Why Should Both Political Parties Agree?

 Why do the Political Parties disagree?    

I was inspired to make a post about this topic because of a TedTalk we had watched in class, It was about two childhood friends who grew up having to oppose each other's views on politics. For most, this would make someone alienate them or not want to be associated with that person anymore. But that is what makes this story unique These friends look past that and know that their views don't change who they are. This is something millions of Americans have yet to learn and that is the message they are trying to get accross.

                        Did Politics always use to be so divided?

Originally when this country was formed and our government was being built. The first president of the United States, George Washington said that he never wanted our country to be divided and have sides. A great example of what he didn't want to happen was opposing opinions and the Civil War is an excellent example of that. According to this chart from The Atlantic, starting in 1994 you can clearly see that both parties had many things in common and had similar views. As this carried through you can see in the early 2000s that the parties had common ground. But as of recent years, as of starting 2014 the Democrats and Republicans began to split and starting to disagree no matter the topic. Many reasons why some of these situations come up is that the south is statistically more Republican than in the Northside of the country. And in the South Jobs, Land, Freedom with weapons, make more money, etc. Suites the Southern states more so therefore they will want things that benefit them. Same for the Northern states, Each party only wants to benefit themselves and that is the problem with our current government as of right now. For Example this most current election, there is much controversy as to if it was rigged in some way in the favor of the democratic party. Other rumors are that foreign countries played a part, ballots were false, etc. The fact that millions of people in our country have that little faith in our system should tell us all something...  My personal opinion is that would all these allegations be made if the other side won? would the Republican party be searched thoroughly? Would foreign countries be accused of having an effect? Something to think about.

                                              Times the parties have agreed

    Now Throughout the years with all the issues the two parties have had they do sometimes come to realize what's important.

                        

    In 2016 from Brookings, Very important topics were coming to arise. And the Republicans and Democrats came together and decided that our country needed to come to an agreement. The topics they voted on were Terrorism, Economy, Jobs, Education system, social security, reducing the budget, Health Care, and Medicare. These are all things that our government understands that their differences need to be put aside to help the general population. So that makes you think if they can understand and agree that they need to do what they can to benefit the citizens. So why is it they have to always accuse each other of outrageous things? Why does one side always have to disagree with the other side?

                                                   Why Should we have parties?

        

Having these parties may create a lot of problems, but it also has created so many opportunities and openings for our country. We may see the problems and ignore any positives that may have been done. In my personal opinion I believe that we shouldn't have individual parties, let our democracy work let the people vote freely not through a party, and not divide our country with names and titles.

Works Cited

Ball, Molly. Growing Gaps between Republicans and Democrats. 12 June 2014. The Atlantic, 12 June 2014, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/the-things-republicans-and-democrats-agree-on/372670/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2020.

"Democrat vs Republican." Diffen, www.diffen.com/difference/Democrat_vs_Republican. Accessed 17 Dec. 2020.

Galston, William A. American Agenda of Top Priorities. 22 Jan. 2015. Brookings, 22 Jan. 2015, www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2015/01/22/democrats-and-republicans-agree-on-more-than-you-think-why-that-matters-for-2016/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2020.

Graham, David A. "Some Real News about Fake News." The Atlantic, Atlantic, 7 June 2019, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/fake-news-republicans-democrats/591211/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2020.

"How Our Friendship Survives Our Opposing Politics." Ted.com, uploaded by Caitlin Quattromani, Tedtalk, 1 July 2017, www.ted.com/talks/caitlin_quattromani_and_lauran_arledge_how_our_friendship_survives_our_opposing_politics#t-410254. Accessed 17 Dec. 2020