Member-only story
The fallacy of American democracy
The American citizenry no longer has the capacity to engage in productive discourse about political ideals. Ideas related to governance and societal function are now viewed so antagonistically that rational consideration on a broad scale is not possible. Heated exchange across party lines based on limited understanding and excessive emotional investment are all that remain, and thus our system of government is ridiculous.
I am a millennial, and I have a wife and daughter, a dog, and a job — and I’m in school. I do not have time to learn enough about positions adopted by this or that politician to cast a vote based on rational analysis. Nor can I fathom casting a vote simply on the basis of “supporting the party.” The notion of party allegiance is utterly nonsensical to me, and I question the intelligence of anyone who votes merely in accordance with party lines.
But I also question the basis on which most busy, working adults cast their votes in general because I cannot accept that there’s any way the average person leading a productive life can truly understand what they are even voting on. In fact, I am convinced that working people with active family lives are basically clueless when they arrive at the ballot box, motivated only by whichever media agenda to which they’ve been most exposed. In other words, I believe than most people vote on superficial…