The Party Is Over

So if I could change one thing in Washington—this is totally radical—but I would maybe get rid of political parties altogether. I think our founders envisioned factions, not parties, and it’s the most destructive thing we have right now.

~Eric Garcetti

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Argument Extraction

The Party Is Over

In this lesson, we finally see the argument for the abolition of political parties. To remind you, the lessons in this unit all had a bearing on the conclusion we argue for today. For example, in this unit we looked at science denialism from both far-left thinkers (in that they have denied the validity of studies into individual genetic variation based on ideology alone) and far-right thinkers (in that they have denied the existence of what appears to be some non-wasteful, very entreprenurial actions taken by the state). We also saw how partisan thinking (i.e., Democrat versus Republican type thinking) is part of the fuel that feeds conspiratorial thinking in the USA. Lastly, we've also seen that partisan thinking seems to enable lazy thinking, such that partisans don't even really process what's being asked of them; they merely look for party cues on how to vote (and then invent a rationale for their action). This is all not good.

The Argument

If the political party system of the USA enables non-rational and lazy thinking that puts the country at risk, then it should be abolished.
The political party system does seem to enable non-rational and lazy thinking in that partisans are likely to deny scientific findings that don't cohere with their ideology.
The political party system also enables non-rational and lazy thinking in that it fuels easy-to-digest conpiratorial thinking, such that perfectly fair elections seem fraudulent and the same government programs are either seen with suspicion or with praise depending on who's in power.
The political party system also provides simplistic talking points that inhibit more complex social scientific explanations to take hold in the minds of partisans.
So, given 2-4, the political party system does enable non-rational, lazy thinking.
Moreover, this non-rational and lazy thinking has put the country at risk, e.g., the Capitol Hill Putsch, science denialism, political polarization, politicization of vaccines, ineffective legislative bodies, gerrymandered elections, etc.
Therefore, the political party system should be abolished.