Breaking Free from the Two-Party System

By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Today in the Baltimore Sun, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. writes:

The Founding Fathers warned us about political parties.

In George Washington’s farewell address, America’s first and only independent president cautioned that the rise of political parties would eventually “subvert the power of the people.” And our second president, John Adams, said, “There is nothing which I dread so much as the division of the republic into two great parties.”

Despite the prescient warnings of the Founding Fathers, two major parties have come to completely dominate the American political system. Under their sway, every issue becomes a partisan issue, and the acid of political division corrodes the fabric of our society.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans represent the democratic will of the people. Each in turn has overseen the erosion of the middle class, chaos at our borders, incessant wars, an explosion of chronic illness, decaying infrastructure, environmental pollution and the capture of government by Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Ag, military contractors and other interest groups.