Response to "A Time for Change"

In a post by one of my classmate’s A Time for Change he discusses what is wrong with American politics today and some of the things that should be done to change them. He states that politicians are greedy people who care more about their own agendas then the people they represent and concludes that we need to get rid of political parties and this will result in better candidates running for office.  While I agree that many, if not all, politicians are care more about being elected then the people and that we need more choices then just the two candidates our current parties provide, I disagree that eliminating political parties will fix our government and it’s politician’s.

My classmate seems to imply that one of the main obstacles in the way of having good politicians is the fact that we have only two political parties and says that people should not be “stuck voting for the lesser of two evils.”  I agree that we should believe the people we vote for have our best interests at heart and shouldn’t feel like we’re voting for the person who will do the “least damage.”  I don’t agree, however, that eliminating all political parties will be what fixes this problem.  Political parties do not create politicians who care more about their own agenda then their people, the politicians themselves create this.  

Now, I do think eliminating political parties - or at least making it easier for third party candidates to run - will help this issue, but it doesn’t fix the heart of the problem, corrupt people running for office.  So how do we solve the issue of corrupt people running for office?  I don’t think there’s anything we can change in our government that will help.  As Lord Acton said "Power tends to corrupt."  There is no law we can pass that will force a person not to be corrupt, he must choose that for himself.  I think the only way the problem of corruption in politics will be solved is if someone who truly cares about the people steps up and is elected, paving the way for others to follow.  But this can only happen if we, the people support them.  If we want to be a change come about, we must be the ones to start it.

My classmate makes several good points and I agree that something has to change in our government, but I disagree that simply eliminating all political parties will cause the changes American politics need.