Russian President Nikita Khrushchev told President Nixon:
“If people believe there’s an imaginary river out there, you don’t tell them there’s no river there. You build an imaginary bridge over the imaginary river.”
If we consider that the two party system is an imaginary bridge, what is the imaginary river that they solve? The two party system is real enough, but what’s the bridge do? It seems to give control to a group of mysterious people that don’t have to have an obvious agenda. This group just argues about imaginary problems while the real agenda proceeds driven by those in control. Can’t call those in control leaders, because they are really dictating the agenda. Perhaps the two party system is an imaginary way that Americans get imaginary leaders.
Perhaps the imaginary river is our form of democracy. Of course the concept of democracy is imaginary because we are voting for people to vote for us. If that were the case, our democracy might not be imaginary but that the people that represent us can promise anything and deliver nothing. To make our democracy even more imaginary, there are false issues that are argued year in and year out while real issues go without any debate. Why, for example, is police brutality protected by the courts and the statutes?
The imaginary bridge to our imaginary democracy solves the problem of how to narrow down the number of candidates and the number of issues so that the media can sell the candidates. This solution creates a fallacy of too few choices or, worded differently, the fallacy of a false dichotomy. Of course false dichotomies are used to fool and brainwash people, as are all fallacies.
A solution to the problem of the two party system can be created without finding out who is really in control and what the hidden agenda of both parties are. This solution was created in 600BC an touted as the true democracy by none other than Plato himself. The system was implemented and used in Athens, the cradle of democracy.
The solution to the two party systems and all the related problems is the lottocracy. Randomly drawing the names of our Representatives from a pool of all Americans that have a degree from a four year accredited university would solve many problems. The two party system would be eliminated. Proportional numbers of each profession would be selected – not all the representatives would be lawyers. Proportional numbers of each sex, race and creed would be selected. Lobbies would be eliminated. The need to hear speeches filled with false promises would be eliminated. The need to raise money would be eliminated. Fear of reprisals from powerful blocks of voters-contributors would be eliminated.
A lottocracy would eliminate the imaginary bridge to the imaginary river.