I had sworn off writing anymore political articles for a while to give myself a break, but this topic is nonpartisan so I think I'll let it slide.
First of all, yes, I did start this article after one of Richard Nixon's revered terms. The silent majority. Some current political figures (Trump) are attempting to fan the flame started by Nixon in 1969, but they are wholly misguided on where this term applies today.
This election has revealed a deepening political divide in which there seems to be a shrinking common ground for us to stand on. But what many people are not realizing is that this common ground is most of us. The regular people. The "average" Americans. The silent majority.
This does, unfortunately, lump a lot of decent people in with a good portion of the Islamophobic, racist, homophobic, sexist people riding the coattails of a toupeed bigot. Because what makes us the silent majority involves our family structure, our income, and our opportunities.
The American family has changed considerably in the past few decades, prompting this "defend the family" mentality to rise in deeply conservative communities. And in our red vs. blue political binary, this movement finds itself entrenched in red territory.
But why? Conservatives today are hell-bent on policies which do nothing to fix these problems; they defend murderers, they oppose any form of comprehensive women's health, and their politicians funnel millions of dollars into their pockets while their constituents scrape by (barely).
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are realizing more and more that many of them do not fit comfortably into their political party either. Sure the blue social and economic issues line up, more or less, but for some reason seasoned Democratic officials are not shaking up the status quo as much as we'd like.
The red family teaches abstinence only, marry young (and heterosexually), and survive on the sole income of the husband.
The blue family suggests waiting until you are "established" to start having children, to marry late (if at all), and to strive for economic prosperity.
Though it may seem radical to consider, Republicans and Democrats are in fact dependent on one another for survival. Most Republicans cannot afford to adopt Democratic principles, while most Democrats find Republican values woefully backwards. So we, the silent majority, are forced to join, on either side, the wealthy who promise us some form of social progress without changing the fundamental economic systems at the source.
Some of us, because of who we are, cannot align with Republicanism. We join blue politics because it is the "lesser of two evils" as the old saying goes. As far as my family structure goes, I have all the makings of a member of the red silent majority; my parents married in their early 20s, I grew up with abstinence only sex-ed, my household was somewhat religious, and we were just on the cusp of middle class with a single-parent income. But I'm a registered Democrat because my queerness and my social consciousness cannot mesh with conservativism.
Social issues aside, the hierarchy in this country affects us all on a fundamental level. The minimum wage is too low, Social Security benefits are too little and too late, the cost of higher education is skyrocketing--these are all products of a system where only certain people, with certain family structures and certain economic privileges, are truly living "the American dream."
Political figures like Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, and Bernie Sanders are attempting to wake us up. It is this truth which shows that, ultimately, our political parties today will not stand forever.
When enough Americans realize the precarious position we are in, the binary political establishment will crumble.
