Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
Abandoning the extremist views is not a cure to the cancer, because the extremists are not the cancer. Heck, they're more like the life-support. They give people some reason to get interested in politics.
The real cancer of American politics is that the middle-ground politicians are too afraid to look like they have significant ideological differences with their opponents. Everybody wants to be something for everybody.
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But maybe the centre really is where most Americans stand politically. Maybe most Americans aren't religious fundamentalists, but they also think students wailing about safe spaces and rape culture are a bunch of flakes. Maybe they distrust wall street, but they're still on-board with capitalism and free markets. Maybe they're sceptical that their tax dollars are well spent, but they still support old age security and Medicare. Maybe they're open to immigration, but they have concerns about immigrants from some parts of the world.
The biggest problem with the U.S. system is gerrymandering. Because so many districts are safe, the real contest is for the nominations. And the people who get involved at the nomination level tend to be the special interests and uncompromising ideologues. So that's who politicians cater to, leading to a polarized political climate.
If you're right, if compromise and middle-of-the-road policies fail to engage citizens, and voters really want representatives who will go to the barricades carrying the flag of stark ideology, where does that leave democracy? Modern democracies can't really function without compromise (as we see in the U.S. today). One side will never defeat the other. If push comes to shove, you'll have civil war if they try.