Zombie politics
Party loyalty — be it to the Democratic or Republican Party — is a harmful practice to democratic institutions, and it is time for people of all political stripes to question whether remaining loyal to a political party is healthy to the republic.
There are people for whom everything a Democrat does is treason, and for everything a Republican does is idiocy. Instead of commenting on individual policies and actions, people look to party affiliation as a shortcut in determining political appropriateness. Like any stereotype, this type of thinking hides more than it reveals, and does nothing to further the aims of good government.
In his 1796 farewell address, President George Washington called political parties the “worst enemy” of government.
Washington commented: “[T]he common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.”
Washington had been caught in the middle of a war between Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans and Alexander Hamilton’s Federalists. Forced to choose a side, Washington declared himself a Federalist, but in his final act as President he called for both sides to settle their disputes and put the interests of the republic to heart instead.
Mark Twain, as well, wrote harsh words on party loyalty. He wrote:
Look at the tyranny of party — at what is called party allegiance, party loyalty — a snare invented by designing men for selfish purposes — and which turns voters into chattles, slaves, rabbits, and all the while their masters, and they themselves are shouting rubbish about liberty, independence, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, honestly unconscious of the fantastic contradiction; and forgetting or ignoring that their fathers and the churches shouted the same blasphemies a generation earlier when they were closing their doors against the hunted slave, beating his handful of humane defenders with Bible texts and billies, and pocketing the insults and licking the shoes of his Southern master.
Twain’s point was that party politics was a way for people to control the minds of others with an us-versus-them mentality. No matter if the party is corrupt, or duplicitous, or engages in activities that are harmful to democracy; the only thing that matters in party politics is that your party wins and the other one loses.
The dominance of the two-party system in the United States has led to a political framework where there is little alternative in public policy. The two parties squabble over smaller, hot-button cultural issues such as abortion and the definition of marriage, while much more pressing and meaningful issues — health care, militant foreign policy, expanding federal power, climate change, energy policy — are given little attention.
For example, 72 percent of Americans — an impressive majority — favor a government administered health care plan to compete with private insurance, yet it is this very proposal that faces the most opposition in the halls of government.
The reason for this consensus is that powerful corporate interests have maintained a grip on positions of power for some time, and they strut arm-and-arm with the dominant political parties in ensuring their authority. The whole notion of “Red” and “Blue” states is a simple divide-and-conquer strategy that splits the American public in order to prevent fundamental and democratic change.
The result is a type of “zombie politics”, where individual Americans unthinkingly fall in lock-step behind a political leader and party without considering the consequences of the policy.
There is no pretense of critical thinking, but simply unwavering uniformity: a nation of zombies.
There should be no doubt that both political parties and their adherents are guilty of this zombie approach, but there is also little avoiding the truth that adherents to Republican Party ideology are particularly unmoored from genuine principle. A party that once supported good ideas such as small government and a non-interventionist foreign policy has transformed into a party that waves the banner of religious bigotry, small-minded populism and the literal use of torture against anyone who disagrees with them. This is the kernel of fascism, and the fact that even 10 or 20 percent of Americans go along with this is in many ways chilling.
Consider a world without the chains of political party, where candidates simply ran on their individual position. Without the backdrop of a party, candidates could propose novel or creative solutions without needing to worry about a larger party agenda. More candidates could enter the field without needing to worry about “dominant” candidates supported by powerful parties. And without the label of a political party, individual citizens would actually have to pay attention to the candidate and engage in critical thinking to determine if the policies make sense and are worthwhile.
For the last fifty years, corporate power, government, the empire, and the division between rich and poor have all increased dramatically — regardless of who has been in office. Clinton expanded government, but so did George W. Bush. Nixon bombed Vietnam, but it was Kennedy who got America involved. George W. Bush lied to the public to start a war in Iraq, but Johnson did the same thing in the Gulf of Tonkin.
And this entire time, corporations have benefited at the expense of individual people. This is the result of a dysfunctional two-party system and the dominance of zombie politics.
Enough is enough. At some point Americans need to see the Democratic and Republican parties for what they are: two different handmaidens serving the same greedy power centers, the same corporate elite, the same ostentatious political circles. And they can do this by dropping their allegiance to their political party, and affirming their allegiance to the Constitution and the republic itself.
5 Responses to “Zombie politics”
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I don’t know if you intentionally sprinkled irony into this article about “zombie politics” or not. I would say, that based on your leftist leaning point of view in an overwhelming majority of your articles you did it accidentally.
While you write this, and in your mind think you are above the “party line mentality” you are mocking, you fall into the rhythm of the DNC marching tune:
“There should be no doubt that both political parties and their adherents are guilty of this zombie approach, but there is also little avoiding the truth that adherents to Republican Party ideology are partiularly unmoored from genuine principle.”
This is the point in your article where you cease to be objective and begin to, yet again, attack the Republican Party and their core beliefs.
You provide no counter balance by pointing out the blind following the blind in the Democratic party where anyone who disagrees with Obama is a “racist”. You mention the republicans use of ‘torture’ against “anyone who disagrees with them” while failing to point out that Nancy Pelosi IS guilty of treason, and she has yet to face trial and execution.
This article, like the rest I have read on your site, lacks a fully explored conclusion. You wrote “A party that once supported good ideas such as small government and a non-interventionist foreign policy has transformed into a party that waves the banner of religious bigotry, small-minded populism and the literal use of torture against anyone who disagrees with them. This is the kernel of fascism, and the fact that even 10 or 20 percent of Americans go along with this is in many ways chilling.” but ignored the other side of the coin.
The marred surface revealed when you turn that coin over shows a Democratic party, that ‘once had good ideas” but has come a long and harmful way from JFK’s “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
The Sheep of the Democratic flock now only ask “what’s in it for me??” “Where’s my welfare?” “Where is my taxpayer funded abortion?” “Where is my healthcare, paid not out of my own efforts, but out of the pockets of people I’ll never know and would never thank anyway?”
Instead of the “facism” of the Republicans, you would gently nudge us towards the precipice of Socialism and communal ownership of a Communist Society that you Democratic leaders wish upon the American People.
One last comment, before you compare Republicans to “facists”, you might want to read Mein Kampf and look into the organization of the Nazis Party. You will find FAR more similarities to Barrack Obama and ACORN.
Zombie eat brains, but zombie cannot swallow this injustice!
Gibby,
Your comment reads like a lengthy screed against “Democrats” — I am not a Democrat, and I would be interested for you to point out my alleged “leftist leanings.” I’m not sure what makes you think I “ignored the other side of the coin” — as you pointed out, I think adherents to both parties tend to act in lockstep.
Seems to me that your real problem with my post is my observation that while both tend to follow blindly, Republicans are more blind to their party mind control than Democrats. The tenor of your comment, as well as the fingerpointing you engage in against the Democratic Party is, in my view, further proof of my conclusion. Why the need to follow any party at all? The Founding Fathers despised political parties — shall we label them as unpatriotic as well?
Best,
I.C.
To clarify, I felt your article pointed out ONLY Republican zombism and as such presented only “the other side” which was mostly ommited.
I believe Democrats are just as blind to the Socio-fascist state Obama wishes to instill upon us as Repubs are/were to the follies of Bush.
While the Founding Fathers were against the party system, only George Washington remained outside of Party Politics, and even then not entirely. Thomas Jefferson claimed that only those who contribute to the taxes should have a say in how the taxes should be spent. To me this would mean people who get a 100% refund or live on government welfare should not get to vote. If we denied them the right to vote (in a nice solid Democrat block) it would be seen as ‘unconstitutional’.
Andrew Jackson coined the phrase “to the victor goes the spoils” when he was accused of cronyism in political appointments. While what he did pales in comparison to modern day actions such as Haliburton and ACORN, particularly the latter being investigated for voter registration fraud and granted a no-bid contract to conduct the next Census by the president their fraudulence helped get elected, he is still the root cause.
The Founding Fathers were not unpatriotic, but by their example they paved a way for the current de-evolution of our Presidency. The saying “if you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll ask for a glass of milk” holds true in all areas. We gave our President’s an ‘inch’ and slowly that has converted into ‘miles.’
As for pointing out your ‘leftist leanings’ I would have to go through several articles and copy paste the passages that give me that impression the most. For starters, as mentioned earlier, ommission of blind Democrats in this article. No posts about the gross incompetence of Bill Clinton and his involvment in the laws that created the housing market collapse by requiring banks to loan money to people with horrible credit, knowing it would not be paid back.
Not a single article on the failed stimulus package of Obama that if passed “right away will halt unemployment at 8%” while it will soon be surpassing 10 and 11%. No comment about how oof that 787 billion passed freely by taxpayers, most of the money (in the neighborhood of 85%) went to “blue” states.
I see no articles about the seldom mention cap and trade provision to end Presidential term limits. What about socialized health care where senior citizens (65+) have mandatory 5 year consultations to see if they are ready to be assisted in ending their suffering. Or that in the bill, ‘abortion’ will include children upto and including 2 years of age.
Perhaps a little more balanced reporting instead of typical Young Democrat rantings of “F* Bsh” “Corporate America is the devil” etc.
I know this is long, but I had a lot to say.
regards,
Gibby.
Gibby,
As I mentioned, I am not a Democrat and do not spend a lot of time in the trench warfare that occupies the two parties. So I am not familiar with some of the issues you raise. I am a big fan of Ron Paul ( R) and Dennis Kucinich (D), who many people would say are on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, but who in fact share many principles (and who are great fans of each other incidentally — I will have to dig out a Ron Paul video where he praises Kucinich for having principles, even if he disagrees with them).
So I cannot really comment on the points you raise. I would only say that people today, from every facet, receive a lot of disinformation that just isn’t true. I tend to think that both parties are beholden to powerful interests. During the Bush years, it was impossible to ignore the influence of weapons and oil on government policy; now, it would be impossible to ignore the influence of big banks and insurance. So the industry that is on top may change, but the fact that there is powerful influence at all remains the same.
What is important is to rise above party politics and consider the importance of the common good. Again, I take cue from the Framers, who believed very much in the power of republican (little r) virtue. They believed strongly that they could create a society where people who cared about the common good could rise through merit and influence society in positive ways. There is a lot of corruption in the world today, but I believe that some of that reasoning still applies. The Framers were human and certainly not perfect, but I think their political theories were well thought out. They believed they were creating a new age for humanity — the fact that we have failed to live up to their expectations does not degrade the truth of their creation.
If you see a “leftist bias,” you should know that I write on this website without any concern for what is “left” or “right.” I do not watch cable TV or pledge allegiance to any “side.” I simply write what I write, based on what I observe. I am not beholden to any ideology other than my own perceptions, which in turn are evolving as I continue to learn about myself and this world. I believe this is the best way to live a free and joyous life.