of both
parties, causing extreme partisan rifts that most Americans have decried. This,
after all, is our prime reason for disapproval of Congress: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/congressional_job_approval-903.html.
Having multiple parties means that members of each party can have views that do
not all fall in line exactly, but still leaves them electable and important.
Another example of the poor effects of seeing things
through black and white is our foreign policy, and this is one that several
countries are guilty of beyond just us. In his 2002 State of the Union address,
former president Bush declared Iran, Iraq, and North Korea to be part of an “axis
of evil” (http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html).
This notion that we as America are the great hero in an American story, and
that these other countries are just evil villains, is foolish. This is what led
us and the coalition of the willing to invade Iraq, causing a huge sectarian
mess that we’re still paying for today. Yes, these countries aren’t the best
places to be. That does not mean that we can decry them in their entirety,
effectively ending any chance at diplomacy in a time of peace that most people
would like to keep up. Take a look at this through the eyes of a citizen of one
of the “axis” nations. Here you are, just trying to make a life for yourself,
and one of the most powerful and important world leaders has basically just
called you and everyone you know evil. How would you feel? The thing to
remember is that just because people live in Iran, that does not mean everyone
is allied with the current government system. Not all Iranians are extreme
religious conservatives, and many are likely apathetic about politics in
general just as long as their daily lives don’t get altered too heavily. A good
lot of Americans could care less about politics; what makes us think that
citizens of other nations are any different?
That is all for this two-part post, and I hope I’ve
made my point in full. If you have questions or comments of any kind, I
encourage you to post them right here. My email at zerospintop@live.com is still open,
along with my Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and DeviantArt accounts. And this is
KnoFear, signing off.
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