A House Divided

President George Washington cautioned congress, in his farewell address, to avoid party politics.  I must confess to not having known this fact when I began my journey into the abyss of American politics.  In fact, I confess to knowing FAR less than any American should know about our history, back when I began.  I have since remedied that, and recommend to as many as will listen, that they do the same.

Learning of Mr. Washington's warning was quite an encouragement to me, in so much as my primary objective has been, from the beginning, to put an end to "party think", as it applies to the voter.  I see it as the instrument by which our (for lack of a better word) leaders have convinced us to submit to their rule.

I hope you will permit me to coin the phrase, "party think".  It has a certain ring to it, don't you think?

What I mean by "party think" is this.  We each have in our minds, a vision of how we think things ought to be.  In each of us the vision varies by some degree.  We feel strongly about some things.  Less so about others.  The problem arises when we have to choose someone to represent us in government.  Because we, for the most part, only have two choices, identified by a party affiliation, we must decide which to accept.  We make this decision knowing full well there is plenty about each that we dislike.  Once we make our choice, we begin to identify ourselves with that choice.  Because our nature is to want to believe we are right, we begin to defend even the things about our choice that we disliked when we made it.  We begin to vilify in our minds the candidate, and by extension the party, we didn't choose.  Thereby trapping ourselves in "party think".

I submit for your consideration that "party think" is the reason our choices are so limited at the ballot box, and truth be told, none of us are happy about it.  None of us are happy, yet, out of fear we submit to it just the same.  I might be willing to wager that voters on both sides of "party think" are only slightly more in favor of the candidate they choose, than of the one they don't, only on different issues.  And that their final decision is based more on fear of the one than confidence in the other.

But how do we solve this problem of party think?

Consider that this problem is an internal one.  Like an addiction.  I'm confident that, if you think about it, you can make that connection.  The first step to addressing an internal problem is to admit that it IS a problem.  The next step is to recognize that, however difficult the process, it must be done.  We also must recognize that, as with any addiction, there are those who don't want to see us "kick the habit".  Those who have a vested interest in keeping us hooked on their product.  I'll not go so far as to say it's intentional.  At least, not by ALL party politicians.  But each of the major parties are working to convince us that we really need THEM to protect us from the OTHER.  We must recognize that we don't need THEM to protect us.  We already have a defense against BOTH. The United States Constitution.

The true and lasting beauty of our Constitution is that it does indeed protect us all from each other.  It protects us from the ideology of our leaders, WHATEVER side of "party think" they happen to be on.  Those who want us to believe we need them to protect us, have little respect for the power of the Constitution.  This IS true of BOTH parties, though not necessarily true of all their voting members.  Many of them, I am convinced, are as trapped in "party think" as we are.  They merely need an open and unobstructed door to escape through.

Which brings me to the next step in addressing the problem...  CHOICES.

No matter how badly we may want to, we can't make the change without better choices.  There was a time in our earliest history even before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when communities chose their leaders, not merely because they raised their hands and said "please pick me".  They sought them out for the wisdom they possessed, not because they would give them what they wanted, or even because they agreed on everything.  They recognized their WISDOM not their IDEOLOGY.

What made President Washington warn congress to avoid "the spirit of party"?

Perhaps, being the only president ever to be chosen with no regard whatsoever for party, he was able to see what no other could.  That "party think" however well intentioned, can have no other effect than to weaken the Union. And, over time, weaken the Constitution. HE WAS CORRECT.

I'll get back to ya...