It's hardly a party...

     One of the things that inspired me to start this blog was the excess of political party commentary all over most of my social media feeds.  I'm often asked where I stand with regard to the parties and find it all the more amusing when someone assumes they know which party I'm registered with based on what they think they know about me.  To be honest, I've been registered as Republican, a Democrat and an Independent at different times.  Why the change up?  Because I think that political parties are anything but a party.  I believe in issues rather than in what I often see as a cult mindset in blindly following this or that party simply because they are called one thing or the other.  The two-party system has subjugated most citizens into believing it is only a package deal one way or the other and that the Independents are really more along the lines of outliers with no real chance of winning true power.  Unfortunately, it is that belief that makes that claim self-fulfilling anyway.

     I am of the opinion that people should vote based on the issues that they feel are important.  Most will tell me that one party or the other holds true to most of their actual beliefs, but few can actually site much more than base ideology which is often spoon-fed from whichever media outlet they choose to listen to.  There is no way to have a perfect political group represent each and everyone of your particular ideals, if you've really even stopped to think about them.  So, it comes down to deciding which represents the majority of what you believe and has a track record of acting upon those particular values and issues.  

     Now, some will say that that is precisely why they've chosen the party they have.  Fine.  That's great.  But, by blasting someone who has chosen differently, a person has chosen to say that party loyalty is more important than an individual's beliefs.  When one spouts negativity about an opposing party, they are, in essence, undervaluing those who have identified their beliefs with that opposing party.  You aren't insulting the party so much as those citizens who have freely chosen to identify with it and it's stated values and goals.  Why?  We are fond of saying that everyone is entitled to their opinion and this is no different.  But, instead, we create a caste system to identify the Red and Blue (even Green) as if it is a competition rather than simply differing views of how to better our nation.  Does anyone really think that one side is so right and the other side is so wrong that they feel justified in demeaning those that are different?  

     When people talk about a division in our country, here is a perfect example of where it stems from.  Perhaps if we stopped worrying about so much loyalty to a machination of the political system and spent half as much energy in making our voices heard at the local level to start with, we could actually come together in consensus to enact the will of the people (via majority, of course) and, subsequently, push that policy agenda to the highest levels with actual substance and understanding rather than blind faith in a very clearly broken system.  

     Ask yourself this.....why do you identify as one or the other?  Do you really (I mean really) know what the other side stands for?  Are you painting everyone with the same brush simply because of their party identification rather than actually knowing what issues they identify with that has resulted in their choice?  If you simply follow a particular media outlet of choice that has identified with your chosen party, then I'll refer back to my "cult" reference and hope that you can wake from it to make your own informed decisions in ways that you can truly relate to while remembering that all citizens should be doing the same.  It says "We the people...."  Not, "We the party..."

Comments are welcome, but I do ask that courtesy be used.