There is an ancient chinese proverb that says...
When the Cove and the Mussel fight, it is the fisherman who benefits.
If you have two enemies, the most efficient way to defeat them is by getting them to fight each other. If you have only one enemy, then you must work to divide that enemy into two opposing forces and then turn them against each other. This is a war strategy that is called divide and conquer. And even though it's well known and has been around since the dawn of civilization, it is still used today with great success.
In pre-historic times, the wars were fought between the Haves and the Have Nots. The victor usually gained land or territorial rights or other tangible goods which could be used to make themselves more prosperous.
But in modern times, the fight has changed. There has been a paradigm shift in what we are fighting for. Instead of land and territorial rights, we now fight for ideologies. Instead of the Haves vs. the Have Nots, it is now things like individual freedoms vs. the security of the greater good. Instead of fighting over tangible resources that can increase our prosperity, we fight over principles on how people should be governed.
Yet, as we step through and beyond the looking glass of American politics, we can see that there is another war taking place. Sometimes it's very subtle, but it is always there. We see that for all the ideological battles we wage in the modern era, there still exists the ancient war between the Haves and the Have Nots. It never stopped. It's just become harder to see. But, when we see this war and we look closely at it, it's clear that the Haves are winning.
Yes, the Haves are winning. To see this all one has to do is notice the direction that power and wealth have been flowing in. Generation after generation, the flow is towards an increasingly smaller group of people. This group is smaller, but wealthier and more powerful than any before it. We call these people The Super Elite. The Super Elites are winning because they are controlling more and more of the planet's resources. Another indicator you might also notice is that poverty is is spreading to an increasingly larger group of people. This is evidence that the Have Nots are losing control of the planet's resources.
How is this happening?
In America, there are really only two main political groups. They are called Republicans and Democrats. Republicans and Democrats are ideological based groups that have strong, polarizing positions on how best to govern the people. Many citizens remain unaffiliated with either group. Every election cycle is a battle to win over this large, unaffiliated group. The side that gains the most popularity amongst unaffiliated voters tends to be the side that wins the current election.
So which group is the Haves and which group is the Have Nots?
Both Republicans and Democrats are Have Nots. And, that is precisely the problem.
In America, we have become like two business partners that are engaged in an argument about how to run the business. While we argue back and forth about who is right, criminals are coming into our store and robbing us blind. Because we are arguing, we don't even notice this is happening. As you can see, regardless of who wins the argument, we both lose our business. But will the argument ever really end?
Indeed, the criminals hope the argument never ends. As long as Republicans and Democrats use all their energy and resources fighting each other, the Super Elite don't have to fight at all. All they must worry about is that we keep fighting each other. So, they feed fuel into the fire to keep it hot.
Once you see that this is what is happening, the solution becomes clear. What America needs is a political party that shifts the paradigm back to where it belongs. A political party that correctly re-draws the battle lines between the haves and the have nots. This is where the battle lines should be drawn because this is where the main battle is taking place. Until the people can unite under some kind of common umbrella, we will continue to squander our collective resources destroying each other. Eventually, the Super Elite will win.
What is this umbrella?
Not that the name is important, but I call it The People's Party.
The People's Party has only one goal; To eliminate the power and control that the Elite have over our country.
How would The People's Party achieve its goals?
For starters, The People's Party would not engage in ideological battles. It would literally have no stance on social issues like abortion or gay marriage or even health care. The People's Party would recognize that there are already plenty of resources and energy being thrown into these kinds of fights that it doesn't need to throw in more. Instead, The People's Party is looking to eradicate corruption in our government. It's looking for areas where our government has become too corrupted due to interference from Super Elite groups. Once it identifies those areas, The People's Party would work to support candidates and laws that would edge out the Super Elite's control over our government and our resources.
The great thing about The People's Party is that you can still be a Republican or a Democrat. Because it is not an ideologically based party, The People's Party is not in competition with either Republicans or Democrats. All citizens from any political party is welcome to join. The People's Party is where the left, right and independents come to do the work that we all want done. Check your ideology at the door, because it's not welcome here.
Slowly but surely, The People's Party would work to continually reduce and eliminate corruption in American government. Candidates would be supported based on their ability to accurately represent their districts, not their campaign donors. Laws would be supported based on whether the law increases or decreases the likelihood of corruption.
If a politician or a law gets an endorsement from The People's Party, it means that it is not corrupt (or that it will reduce corruption). Think of The People's Party like you would the FDA. Our job is to eliminate corruption as if it were a cancerous substance to our country. We do our job through funding and public exposure.
Think of it. A political party that unites the left and right without getting bogged down in ideology. To me, this seems like the way out of this mess. Americans will never agree on ideology issues. But all of us agree that corruption is a major problem. Indeed, it is The Main Problem.
In any event, there is no People's Party ...yet. It is only an idea. But it is an idea that I think needs to be heard and discussed. The name is not important, just the principle.
Thanks for reading.
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*****UPDATE*****
From the comments, I think there is some confusion on exactly what my idea is. I should have included an example of the kind of political action The People's Party might take. Here's an example...
Let's suppose there is a district with an incumbent (doesn't matter whether they be R or D). The incumbent has a history of voting against their constituency multiple times. We know this because The People's Party has polled the district and gathered their opinions on issues. So, The People's Party would target that candidate as being corrupt. Now, the challenger (be them an R or a D) has run an honest campaign and from our research it seems likely the candidate will not be corrupt. Okay, then the People's Party gives money to that candidate and or runs ads against the incumbent. See how it would work? The People's Party stays out of the ideological debates and focuses on whether a candidate is being true to the constituents. If there were only corrupt candidates running for an office, then The People's Party might consider running their own candidate.
That's one example of how a political party can eradicate corruption without getting bogged down in ideology.