HERALD EDITORIAL: Political opinions widens differences

American politics is a world of different opinions.  It is likely that no two people agree or disagree completely on every subject of political argument.

In a representative government, it is important that those in our elected government can accurately express and share the views and ideas of the electorate.  From that perspective, how does our American system currently fare?

American government has long been dominated by the two-party system.  Conventional wisdom holds that each party, Democrats and Republicans, represents a different part of a political spectrum between liberal and conservative.

How do you assign someone a rating of “liberal” or “conservative”?  How do you even define such terms, which have long departed from their origins?  Is it someones adherence to some core set of principles?

Assuming that you manage to define these terms, you can never escape the fundamental problem that such a dichotomous vernacular hurts our political conversation.

It has become necessary to our understanding of national discourse that each opinion and viewpoint be placed into one of two camps, liberal or conservative.  How can we ever expect to make sense of our nations vast sea of diverse opinions and ideas when filtering them all through such a narrow scope of understanding?

By tying ourselves down to such a deeply flawed framework we present ourselves with a wide array of problems.  Many issues quickly devolve into “Us versus Them” shouting matches.

You see examples of this in the media every day in declarations of sources being loudly declared as liberal or conservative as if that label alone is enough to judge whatever they may say as having great value or none at all.

These labels create closed minds by allowing us to escape the complex reality of American political thought by drawing everything in the black and white of the “with us or against us” mentality.

Probably the greatest crime perpetrated by the two-party system is that of depriving American citizens of a true voice in their government.  With political opinions so varied and complicated as they are, how accurately can just two choices in every election truly represent the will of the people?

If representation is so troubled, why then would we desire those representatives to have an easier time making law?

With a new generation coming onto the political scene, we are seeing a new surge of interest in politics.  Let us hope that these bright new minds bring with them a spirit of insistence and leadership.  We should, we must, be unafraid to insist on representatives who actually represent us if we wish to see the changes we want.  When we find no candidate who truly speaks for us, we must be unafraid to speak for ourselves and run for office.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=6870

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jul 26 2009. Filed under Editorial, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com