When I tell people I identify as a "political independent", I realize I sound like an unbearable douche. The term is very vague, but I basically consider "political independent" as a state of having no firm dedication to any political party, but appreciating certain aspects of each party.
Most millennial "independents" tend to believe in the social core of the left and the economic core of the right. This might sound like a cop-out, but it's understandable why some people would choose this cafeteria-style ideology; you get to pick your favorite parts of political parties and bring them together.
I've only just realized that the reason I've never been able to identify fully with the Democratic or Republican party, is because I don't have the capacity for blind loyalty.
I'm not saying that everyone that is a Democrat or a Republican is a blind loyalist, but they have to be surrounded by them. This might all seem like a very apparent point, but I have only just realized how deep this runs. Rob Porter, of the Trump administration, has been a big name in the news lately.
Allegedly, Rob Porter beat his wife. This is a very disturbing accusation. What makes this accusation even worse is the fact that the Trump administration knew about these accusations far before they just recently came out, and they did nothing with the information.
After these events occur, you would assume the general public would be frustrated with the Trump administration, and people would question why nothing had been done about Rob Porter before. If you use Twitter as a litmus test, you'll see that, as of this moment, "liberal" Twitter is furious over the Rob Porter accusations, while "conservative" Twitter is laughing at the Obama portraits. The reason "conservative" Twitter isn't being hard on Donald Trump or Rob Porter is that they think it would make their "team" look bad.
This strange act of not having the capacity to critique your own political party, or "team", isn't a new thing, but it is even more apparent and damaging in 2018; a year where you can instantly attain information. Obviously, it isn't just the right side of the political spectrum that will blindly defend or not acknowledge the faults of their party; just ask everyone who supports Hillary Clinton.
A group of women, coerced into sex by Bill Clinton, were all made to keep quiet by Hillary Clinton. This is a fact. If you ask any supporter of hers, they will try to shrug that question off; because they can't shake their loyalty to Hillary Clinton to see her faults.
The main point I'm trying to drive home is: separating yourself into teams will only make you blind to the bad things your team does.
This is why I think it is a better idea to be "politically independent", rather than follow an ideology where you fully believe in 90% of the things they represent, but ignore, or defend, the other 10% of the stuff you don't morally agree with.
