In America, there are two main cola companies: Coke and Pepsi. In economic terms, these two companies are as close to an oligopoly as we can get. While there is other companies in the cola business, Coke and Pepsi dominate the market.
In this kind of market, the seller, not the buyer, has the power. In theory, Coke and Pepsi could both continue to raise the prices of their products and the consumers would have to pay it. Thankfully, there are plenty of other substitutes for cola, and that’s what keeps the prices low. But think of the gasoline market. Over the last year prices continued to go up and up, and consumers could do little against it. They either had to absorb the rising cost and spend less on other goods, or find a substitute (public transportation, carpooling, bike riding, etc.) If these other forms of transportation didn’t exist, we would be helpless against price hikes because of the lack of competition. It would be in the best interest of all gasoline companies to keep prices high and keep new competition out.
This is exactly how our political system is in America today. We are forced to choose from two political parties, both of whom cater only to themselves and realize it’s in their best interest to keep the other party afloat and the rest of the other parties out.
The political parties are run like major corporations and should be treated that way. The main difference between a normal corporation and the two major parties is that the political parties have way more power than any corporation, because the political parties get to make the rules and have the power to change them. Why are there only two parties in power? Because the Republicans and Democrats won’t share. They have a good scam going and they want to keep it that way.
Are the two parties different? Yeah, sure. Are they dramatically different? No. Each party exists for one main reason: to earn a lot of money for those on the top. What drives the people on the bottom of the ladder is the promise that one day they’ll be on top, making the big bucks.
And how does this scheme work? It’s rather simple. In order to make money doing anything, you have to have what someone else wants. What does everyone want? If you said power, give yourself a pat on the back. And the people with the most power in our land are elected officials. So if you want a piece of that power, you better be willing to pay for it.
But first you have to be elected. The Republicans and Democrats do a good job trying to appease two very broad groups of people that make up most of America. I could go into detail about this, but I came upon a broader thought as to why people affiliate themselves with one party or another. I firmly believe that the vast majority of the decisions we make when we are young are based on our parents. Many people say “I don’t want to end up like my dad/mom” or “I want to be just like my mom/dad.” Either way, our decisions are based on whether we like or dislike our parent’s views. I would argue that we disagree more often than agree with our parents, and that’s why many of us are rebellious when we were younger. One major form of rebellion is to pick the political party that is opposite of our parents. I semi-believe this is why a lot of people in my generation are Democrats.
A more profound twist on the same subject is most people (particularly younger people) do not like authority. Whomever holds the most power in politics is going to take the blunt of youth hatred and consequently turn them onto the opposite political party. This would be another explanation of why a lot of young people are currently Democrats.
History seems to support this. Why are a lot of the baby boomers Republican? I believe because the Democrats were in office when they were young and turned them to the Republican party. I see this as being a cyclical phenomenon, meaning that in the next ten years or so the Democratic party will be holding more power in office. They will hold to this for the majority of the next twenty years after that, which will be long enough for the next generation to become pissed and switch to the Republican side.
The Republicans and Democrats use this to their advantage. Right now, Democrats are pushing to reach the younger voters while the Republicans are pushing to reach the older voters. They are playing to their strengths. In fifteen years I bet it’ll be the opposite. Think of the major colas. Coke seems to go after the older group that grew up drinking Coca Cola. Pepsi chases youth, with their campaigns always reaching out to the next generation. If Pepsi continues to gain market share, I bet Coke will go after younger drinkers twice are hard as Pepsi.
Now, onto the dogmatic political stances of each party. Each party is the way they are in order to maximize their profits while avoiding stepping on the other party’s toes (and therefore keeping some sort of balance of power). The Republicans cater to corporate businesses and the Democrats cater to Non-Profit groups (which are For-Profit companies with tax exemptions, therefore not needing Republicans to lower taxes), Unions, and other Special Interest Groups. These groups pay the political parties, and in exchange they receive all sorts of goodies, including new laws in their favor, lower taxes, tax exemptions, and funding for their projects. Everyone wins, right?
Well no, unless you can count yourself in one of the groups mentioned above. Most people are victims of the political system and don’t even realize it. They continue to support parties blindly, which I believe to be just about the worst thing someone can do. Political parties claim to stand for their values, but do they really hold to them? If the price is right they won’t. And they’ll find a way of scapegoating someone or blaming the other party for the consequences. And their true believers will continue to blindly follow them. And it won’t end.
But it could. I chose not to be a member of a political party because I don’t believe in either of them. I like some of the ideals of both parties, but I know that they will never stick to them. And as of right now, I don’t see myself voting for either of them in the near future. I think the best thing America could do is vote for a so-called “third party.” We need a third party. We need a fourth party. A fifth party. Anything to balance out the power in Washington and in our State Capitals.
I’ve had friends recently tell me things like “Don’t vote for a third party because that’s wasting your vote” or “If you are going to vote for a third party, you should vote for a Democrat instead, because Republicans are ‘evil.’” First of all, if I were to follow their logic with my own beliefs, that would mean both main political parties are evil. I don’t think either are evil, just very very corrupt. Secondly, the argument that voting for a third party is a waste of a vote is wrong, because if more people did it, then the third parties would have more of a chance to win in the years to come. It’s going to be a slow process, but it has to happen. Third, saying that instead of voting for a third party, vote Democrat (or Republican) to keep the other evil party out is crazy. This argument came up a lot during the last Presidential race, when people were saying to not vote for Nader because that was a “vote for Bush.” That’s so bogus and wrong, at least for me, because if I wanted to vote for Bush, I would have. But I wanted to vote for Nader. It was either that or not vote at all.
So, I guess in conclusion, if you going to vote for the Republican or Democratic party, at least know that they can be sold to the highest bidder, and that neither really care about you personally or your own politics. I urge you to support another party, one that will help change America, because the two parties we have won’t change it for the better. To go back to the soft drink analogy, go out and drink RC Cola or Jolt. Start to scare the crap out of Coke and Pepsi.
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