America's Two Party System.

What this is about Pro has made some unfortunately incorrect assumptions based upon the comments, assumptions that have rendered his opening statement devoid of subsistent argument. As I specified in the comments, “this debate is theoretical, not about the implementation. ” I apologize for any confusion that may have occurred as I attempted to simplify the debate for the commenter, but I must remind Pro that the debate is what the debate says: “Con will argue that political divisions in America are detrimental and should be abandoned for… a non-partisan system” This does imply that I am referring to the Democratic and Republican parties, but I’ll let that slide. I cannot, however, accept that Pro attempts to liken a debate about whether or not political divisions are detrimental to “jail. ” In essence, Pro is to argue that the political parties are good while Con argues that they are bad. Simple as that. Freedom of Association Once again, this is an implementation argument. Effective implementation is impossible, and should not be discussed. Issues such as freedom of association are for a different debate. Furthermore, I never hinted at any ban on similar ideologies within the debate. I agree with you on this issue, but that is, once again, a different debate. Abandoned- not abolished. Discourse There is no hindering of discourse without parties. The difference is that the discourse will be intelligent and free, as I will discuss. Oppression of thought- Political divisions essentially stop democracy by shutting down independent thought. Effects upon thought the legislative branch: The recent budget plan passed through the house with no Democratic support. This not to say that none of the 190 democrats in the House of Representatives would have supported the bill had it been presented without any predisposition; I firmly believe the opposite. Rather, the Democrats were afraid of voting against party lines; afraid to piss off their base. Many fewer republicans may have supported the bill also, but they feared the onslaught of negative press that they would have received had they would receive for voting for what they would truly believe to be best. Political parties essentially bully representatives into forfeiting their votes. Subscription- Effects on the general populace: News organizations rule over our country’s democratic process in that they have a stranglehold over many voters in the same way that drugs control addicts in that once a person has been inducted into a school of thought they only look to confirm their beliefs. Republicans watch Fox and become even more conservative; Democrats watch NBC and become even more liberal. This continues until both sides are hopelessly brainwashed, incapable of fairly considering the opposing view. When neither side is willing to consider the view of the other, conversation fails. This breads misunderstanding, which breads hatred and division. Effects on progress in the legislative branch: Like the general populace, Senators and Congressmen quickly become incapable of considering the opposite view due to their political orientation. Debates in the legislative branch are often worse than useless: blind posturing that accomplished nothing: the words of the deaf landing on deaf ears. Made worse with Filibustering and other wasteful tactics, the Senate and The House of Representatives are two massive garbage bins into which we throw taxpayer dollars, dollars that could be used to fund honest, open minded conversation if America abandoned the party system. Conclusion: Political parties do nothing but divide America, closing ears and destroying thought.