Common Sense Papers 40 through 45 discuss several modern political imperatives and make the case for why now is the time to innovate beyond the two-party system.
New Wine in New Bottles
There is another critical reason for innovating beyond the two-party system with a national independent coalition. It’s a simple lesson from antiquity, from the widely revered teacher, Jesus: You can’t put new wine in old bottles. If you do that, the container breaks. You must put new wine in new bottles. What does this mean for politics?
It means that those attached to the old institutions will be mentally trapped where they have always been. It means that trying to change from within the current structure necessarily uses the same old power base—the entrenched power base that doesn’t value the new ideas and new energy, at least not yet. You end up in tired old turf wars. No, the old bottles must be tossed aside, or better yet, cracked against the mighty ship U.S.S. Congress in a new christening, a new birth, as she sets sail for better destinations and better scenery!
Putting new ideas into a new structure will allow the independent voters of America to no longer be held hostage by dying, corrupted political parties. The anti-democratic messages and fearmongering to vote for the lesser of two evils can be put to rest.
A break with the recent past allows a realignment with the foundation—a true reconsideration of congressional authority within its limits, presidential authority within its limits, Supreme Court authority within its limits (driven by revolutionary change in partisan structure and political expectations—some old court precedents may need to be reviewed in light of new laws or new amendments to the Constitution). A reexamination of the Administrative State and its non-constitutional or semi-constitutional activities must be addressed. Congress must better own the non-delegation doctrine of its legislative powers. The States must be protected from bureaucratic auto-pilot maneuvering. The executive office must execute the laws of the land as funded or resign. The congressional engine needs to drive the changes that America needs, ideally in partnership with the White House. If both institutions of governmental power are controlled by elected officials with common-sense character, we will have all the more hope. Ultimately, “We the People” must create and sustain the change.
Political experts have offered suggestions for incremental changes. That’s all they can offer when the hope of change seems absurdly out of reach. Some examples include:
Change the electoral college—My thoughts: it only matters to two-party power grabs, but doesn’t offer real change without a congressional overhaul.
Change the size of the U.S. House—My thoughts: it only matters to dilute and shake up Congress, but offers nothing strong enough to confront two corrupt forms of party machinery. It will be harder to hold debates and will further require the Administrative State to save the day by ruling over Americans as unelected bureaucrats. Not a promising solution.
Move to multi-member districts and ranked choice voting (proportional representation)—My thoughts: this helps third parties in good ways, but will confuse voters, move representatives further from the people, and probably won’t be implemented anytime soon. I still favor single districts, but welcome approval voting and star voting. I also have great interest in election reforms that propose a top-four primary or final-five voting.
Adjust the Supreme Court by adding term limits—My thoughts: perhaps this would be useful to debate.
Adjust the Supreme Court by equal party representation—My thoughts: this is based on forced acceptance that the two parties are the best solution—they are not. Partisan judges are a bad idea. The law should be blind. A corrupt judge sees exactly what he/she wants to see. Making the law from the bench is another constitutional abuse.
Notes for new readers:
The Common Sense Papers are an offering by Common Sense 250, which proposes a method to realign the two-party system with the creation of a new political superstructure that circumvents the current dysfunctional duopoly. The goal is to heal political divisions and reboot the American political system for an effective federal government. If the movement can gain appeal, a call to crowdfund the project may occur in 2024 or 2025. Subscribe for free with an email to follow along.
The tabs on the top of the Substack page can bring you to earlier essays that spell out key political issues. Common Sense Paper No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 can help anyone get up to speed on the project.
Common Sense 250 is still working out details on launching a podcast for those who want to listen to the political strategy but don’t have time to read. Subscribe and watch for an email announcement.