Cullen Poulos

Classification/Division Essay

October 7, 2020

Polarized Politics
The political spectrum is not so much a line with people on either side, it is more like a

web, with people falling in all different parts with different ideas about how the government

should function and what its duties really are. The ways in which people define themselves

politically is endless, with the three most mainstream groups being the Republicans, the

Democrats, and the independents. These three groups all seem to have their reasoning for why

they are the party that will save America and ensure prosperity to all. Hypocrisy within the two

major parties is nearly as plentiful as the reasons they claim they are the saving grace.

The most major difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is their ideas

of how wealth should be redistributed. The Republican party claims to believe in a theory called

trickle down economics. The money flows from the top to the bottom, as the market innovates

and becomes more efficient the products become cheaper to make and therefore more easily

accessible to the people. The Republican party also states that they are for a smaller

government, with less interference in the lives of the people. At the same time that they spout

the small government rhetoric, they support an ever-growing military and police force; they do

this in the name of law and order. Another example of hypocrisy seen in this party is even

though they claim that the free market is the answer to any and all problems with the economy,

you rarely see a republican turn down a bill for bailouts for large corporations, they also favor

these large corporations with tax cuts and other special loopholes. These benefits that the large

corporations receive stifle the free market economy by making up and coming businesses

unable to compete with the large corporations who are playing by different rules. The

Republicans claim to be in support of the second amendment, yet a look in the history books will

show that the Republican party has passed some of the most influential gun control legislation

in effect today. The praised Republican Ronald Reagan signed the NFA into law, and the

current president Donald Trump has signed more gun control legislation into law than he has
done to protect gun rights. Yet the Make America Great Again crowd will still sing his praises of

how pro gun the president is. The promises of the Republican party appeal to those who desire

a strong sense of national security, domestic law and order, and traditional values.

The Democratic party claims to be the party for the working class. They are in favor of

many welfare programs, such as Obamacare, that the Republicans despise. It is the viewpoint

of the Democratic party that the rich should be taxed more in order to support those in need. A

major concern of the Democratic party is the climate change crisis. They believe that in order to

put a halt to the impending doom of the planet, many regulations and incentives need to be

created in order to stop the destruction of the earth. This, undoubtedly, would put many

american workers out of a job. The Demicratic parties budget for their programs cannot be

supported solely by the rich though, taxes will inevitably go up for the average American as well.

The party recently has taken a stance in opposition to the current form of policing, claiming it is

systematically flawed. At the same time that they declare the misdeeds, dangers, and injustice

of the criminal justice and policing systems, they demand stricter and stricter gun control.

Disarming a population while claiming it is being oppressed by its rulers is quite the conflicting

argument, after all, who enforces gun control legislation? For a group to argue that the

government is so corrupt, and then to turn around and say that they should be the ones in

control of housing, healthcare, and education, is beyond mental gymnastics. The Democratic

party is supported by those who want “equality”; they desire change for hope of a better

tomorrow for all as achieved through the use of a big government.

Independents could have a whole spectrum for themselves, from anarchists to

libertarians to socialists, the variety of ideas and opinions found in independents spans from

complete government control to no government at all. Even though they have diverse

viewpoints independents could all probably agree that Democrats and Republicans are two

sides of the same coin, who will most likely never bring about any real change. That is where

the similarities end though, as for some the answer to the injustices of the world now is to truly

limit the size of the government, while others believe that more government control would help

to make things equal for everybody. Each independent will have his or her own viewpoints on
participating in the electoral politics of today. Some will claim that voting third party is how

change will be brought about, while others understand that it is nearly impossible for a third

party candidate to be elected into high ranking positions. This will not stop the voting

independent from voting though, as to someone like them that believes in democracy, voting is

how change is brought about. The second argument used by those in opposition to voting would

be that it symbols a consent to be governed, and they do not wish to be governed by those that

solely seek power. The draw to the independent side of the spectrum is seeing that no matter

which of the two parties are in power, no issues will be resolved, the problems we face today

are not a culmination of just the Republican party or just the Democratic party, but the combined

failures of the both.

Modern day politics has become so polarized that there is no coming to an agreement

any more. People root for their party as if it were a sports team. Americans choose a side and

stick with it, no matter the amount of contradicting viewpoints a party will spew out, the loyal

voter base will refuse to call out any faults of their party because it would put their opponent in a

better light. Personal character seems to play a bigger role in politics these days than does

actual policy. The political spectrum can be split up into countless ideologies, each fighting for

what they believe in, yet nobody ever seems to be pleased; this begs the question: Are the

answers to our problems so clear cut as what people believe them to be?