Death of Democracy?

I thought of that title on the way to work this morning but by the time I got to sit down to write about it I almost completely forget what it was that I wanted to say about it. I think it lay somewhere in the realm about a lack of choice. The way that the only issues that are being discussed are the polarizing ones. I can think of a few examples off the top of my gourd but I'm going to stretch this out a piece more. With government today we mainly have two parties to choose from in many Western countries. The big three superpowers anyways, no disrespect to the NDP in this nation but it's really a two horse race most of the time. Britain is the same and the US only allows two parties to make moves. So it's black or white, light or dark, the one you like or the one you hate. Absolutes, like the Sith. Then it goes a step deeper, they run on issues that can only have one choice. It's not true but they make it seem that way. Legalize cannabis, criminalize it. Gun control or no gun restrictions. Abortion or God's way. Your choices on those subjects often drive you to a specific party. Many of the choices link together too. By making these the main issues, they can characterize you by your choices and cater their message to you. That last point falls short of making sense but for me it's telling me that if I love guns, I probably hate abortion. There are permutations of these choices of course but the majority of the loyal, hardcore members of a party stick to certain ideals and those define their stance on things. So if I believe strongly in these values how can I consider the other perspective, I can only see the other point of view as wrong and against my way of life. What these polarizing issues are doing are breeding fundamentalists. Maybe I'm just figuring this out for the first time, which wouldn't be surprising considering my lack of focus, understanding, and caring for politics but the machine is just looking to establish unwavering loyalty no matter the candidate. Blind allegiance. That scares me. Maybe I swing a certain way on issues but it's not all the same and it doesn't mean I don't consider the other side of the coin. This definitely isn't where I was going when I spawned that title but it's a good ramble from the seat of my pants in rapid fire way. Like falling down a hill and getting glimpses of things through the trees as I tumble past then trying to make sense of them, tying them together to assemble some kind of mosaic picture of what is really going on in the world. I'm not going to be a sheep that's for sure. I think a certain way and that defines many of my choices and allegiances but I'm not a blind follower. If nothing else I hope this makes you think a little bit, and not just about how you'll never get those five minutes you spent reading then re-reading this back. Enjoy the wind.