Bradley Hankins

A bold move? Or an honest thought that should be considered by everyone?

Political parties destroy the relationship between those who are elected and those who elect. Political parties seek to divide the nation into two main groups, and a few other groups considered crazy and out of touch with the majority. The two main parties dominate the political sphere, and it has created an atmosphere that has ruin debate and created a system in which your views don’t matter as much as what party you are in.

Take for example:

1. If you are a Republican, than you must be a right-wing religious gun-loving American. You wish for less government in the social sector, while at the same time would love to expand the defense of the nation all at the same time lowering taxes and promising to stay within the budget. You love your guns and you especially love God. Anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, but pro-death penalty and pro-business. Your hero has to be Ronald Reagan, and you probably love him almost as much as you love Jesus.
2. If you are a Democrat, than you must be a left-wing socialistic America. You believe that the government should have more power all around, but would probably be less likely to go out and bomb people across the world. You believe that Universal Health Care and spending over the budget can only make the country better. You obviously must hate guns and the death penalty, but you’re pro-choice and you would love to see homosexual marriages in every state, and you’re probably willing to force those opinions down the throat of the whole country.

Now, both parties have their pros and cons, but not every single person who says they are in one party or the other agrees 100% of the time with someone else in the same party. Individuals have different opinions and different issues and different ways to solve those issues. Now, to throw a person in a party really doesn’t make any sense, but as we all have grown up you are either Democrat of Republican, and if you’re some other party then you don’t even really matter so why are you even here anyways?

These two parties are broad. Grant it most people in a party agree most of the time with the same party members, but it is just crazy to think that you will vote for someone just because they have a R or a D beside their name on the ballot. If we removed the labels that have lead to these two great Political Parties, then I believe we will make a big step forward in getting the rite people in the office, with more transparency, and a bigger connection between the elected official and those who elected him.

If all elected officials had to be voted because of their name, of who they really are, and what they really and truly represent, there would be a greater diversity of people running for office, and that greater diversity will have more competition, and with greater competition will lead to better performance.

I personally do not align myself with any party, and I will vote for whoever offers the best meal for me. But for me to vote for you because of a R or a D, I would have to be crazy and well out of my mind. Political parties mean nothing to me, and they shouldn’t mean anything to any other American too.

For better competition in the political sphere, for a better performance of our elected officials, for more transparency in government, please for now do not pull the lever because of the party a person is in. In fact, ignore the party, and pay attention to the person. It is the person who will represent you, not the party. If we all do that, eventually it will come about that political parties will not matter, and they will be abolished from society, thus overall creating a better America for you and me.