The Times They Are A-Changin’

When asked about the future of American Politics, blogger Evan Spry chose to spill his personal thoughts on the matter.

By Evan Spry

The world as we know it is in a constant state of change. From population to climate and geography, we humans are hardwired to adapt to this ever-changing environment. Politics, too, adapt over time. How have humans changed and what does that mean for their politics? 

In America, as we all know, our political spectrum is dominated by two parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans (pewresearch.org). American politics differ from most other countries because of our electoral college system. This system  gives more representation to the smaller states, which there are more of. So, our politics don’t always represent the majority of our views. It is pretty much impossible to get rid of the electoral college system because, like every other country with it, it’s written in our constitution. 

In the past half decade, we have seen a surge in popularity for and from the left. With young liberals in and out of office making headlines across the nation. However, this movement did not start because of Trump; he just proved their point that we need change. Now that Trump’s rule is over, both parties have a lot of work cut out for them. The Republicans need to maintain relevance without their party head in the White House, and the Democrats need to prove that they are the peoples’ voice by producing policy and legislation that the American people want to see. 

Many Republicans are contemplating how they’re going to move forward, with multiple Republicans jumping the Trump ship in acceptance  of the Biden administration. However, these Republicans like John Kasich and Mitt Romney are still the same Republicans they always have been. Just because they are reasonable enough to side with the democratic process, in terms of the election, it doesn’t mean that they are Biden-lovers. Don’t let Kasich and Romney,  protectors of the status quo, trick you. The same anti-Trump Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barret as a Supreme Court Justice during an election year, which they were against in the past, heavily reinforcing a conservative dominance in the Supreme Court. 

Now, I don’t think the Republicans are doing anything wrong policywise because they are supporting exactly what they “should” be as Republicans. They are acting as standard conservatives. In my opinion, the Republicans’ greatest flaw is their lack of new and original ideas and policies. Some new policy ideas would be nice! Recently, all that seems to be coming out of the conservative think tanks is the notion that the Democrats are overrun with socialists, we should decrease spending on public funding, and that abortion is bad–none of which are new ideas. 

Maybe Republicans should compromise on Coronavirus relief. Forbes states, “According to a recent poll from OnePoll, 82% of Americans believe that a one-time stimulus check of $1,200 from the CARES Act is not enough to pay for living expenses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 82 percent! This is way past partisan lines. If you don’t listen to 82 percent of the population, then who are you listening to?! Now, obviously, this poll isn’t 100 percent accurate because OnePoll didn’t poll every single American. This poll is of a small group of people compared to our total population, so you can’t get a perfect analysis of what every American wants. However, it is a good gauge. The least that Republicans could do would be to support a new COVID stimulus plan to keep the population more satisfied and stable. 

Now for the Democrats (cracking of knuckles). There may actually be more to unpack here than there was for the Republicans. Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats are much more divided within their own party. With the new, young, and progressive left clashing with the older, more neoliberal establishment, the Democrats really need to support each other more if they want to have a blue government. Similar to the Republicans, I believe that the Democrats also need to cater more to the younger generations that will eventually be leading the country. The thing about the Democrats is they already have the majority of young votes, but they still have many young people that are angry with them. Why is this? Well, I think that young liberals are upset with the Democratic party because they don’t see them taking any risks to promote progress: Where’s medicare for all, a sustainable lifestyle, and gun control?

Also, when establishment Democrats side with Republicans over liberals, you’re sure to see some disappointment from the left. According to The New York Times, “Young Voters Know What They Want. But They Don’t See Anyone Offering It.” If these politicians truly believe in democracy and the democratic process, then they should at least attempt to put policy or legislation in play that the majority of Americans want. There is no attempt from the Democratic establishment to create a public option for medicare, and there’s not enough action about climate change. According to pewresearch.org, “About two-thirds (65%) of Americans say the federal government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change….” Both parties agree that this is something that needs to be addressed. But, this would cost money, and legislators question the cost, even if it means saving our lives and securing our future. 

We see establishment Democrats and their allied organizations covering up and silencing progressive candidates or policy. For example, Hillary Clinton, with the help of MSNBC, accused young House Representative Tulsi Gabbard of being a “Russian asset” during the 2016 presidential race because she is starkly against our endless wars and wants our troops to come home. Clinton dismissed the fact that Gabbard served twelve months as a combat medic in an infantry battalion in Iraq. Gabbard was not the only victim of the Democratic establishment. Andrew Yang suffered constant rejection, disclusion, and neglect from the media station MSNBC. The Daily Beast reported, “Andrew Yang doubled down on his criticism of MSNBC on Saturday, appearing on CNN to accuse the network of “suppressing” him and “ignoring” his campaign.” With the majority of the Democrat and Republican establishment not addressing the issues of the majority, it’s hard to be excited about anything. But, we do have something…Time. 

More and more people that we thought of as young a little while ago will soon be old enough to be in charge of the rest of us. We need to listen to our people and make progress. It’s not a bad thing to have the government spend more money for some time to ensure our future generations some stability. And, as a final note, I want to personally apologize for ranting in your ear for this long. Hopefully Jake will have cut down this article a little; these topics have just been bombarding my thoughts, and I needed to let them out in some way. So, If you actually made it this far, I really appreciate your devotion. One Love.  

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/26/what-the-2020-electorate-looks-like-by-party-race-and-ethnicity-age-education-and-religion/ 

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/06/23/two-thirds-of-americans-think-government-should-do-more-on-climate/

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/the-10-happiest-countries-in-the-world

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/developed-countries

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2020/05/19/stimulus-check-monthly-poll/?sh=7c793d0a6308

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/22/tulsi-gabbard-sues-hillary-clinton-over-russian-asset-smear-102074

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7054854/#:~:text=This%20observational%20study%2C%20which%20analyzed,%24414%20million%20on%20contributions%20to

Future of Politics Editor: Jake Sonderman