What will it take to shake up the current political culture?

Question

The current core beliefs of the 2 parties tend to support either extreme conservatism or extreem liberalism, it's all very black or white. While the reality is that most of our people live in a much more gray world that employees a balance of both view points. If we are truely a representative democracy what will it take for our political leaders to become much more of a mirror of our views and our lives?

Answer 1

Revolution. Sadly, i truly believe that it will take another Revolution and i don't think it will be long in coming. We were created to be a Republic, we have deteriorated into something more like a democracy and, due to the complacency-turned-apathy of Americans, we are currently in a head first dive into a full-blown dictatorship.

Though we are (supposed to be) a Republic, the average lifespan of a Republic is 200 years, to-wit:

"About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage ."

Most matters, when broken down to their most basic elements *are* black and white. 'Grey' is the area we, as humans, use to justify our own opinions. As it pertains to the two major political parties, it *has* to be black and white because for either side to entertain shades of grey would be tantamount to admitting they are wrong. That ain't gonna happen. We are so far into voting for the party that promises the most from the public coffers that there seems to be no stopping it; therefore, logic dictates that we must fully revolt against the current political parties and find a Candidate willing to take on the catastrope that has, for some time, been the Office of President of our great Country.

If the greatest portion of the American public believes that our political system lies somewhere between the two extremes, then we must revolt. It is the nature of man and history. Those who hold the purse strings and, thus, the power, are not going to willingly give it up ~ it must be taken from them and that will only happen through Revolution whether that Revolution be violent or silent.

In order to revolt, Americans need a true Patriot; one who makes sense, who can rally the masses, one who is a born leader, and one who is willing to sacrifice life for Country in a manner which will be far more painful than taking a bullet. Sadly, while there will be many willing to follow him/her, there will be just as many whose apathy will oppose anything that might remove the smallest comfort and convenience of their lives.

Few of our "representatives" actually represent us. Oh, they do while campaigning but, for most of them, that's over with when the win the election. A case in point here would be to use Obama as an example. There was recently a vote as to whether or not English should be proclaimed the national language of the U.S. Obama voted "no." This man wants to be President! What would he have us speak? This one issue, alone, should tell people all they need to know about him and where his loyalties (and power) will lie should he be elected to Office.

I hope that if i've not been a good contributor to your question then at least i've put some ideas into some heads and given many something to really think about.

Offered as a bit of humor, the following:

Definition of Political Correctness: A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Answer 2

Think about internal political conflicts like the Roundheads vs. the Cavaliers in Britain, the French Revolution, the War Between the States, the American Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, etc. These political shake-ups build-up very slowly until there is a final straw that pushes the climate into a crescendo.

It is extremely rare that a system becomes radically shaken-up peacefully.

Answer 3

The short answer is that our political culture will change when we wake up and force it to. Neither of our current political parties began life as majority parties.

The Democratic Party succeeded the Federalist, anti-federalists (Democratic Republicans) and Whigs as a majority party. The Republicans began life as a protest party for abolitionists. It went from marginal to nationwide quickly. It ran a small slate of congressional candidates in 1954 and captured congress and the White House only six years later.

We have had basically these two parties ever since. It is a fallacy to believe that each party stands for the same principles as 150 years ago. Republicans were the champion of civil rights while the democrats were the party of the KKK. The Progressive Party had a major effect of both parties as anti-trust laws were passed under Teddy Roosevelt and other major Progressive principles passed under Wilson.

Throughout our history, the system has changed when the people became fed up enough to demand change. We must ask ourselves a simple question: What has to happen now to get us motivated enough to do something. It begins and ends at the local level. Enough revolts of local activists from both parties will lead to change quickly.

Notice how ideology is not as important in city council elections or Board of Education races. We can change to world if we care enough to get involved.

Answer 4

Most of the democrats elected to Congress last year were conservative democrats. There are also plenty of liberal republicans. Ron Paul is a republican member of congress, but he's really a libertarian. We also have socialists and marxists in the democratic party. We have quite a spectrum of political beliefs out there. Very few represent their parties 100%.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Equal funding for election candidates. Having a campaign fund raising system creates a situation which is inherently tilted towards the wealthy. This will not change until campaign fundraising laws create a cap on fundraising.

Answer 7

One thing would be a strong, viable third party. The Repubs and the Dems have become to complacent, to corrupt, and neither listens to the very people who they are suppose to be representing.

Answer 8

It will take a disease that target only people over 50 of age and whose work in politics...Then our problems will be corrected... The old guard is not just up to the task anymore, they become lazy minded and forget to think about what lay ahead!

Answer 9

Unfortuantely, the only way it seems this country is going to change is if more people are willing to risk their lives to show how wrong a course we are on.

Answer 10

Vote for Ron Paul (Libertarian). That would shake up a lot of things in Washington.