Rule of Three

Lisa Kramer

Lisa Kramer is a contributing contributor at The League of Ordinary Gentlemen.

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10 Responses

  1. Jaybird says:

    Another problem for the youth is the whole “what about the issues nearest and dearest to me?” thing.

    Let’s say that you’re a youth and you are hoping for gay marriage to be legalized.

    Let’s say that that is your Number One Concern.

    Which party will you align yourself with? Or, let’s say, you aligned yourself with Obama in 2008. How do you feel about him?

    How do you feel about the people who explain that politics doesn’t work that way when you complain about Obama not doing enough?

    There are a number of similar issues, I reckon.Report

  2. Rufus says:

    Looking at the article, the first thing that leaps out is how obvious this outcome is- young people have been told repeatedly, and frankly a tad unrealistically, that the sky’s the limit for them, given their energy, smarts, ability to use computers, and sheer gusto. All of that is fine and well, but now, thanks to the lousy economy, they’re being told to lower their expectations greatly until someone figures out how to fix this mess- that exists thanks, in part, to the stupidity of their elders. I don’t think I’d have faith in much of anything if I was their position. As for the apathy of their generation- I think it’s a pretty good sign of their intelligence.Report

  3. Mike Schilling says:

    He thought he saw a Garden-Door
    That opened with a key:
    He looked again, and found it was
    A Double Rule of Three:
    ‘And all its mystery,’ he said,
    ‘Is clear as day to me!’Report

  4. Daulnay says:

    A couple things are going on that should really upset the traditional party applecart.

    First, both parties have become deeply corrupt. The Republican sex scandals, as well as Abramoff, pushed a lot of people to realize that the Republicans were corrupt, even if they hadn’t heard about Rove’s K Street project. Obama’s reluctance to clean up Wall Street, putting Geithner and other ‘streeters in charge of fixing the mess, has made it clear that Dems have their corruption problems too.

    Neither party seems very interested in fully restoring Habeas Corpus. The Republicans became anathema to me because of this issue, and the Obama administration showed me Democrats are little better, with its embrace of an extra-judicial assassination program targeting terrorist citizens. Habeas Corpus forms the foundation of our political freedom, so protecting and preserving it is a no-brainer. That neither party does really appalls me. So I no longer have a political home – clearly neither side genuinely cares about protecting our Constitution and freedoms.

    Third, we’re in the early years of a vast economic and cultural change. Call it the Information Age, or whatever you want, neither party shows much understanding of the issues involved, nor much sympathy for online freedom. Both parties are much more aligned with corporate interests than with the citizens interests in this arena. While other countries race ahead with high speed internet, our politicians allow corporations to milk their internet monopolies instead of keeping pace. And neither party says much about how to adapt the educational system in the wake of these huge economic, technological and cultural changes. So again, I have no home.

    I’m not alone. The ‘independent’ political affiliation has grown tremendously over the last few years. It’s pretty clear that a political vacuum formed and is growing. In an environment like this, is it realistic to expect things like the ‘Rule of Three’ to apply?Report

    • LauraNo in reply to Daulnay says:

      @Daulnay, I agree with you about habeus corpus and despair over what’s become of us but I attribute it to the right having taken over the republicans. And not just the right but the crazy, Neanderthal far right. There are just a few actual republicans left and not enough to effect our polity. The politicians cater to them and then proceed to do as they please which has (finally) angered the base – instant tea party – yet they blame democrats. Not that this would ever be good for a country or people but these seem like the very worst times to have an ineffective party. Whether they are in power or out, they are pretty useless right now.Report

  5. positionplayer says:

    One of the major problems with the parties is that they naturally tend towards their own extremes – to right-wing, too left wing and both rejecting compromises to a fault. The parties have also been handed too much power over how elections are conducted.Report

  6. John David Galt says:

    Would you be open to the possibility that the “weakened parties” are a result, not the cause, of the “embarrassing state of American politics”?Report

  7. JosephFM says:

    I’m not clear in this, because I learned it using different terminology, but what does the rule of three exactly apply to? Do you mean voted a straight party ticket in three consecutive elections? Well yes, that would obviously indicate strong party loyalty. Do you mean a particular race? Congress, president, governor, what?

    See, what I learned was that the biggest predictors of party ID were 1) party ID of parents and 2) religion. Which is to say, things totally unrelated to factual analysis of a situation, and entirely based on culture and socialization.Report

  8. LauraNo says:

    But without a core of loyal partisans (replenished with each generation), parties are less likely to hold onto a stable set of principles….

    You are describing republicans here. They are stuck on tax cuts for the rich as the answer to everything that gutting SS can’t do. Their loyal partisans actually insist they never evolve or adjust to new conditions.

    … turn to showboating for campaign dollars and headlines.

    This is exactly where we are.Report