Why the Two-Party Political System Does Not Work

The two-party political system that we have in the USA is defective. It doesn't work.

Reason 1

It is really one party, playing "good cop, bad cop". One side encourages unlimited selfishness, the other gullible generosity. One side is mindlessly warlike, the other mindlessly pacifist. They strive to differentiate themselves from each other, but each side serves their corporate masters, who are running the show, uncritically and efficiently.

Reason 2

The two parties act together to keep third parties out of the system except at the local level. Thus both Republicans and Democrats in Congress OK'd the introduction of electronic voting machines, whose purpose is to rig elections.

Example in Pennsylvania

As has been demonstrated in Pennsylvania, the corrupt two main parties are perfectly willing to act to prevent 3rd parties from being able to put their candidates on the ballot. The Green Party had a list of 50,000+ signatures to request being put on the ballot but because the judges in charge of verifying those lists were Democrats, the judges deliberately disqualified tens of thousands of signatures using the flimsiest of excuses possible. As a result, the Greens were artificially put below the minimum threshold for getting on the ballot. And who has the lawyer that led the charge against the Greens? Reed Smith, former attorney for John Kerry's presidential race. NY Times story. Green Party Convention 2007 video of Nader giving details.

Reason 3

The rise of punditry on both conservative and liberal sides means people are making money off of

over-dramatizing fringe issues
ignoring undramatic common issues where a reasonable concensus could be achieve
ignoring highly important issues that elites don't want brought up.

Pundits steer clear of issues that might unite both sides, or aggressively mock and belittle anyone who brings them up -- taking any opportunity to call them fringe lunatics or conspiracy theorists, issues like:

The systematic rigging of elections in 2000 and 2004 by removing Democrats from voting rolls, which even the Democratic Party fuss over.
The controlled demolition of the World Trade Center by (most likely) CIA and Mossad on 9/11.
The need to abolish the Federal Reserve, which is neither federal nor a reserve, but is the means by which bankers have rigged the US economy to make a killing.

Reason 4

The emphasis on "fair and balanced" journalism, which university journalism professors stress is so important, has meant that the only issues that are covered are ones that "both sides" approve of, i.e. the "balance" struck is between "right" and "left", and the "fairness" is fairness to them, not anyone else.

The implication is that no other viewpoint exists.

Yet the two-party system is not genuinely two independent parties in the first place, so truly the balance is essentially between two types of loyalist, at best, and the fairness is that of one loyalist against another. If you are not loyal to America's elites and their corporations, you are not allowed to take part.

To give you an example, I called up an NPR, which is partly taxpayer-funded, station asking why they had not covered the probable rigging of 2004 elections. They said they couldn't do so because it would not be a balanced show i.e. Republicans benefitted from the rigging so they would not take part. If NPR were to host such a show, which was unlikely they said, it would be a one-sided discussion involving the victims of fraudulent elections accusing the perpetrators and/or beneficiaries. In response to my assertion that the media have a duty to investigate wrongdoing, the producer simply ignored what I said.

Reason 5

Notice the mind-numbing mantra of both liberal and conservative establishment propagandists: They say, "You must be either liberal or conservative." Oh, really? Why believe that is true? It's a false choice. Choose neither. Liberal politicians and the liberal establishment are as useless and dishonest as conservative politicians and their organizations, because there are both merely faithful lackeys of the big business, almost always acting against your interests. In most countries there are many more political choices because they have proportional representation, which ensures that even small parties get seats in government.

Reason 6

The bogus differentiation between two parties has led to two different cultures, both freakish in their own way. Two separate cadres of culture-creators who find employment serving each mindset and demographic. For instance, there is liberal media that is inquisitive, frantic, sympathetic, and insistent that everyone is a victim. And there are conservative media are blaming, unsympathetic, morally self-righteous, and insistent that punishment cures all. Neither cadre of culture-creators wants to encourage self-criticism or critical thinking, because these defeat the mindless tribalism each espouses and profits from.