The Two-Party System in the United States Needs to End (OR, America Needs More Democracy)

The biggest problem with the current two-party system in the United States is that the tribalism between supporting either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party overshadows any energy focused on improving the lives of average Americans.

There are countless groups, clubs, organizations and movements that have come and gone (and some are still around in some form or another) where the goal was to improve the quality of life in some way: helping people find good jobs, exposing corruption, taking care of the sick, etc. Too many of them fell into the trap of, "Do you support the Donkey or the Elephant?" which depending on the answer, alienated them from a whole section of people (thanks mostly to the media). 

This is encouraged by the two major parties. The division helps keep them both close to power; all one party has to do is wait for the other to screw up (which is inevitable) and then the party that's not in power promises to make things better if they get elected. They get back into power, and the cycle repeats.

Only during brief moments of social unrest do we see the truth about both Democrats and Republicans: they hate it when class issues come up. Endangering the cultural rights makes for good TV ratings and helps poll numbers, but shinning a spotlight on the divide between the haves and have-nots is a "no-no."

Sadly, in order to finally get either party to take a serious look at class issues, the two party system needs to end. For that to happen, one of them needs to lose...badly. As in "Ronald Reagan landslide" badly.

And more to the point, they need to lose do the existence of a third party whose platform addresses the needs of the poor, middle and working class (aka, the 99%). If everyone who identified as "independent" stopped voting for Democrats and Republicans and voted for anyone else, the two parties would have little choice but to adapt or embrace extinction. Reagan's victory alone prompted the Democratic Party to adapt to "trickle-down" economics, pro-militarism, and austerity, which we saw in Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In fact, the shift was so drastic former Republicans changed to Democrats, leaving the Republicans with little option but to engage with their fringe elements (the GOP's journey from Reagan to HW Bush to GW Bush to Trump could be a documentary). 

Recent general elections have been so close that we have people scanning ballots or begging the Supreme Court to intervene (since 2000, two candidates have won the popular vote yet lost the electoral college). Hard-care Democratic Party supporters chant "Any Blue Will Do!" while completely ignoring that the "Blue" was a tried and true Republican not too long ago (case in point: West Virginia Governor Jim Justice). Republicans taut "family values" and "bootstrap pulling" until things directly impact their family and ability to pull their own bootstraps. 

Meanwhile, people are sick, starving, living in tents, struggling to find a job that can pay all of their expenses, and dealing with stress, discrimination, harassment and/or worse. 

This dynamic is no longer sustainable, and the powers that be know it (check out stories about law enforcement receiving more funding). Americans either need to force the two parties to address the real issues -starting now- or begin investing in torches and pitchforks.