I have grown up in a family that is largely conservative in its view on politics.  Some of my relatives do not like President Barack Obama, at all.  Others are strongly against abortion.  One of them, bless her heart, has the Swaggart family on the television seemingly 24/7.

By choice, I am largely conservative myself.  I believe that the trickle down economic principles introduced by former President Ronald Reagan can be very effective, possibly MOST effective for our country, if they are properly executed.  I believe that we need to have more strict immigration policies.  I believe wholeheartedly in the use of military force to deal with our international enemies, and have a short leash on it if diplomacy does not work.  I am religious- I have held the belief that God is my Maker and my Savior since the 6^th grade- and think that the idea of removing His name from our money is completely preposterous.

Despite my upbringing, and my own personal beliefs, there are some things that I believe in that are typically viewed as liberal.  I think that, if proper recourse is accounted for, that universal health care and the drastic raising of the country’s minimum wage can be very good things.  I think that women should be able to choose whether or not they want to have an abortion.  I believe that climate change is a very real issue, both in the US and everywhere else across the globe, and that not acting to change our ways to combat climate change will lead to destruction for our planet.

If I were to be put into a category based on my beliefs, I would either be a “realist” or a “liberal conservative.”  For all I know, there are many people like myself, or people that are conservative liberals, or something that doesn’t fall into the “traditional” liberal/conservative categories, as my views do.  However, BECAUSE of the fact that they don’t fall into these categories, their opinions are frequently discounted, and these people are forced to choose one side or another in order to feel like their opinion, or their vote, really makes a difference.  This choosing of sides is the type of environment that the two major political parties in our country, the Republicans and Democrats, have created in American politics.  In the leadership of these parties, it is rare to find a person that does not have a core belief that isn’t fairly extreme, and in direct opposition to the opinion of the opposing party.  This, to me, is a very serious problem- these views frequently cause major conflicts between the two parties, which takes away valuable time that should be spent focusing on extremely important issues.  Those people that want to solve problems without having a political solution, or motivation, for doing so, that aren’t interested in pushing the view of a party, largely ignored.  This problem is deepened by the hundreds of millions of dollars of money, sometimes TAXPAYER MONEY, that is spent developing advertisements attacking the opposing party, developing campaign strategies to land a particular candidate, and their extreme views, in a particular office, and bolstering the cash reserves of the Republican and Democratic behemoths.  To know that so much time and money is spent conflict-inducing ideals when vital problems are at hand that could be solved if politicians would just OPEN THEIR MINDS to some of the views from opposing parties, is a depressing and sickening thought.

The easiest way to eliminate these hopeless conflicts, and to limit this egregious spending, is to eliminate the giants that are fostering these kinds of behavior.  For good measure, we should also revise the structure of donations for those running for public office, which are largely centered around private (and anonymous) donations and super PAC’s.  These two actions would encourage three things that I think are among the most important things we could do to fix the political culture in this great country.  First off, it will encourage political problem solving, because everyone in office will not have to worry about facing backlash from a major party leader over a vote on a hot-button issue.  Secondly, with no “big brother” above them and no set policies on which to rely, politicians will have to run for office not based on celebrity, as current poll leaders Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (for the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively) are, but by trying to win over the hearts and minds of voters using their own minds, their own ideals, their own policies.  And, thirdly, these said ideals, and the restructured donation structure, will trump (pun intended) the impact that large donors currently have on the results of our elections.  The common person will be able to truly feel that they have an impact on an election that they are voting in, which, in turn, could increase voter turnout and (hopefully) get a President in office that the majority of this country actually agrees should be in office.

I don’t fancy myself to be a political expert- at 19 years old, I have not yet voted in a state election, much less a national one- and I don’t know if what I am proposing is realistic in our country, or if it would really work based on the structure that we already have in place.  There could be logistical reasons that this wouldn’t work; the politicians currently in office might not find the proposition of changing the current system to be feasible, especially if it jeopardizes their spot in Congress.  For all I know, what I am proposing may be a system to manipulate than the current one is.  But I think that it’s plainly obvious that SOMETHING needs to change in America’s political environment, and based on what I can see, eliminating political parties would be a good way to go.

I would love to get feedback on this post- whether or not you think my proposition is a good idea, whether or not you have any other ideas as to how to fix America’s political system, or maybe a brief overview of how the political environment currently works so that I, and any other readers, may become more educated about something that is vital to our country’s present and future.  Please, comment with any thoughts you have, or contact me directly here.