Democracy Contested: The Two Party System is Tearing us Apart

The U.S. Constitution, a democratic promise from ourselves, for ourselves, and to our future selves. That we will always work to promote a culture and climate in the United States of America that is conducive to securing the blessings of Liberty; what ever that may subjectively be for the many people of this great nation. Because isn’t that what Thomas Jefferson meant by “self-evident” when talking about it in the Declaration of Independence. That liberty is unique to each individual as we each see it, and experience it; and to truly have liberty, we must accept equally what is subjectively self-evident to every person. Each human has the innate sense that they have the right to be themselves, who and how ever that means; as long as it doesn’t intentionally harm another physically or monetarily, right. We as Americans have lost the big picture, or maybe we never truly realized it, and we are now just slipping backwards, in a path that once had us headed in the right direction.

On September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the last day of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin in his written closing speech to solicit approval for the Constitution from the other delegates, informed the men that while he believed the Constitution would be a blessing for some time, we would ultimately fall into despotism once the people become so corrupted that they will be incapable of any other form a government.

Before I go on any further and start throwing around accusations of corruption, it’s best if we understand the word’s etymological roots, and the context in which Benjamin Franklin chose the word, because I’m not using it here, to solely identify immoral actions and behaviors of individuals. Corruption is derived from the Latin word corrumpere, which is composed of com (together, altogether), and rumpere (to break), so the word means the breakdown and decay of things that were once all together, both morally as well as physically. As Latin was widely used in the Late 18th Century, and Franklin, a printer, he was well versed in the language, which is why he chose to use the word “corrupted” when identifying what will lead to the people’s despotism in the future. So, when I use the word corruption here, I’m using it to identify the complete decay of our norms, mores, institutions, and systems; whether that be through the actions or inactions on our part. The corruption I’m talking about is just as much the result of our lying and steeling, as it is due to our neglect and apathy. The bad things people are doing are not the only thing leading to our corruption. Our ignorance and abandonment of our civic and moral responsibilities are just as much to blame, and it’s in this context Benjamin Franklin chose the word.

We are corrupted in all things. We are corrupted in our government. We are corrupted in our civics. We are corrupted in our education. We are corrupted in our religion. We are corrupted in our economics, and we are corrupted in our virtue; the list goes on, and on. I’m not insinuating that each one of us is foul and behaving immorally; no, in fact I believe that for the most part everyone is just trying to do the “right thing” and be the best they can be, within society and the existing framework. However, it’s the systems in which we live, that are corrupt, and we have bad actors within them driving them further into corruption. Let’s take a look at our government, and I’m not so naive, to believe that the corruption that exists in one of our organizations or systems isn’t caused by or the cause of corruption in another. We have a very complicated and intertwined sociopolitical environment, that is a result of the corruption in our country, just as much as it’s the creator of it. It’s a great example of what came first the “Chicken or the Egg”.

where should we start with our government, the one that’s now being beaten on by the wolf of our frustration and rage. How about the beginning? Yes, let’s start at the beginning. On May 25, 1787 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states, Rhode Island refrained from participating; converged on Philadelphia to a discrete location, which is now known as Independence Hall, On that September 17, 1787 Franklin’s closing arguments must have worked, because the 39 of the original 55 delegates agreed to release the new Constitution, that was just drafted over the previous 4 months, to the 13 states for ratification; which required 3/4 or 9 states to approve of it. This process took 9 months, and on June 22, 1788 with New Hampshire becoming the ninth state to ratify it, the U.S. Constitution officially became the law of the land. The U.S. Government officially convened with the First Congress on March 4, 1789, and Our First President George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789.

The Federal government was brand new. The obligation and motivation to follow the Constitution must have been strong and seemingly easy, or was it. George Washington, the first President of our nation, had the tremendous task of establishing the federal bonds amongst the 13 States, who were ultra-leery of a centralized government becoming too large, too strong, and too tyrannical (there is always an infancy of tyranny within a government, it’s where power originates). Our nation, in the wake of “The Revolution”, where we just divorced ourselves from one such type of government, didn't want to reinstall another. This became a partisan battle, where the conservative Federalists wanted a strong central government, central bank, and a strategic alignment with England, the country that was just thrown out; whereas the liberal non-federalists wanted State’s rights to prevail, a “Bill of Rights” added to the Constitution, to protect individual liberties from the tyranny of the majority, and a strategic relationship with France, the nation who’s support was the entire reason Washington’s Army was able to defeat the British. This political battle was originally void of parties; however, it wouldn’t remain that way.

George Washington’s cabinet and advisors, was the A-Team of the Revolutionary War. John Adams as the Vice President, and Alexander Hamilton the Treasury Secretary were staunchly conservative and believed the necessity for a strong central government that dictated internal laws as well as international relations, was the best way to form and grow a strong nation. However, Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, and James Madison Washington’s speech writer were liberal anti-federalists who believed that the States should retain their sovereignty, while the liberties and rights of individuals must be premiere and protected. The Federalists wanted strict institutional laws directed by the new central government, while the anti-Federalists wanted more focus on personal independence and liberties that the State’s determined.

Jefferson and Hamilton vehemently disagreed with one another. Hamilton believed in a strong federal government, that regulated the states, centralized all debts and finances, while maintaining a relationship with the British. Hamilton also believed that if the experiment of the United States failed, they would just fall back into England’s fold, and therefor maintaining an economic relationship with them would better facilitate this. Jefferson, after taking Benjamin Franklin’s place as American Ambassador to France, fell in love with the country and their culture; and wanted to remain loyal to the nation that was responsible for his young country’s freedom, while implementing France’s style of government in American. George Washington who respected both men greatly, did however favor Hamilton’s position. Jefferson and Madison decided they must resign from their positions and start the first political party in the United States, the Democratic-Republicans, or Jefferson’s Republicans as historians identify them.

Washington did not want to become a plaything between the two European nations, and favored England because of the strong economic opportunities they represented compared to the limited benefits of France who were now embroiled in their own internal revolution. Jefferson and the non-federalists felt deep betrayal by their fellow revolutionaries for not wanting to support the nation that made the country possible, now when they were in their time of similar need. So, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison Jumped ship and began a smear campaign against the Federalists, with George Washington being an unintended recipient. While Jefferson didn’t publicly attack Washington and his administration of Federalists, he paid for and supported behind the scenes actions and stories by journalists like, James Callender, who wrote articles accusing the Federalists and Washington of attempting to install himself as an American King and reinviting the British Monarchy back into the colonies.

Washington so devastated by the defection of two of his brightest men as well as the slanderous accusations made in the newspapers compelled him, after his 2nd term, to write in his “Farewell to Friends, and Fellow Citizens” a dire warning to the young country what would happen if they indulged in their “Spirit of Party” over following the U.S. Constitution in a non-partisan endeavor. Washington was more afraid of the enemy within that would destroy the country, rather than any army or force from the outside; and the enemy within he believed would be created by those who followed political party ideologies vice the U.S. Constitution. Washington warned of three things that would result: 1. political revenge, 2. geopolitical separatism, and 3. foreign interference/ intrusion. I’d say the father of our nation was prophetically spot on in his farewell message. Unfortunately Washington’s caution was not headed, and the Federalists would take political action against Jefferson’s Republicans that would become the genesis of the U.S. government’s political listing, rocking us back and forth and left to right for more than 230 years now.

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled U.S. Congress to suppress dissent and restrict immigration during rising tensions with France, extending residency for citizenship and targeting critics of the government with the Sedition Act, which criminalized "false, scandalous, and malicious writing," leading to prosecutions, sparking outrage, and contributing to the Democratic-Republican Party's victory in the 1800 election before the acts expired or were repealed. The Federalists overstepped the First Amendment of the Constitution, by illegally limiting what can be said and accused of one’s government; however, the anti-federalists were beyond reason in believing an alliance with France, which was caught up in a revolution, was more beneficial than one with England, who was economically stable at the time, even if France precipitated the independence from the latter; ultimately compelling Jefferson and the anti-Federalists to slander the Federalists in the first place. Doesn’t this seem strikingly familiar to the Conservative GOP led government of today, creating Executive orders and policies that are aimed at silencing political dissenters, and control immigration on the grounds of national security. The dysfunction and lack of adherence to the U.S. Constitution was baked into our government right from the beginning.

I’m catching the wave tops of the historical events of our past, to paint a picture of how the creation, and maintenance of the 2-party political system has been the bane of our democracy, not the protectors of it. Almost from the word ‘GO’ the Constitution, and subsequently our nation were crippled by the subjective ideologies of personal interests, and political power; rather than fulfilling Washington’s wishes of following the Constitution. However, it must also be identified that the Constitution itself was framed with intentional inequalities that went on unmitigated and willfully ignored for almost a Century until it nearly broke the nation in 1864. In February 1790, as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery trying to immediately right America’s sin of slavery, Benjamin Franklin petitioned Congress to end the slave trade and abolish slavery, urging them to “devise means for removing the Inconsistency from the Character of the American People”. He asked for “mercy and Justice towards this distressed Race. Ultimately failing to pass legislation with the U.S. government basically believing their hands were constitutionally tied until 1808; when the U.S. Constitution forbade the import of slaves past said year. American capitalism then kicked in, and that’s when slaves were born within our borders, and eliminated the need for expensive cross sea voyages to capture them; causing even more brutality to be implemented into the slave trade than already existed.

We have covered the subjective political ambitions, and original hypocrisy written into the U.S. Constitution as the foundations of rot that have been eating away at our democracy these past 2 centuries plus, and now the final indication of our corruption that was also established right at the beginning of our nation’s birth; and that is human character and behavior. This example will fall seamlessly in line with what is now the current iteration we know as the “Epstein Files”, and the exposure of rich and powerful men sexually victimizing underage girls from marginalized classes and communities. A revered founding father, author of the “Declaration of Independence”, an OG-Patriot, and creator of our nation’s first political party; non other than Thomas Jefferson; took to having sexual relations with a 14 year old slave girl he owned, named Sally Hemmings. This relationship would produce 4 children, that scandalously would be attributed to distant relatives until more recent DNA analysis proved them to be from Jefferson. So, it seems that the things we are now discovering in the Epstein Files, where the wealthy and powerful are having sex with underage girls, and nothing being done about it, but dusting up public outrage and misdirected finger-pointing, is something that was baked right into our sociopolitical culture from the get-go.

As we can see, the sociopolitical foundation our nation was built upon was done so with ill-formed bricks, leaving me to believe it was then not a far stretch for Franklin to make such a prediction back in 1787, when our legal doctrine and governing system was created. Benjamin Franklin knew damn well, that the society he was a part of, to include his past beliefs and behaviors was already set upon a path that would lead to people becoming completely corrupted; and then knowing how all empires have fallen before them, he could easily predict that despotism laid in our future; just how far into the future, that was the real question. We Americans of the 21st Century are the living proof and witness to the corruption, that has created a despotic government, and one we are all trying to shuck off the responsibility of creating.

We the People are angry, frustrated, anxious, and afraid. We feel our government and country have left us behind, that the rich and powerful now call all the shots, and the American Dream drifts further and further away, and out of our reach. We are now inexplicably caught in a nightmare, and looking for someone to blame. Rather than looking into the mirror at ourselves, and honestly identifying our nation’s misguided and often times ill-gotten accomplishments throughout history; we look to blame “others” for the social decay and corruption we are seeing and experiencing all around us. We never consider that we are a sum of all our past experiences, events, and collective social behaviors, and just an evolution of a nation of people who were originally set out on a path that was paved with great ideas and illustrious virtues, but littered with innate human fallibilities of vice and subjective interests. We are a country who boasts of our moral “Values”, while in pursuit of our economic and political interests, which more often than not, results in the latter being a hypocritical contradiction, that then leads to the social ills that we are all now faced with, but never ready to collectively take ownership and responsibility for creating, and then cooperating to fix them.

This is the corruption or decay that Franklin spoke of, that will ultimately lead to despotism. When our virtues become a mere facade, and advertised only to signal partisan support and elicit an "Us v. Them” and “Good-guys over Bad-guys” environment. Where everyone not like us, is evil and against us, and who deserves any and all necessary actions implemented against them, in the name of patriotism, and national security. This includes the desecration or removal of another’s constitutional rights. Which then brings us right back to Washington’s compatriotic plea, to resist the subjective “Spirit of Party” and instead follow the U.S. Constitution non-partisan and objectively. The two-party system we have created, for us to fall into when we believe our social, cultural, economic, and moral sensibilities are under attack has created a political ship that rocks drastically, back and forth from port to starboard, tossing everyone onboard about violently; leaving us sea-sick, and making it impossible for any cooperative centerline to be maintained.

Our solution to cope and combat all of this, is to retreat into our political parties, arm ourselves for combat, and let each other have it. Using the very document (U.S. Constitution) that’s supposed to protect us all equally, as our battle ground, trampling upon it, interpretively tearing it apart, and ultimately destroying it for all; with our “If I can’t have it, no one can” attitude, and screaming a warlike motto of “Don’t Tread on Me, I Tread on You”. Leaving us to rhetorically ask, “Now what do we do?” to address the ‘Corruption’ and fix what we’ve broken; and realize we must accept that who we are now, is who we have always have been, and to truly cure what troubles us, we must set ourselves out onto a different path forward, and not just reset ourselves on the same path backwards, believing that redoing what we’ve already done on the same path, will lead us anywhere but back to the same problems.