n With its Madisonian Republican roots, America is a pluralist country. Our founders saw this as a superior system of government, allowing for political bargaining and discourse that ultimately produces the collective good. This pluralism translates into a bipartisan political system, and while it sometimes leads to polarized division on the fringes, it often also develops effective policy measures and civically activates people. This is America.
Juxtapose that with the World of Dennis (“A word of advice: Don’t join political parties,” page 5, Oct. 20), where parties are evil instruments of oppression that numb the minds of their adherents. Such a viewpoint is cynical and undermines the truly positive impacts that emerge in our dual party form of government.
Sure, political parties are broad umbrella organizations that represent a lot of different voices. Those voices might not always agree on the issues, but if every single person had their own political party, nobody would be able to agree on anything and our government would be largely ineffective and chaotic! While Dennis is predisposed to third party (Green) politics, a nation with so many squawking voices can never pass meaningful legislation, has no political accountability and often leads to tyranny of the minority.
So what’s the alternative? Compromise! The beauty of the two-party system is that it allows for the majority of interests to be represented. When elected officials sit down at the bargaining table to come up with pragmatic policy, the people benefit.
Further, allegiance to a political party does not mean that a people’s brains shut down and they become a cog. For example, I think that gun control ought to be a states’ rights issue, but I am still a Democrat because I believe in the hopes and dreams encompassed in the party’s broader vision for America.
If individuals want to make change in this nation, they can bring their innovative ideas into the party system, not shun it. Our political parties are tools for accomplishing the public good. The beauty of this is that anyone can be civically active and anyone can directly impact government and politics. The reason why the LaRouche Cult fails to push politics in its desired direction is because nobody in the mainstream, or for that matter nobody with common sense, believes in their ideas. That doesn’t stop them from trying.
Here’s Dennis’ suggestion: “Instead of canvassing for the candidate your party supports, read a book and find more about the world.” Unfortunately, pondering the world is not enough. Talking about the world is not enough. Reading books is not enough. One candidate and one issue at a time, we can truly change the world, but only through the power of individual and collective action.
Cory Kalanick CAS ’07 Vice President, Campaign Relations Boston University College Democrats
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