Postmodernism and the Death of Political Parties

I think the two party system will be dead in twenty years and replaced by something that better reflects the worldview of today’s Americans. There are several characteristics of our culture that lead me to that conclusion:

1. Postmoderns aren’t concerned for clear-cut and well defined groups that have to fit a particular mold. They are more into things being on a continuum without clear-cut divisions and distinctions like political parties.
2. Postmoderns aren’t as brand loyal as previous generations. Past generations would be a democrat or republican because that is what their family always had been. People are growing out of that mentality.
3. The Republicans vs. the Democrats almost seems like an arbitrary and dated method for doing things.
4. Postmoderns are open to a scrapping things that don’t make sense and replacing them with things that seem to fit better here and now.

There are more things that weigh into this but I think these are the main three and it all has me thinking the two party system will be gone within a generation and something that is on a continuum of thoughts and views is put in to replace it. We will always have conservatism and liberalism but I wonder how this will show up in the political system in the next 50 years as people get less and less concerned with us vs. them and more concerned with where this country is headed in the mix of the global community. The two party system just seems to aim too small and I think it will be breathing its last in the next twenty years.

What do you think?

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Republicans and Democrats Have the Same Message?

I think it is kind of humorous that when you see the campaign adds you might actually come away thinking they have the same message. The Democrats say the Republicans have done a terrible job and so you need to vote change and vote Obama. The Republican candidates say the Republicans have done a terrible job in need of reform that could only come from a maverick. They are the real party seeking to change Washington so vote McCain. I guess it is all an effort to get as much distance between themselves and Bush as possible.

Something about that just seems humorous and sad to me all at the same time.