Written by Carter Thweatt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The way we do government in America is broken \u2014 and has been for a long time. The two-party system, which George Washington warned against in his farewell address, has failed us and the problem goes much deeper than any one politician. If you\u2019re reading this article hoping for a flashy takedown of Joe Biden, Donald Trump or any other political figure, you\u2019re going to be disappointed. The problem with American politics is not the people involved with it \u2014 it is the system we use, which is completely broken. In fact, this system encourages half of our elected officials to quite literally sabotage the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand what I mean by this, we must first understand what perfect politics \u2014 or a perfect government \u2014 would look like. I\u2019ve created this working definition, which I think most people would at least somewhat agree with. In a perfect world, our government would consist of intelligent leaders who we elect to make decisions and laws to fix problems within our country. If the U.S. Senate sees that unemployment is high, they should try to work together to come up with a solution. If the House of Representatives sees that healthcare is unaffordable for most Americans, they should try to find a way to change that. These politicians, in an ideal world, would try to fix the problems we face as a nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s one problem with this. Americans tend to blame the president \u2014 and the president\u2019s political party \u2014 for everything that goes wrong in our country and give them credit for things that go right. So if the country is doing well in an election year, people will probably vote for the president\u2019s party. If things are going poorly, people will likely vote against the president\u2019s party. We\u2019ve seen this recently \u2014 with gas prices high and inflation rising, many American voters have been blaming Biden, and Republicans picked up seats in the House as a result. Please note: I am not making any kind of statement on whether or not Biden is to blame for these things \u2014 I am simply stating that regardless of whether he is or not, people are blaming him \u2014 and Democrats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So let\u2019s go back to that definition of \u201cperfect politics,\u201d where elected officials work together to make the country the best it can be. If you\u2019re a Republican senator, you could work together with Biden and Democrats to try and lower gas prices. There\u2019s one problem \u2014 it might actually work, and then people will see the lowered gas prices and give Biden the credit. This may lead to Democrats doing well in the next election, which may lead to you losing your job. What\u2019s the alternative? If you\u2019re the party opposite the president, it\u2019s making America worse. Why would an elected official want to do that? Because most voters will see the pitiful state the country is in and do what Americans tend to do \u2014 blame the president. Then they might vote against his party, which could lead to a very successful election for you and your party. So this is the government we have in America \u2014 one where a politician who tries to fix problems might lose his or her job, and one who actively tries to ruin the country might win their party in the next election. It\u2019s why instead of \u201cfinding solutions\u201d and \u201cworking together,\u201d politicians talk about \u201cstopping the president\u2019s agenda.\u201d They know that if the president is in a different political party, a ruined America means votes for them. It\u2019s a sobering realization \u2014 our political system encourages half the politicians in office to make things worse for us. However, it\u2019s one we need to accept because the sooner we can change this system, the better off we\u2019ll be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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