The Two-party System is a Thing of the Past

The two-party system was part and parcel of the past authoritarian social order. Both parties were united in their feelings of loyalty to America and in support of the principles that their nation was founded on. They functioned in a relationship of attractive opposition.

With the anti-authoritarian transformation of American Society and the shift to the political left of the social mainstream that began around 1960, the Democratic Party became infiltrated by the far-left. This event ended the two-party system of the past because the functional relationship between the members of the party’s gradually turned into one of antagonistic opposition. The infiltration of leftist ideology undermined the positive relationship that members of both parties once had for each other because they no longer had in common their loyalty to America and to the principles that their nation stood for. Today, the final destruction of the two-party system is taking place as dissatisfied members of the Republican Party are shifting over to the Democratic side for the first time in history.

The social and political forces that once held American Society together in a relationship of attractive opposition uniting all people as one nation no longer exists. In its place are the day-to-day destructive conflicts between Americans based on diametrically opposed social and political ideologies. What is happening is that America as a nation – the baby – is being thrown out with the bath water – irreconcilable political ideologies.

The Function of Partisan Politics (Politics as Usual)

The common use of the terms, politics and political activity is fraught with confusion because they contain elements from the three layers of the human bio-psychic apparatus, the biological core, the destructive middle layer and the superficial layer. Without making this distinction, politics and political activity becomes a public side-show and a confused spectacle of rational and irrational ideas and behaviors often resulting in the
activation of the emotional plague from the middle layer

Partisan politics is based on the idea that the adversarial forces of the left and the right are necessary to arrive at political decisions. The problem with partisan politics is that it often contains impulses from the politician’s middle layer. When personal feelings of revenge of a neurotic phallic narcissist politician are played out in the political arena as partisan politics it is a clear sign that the emotional plague is in operation. In this case, the politician’s socially destructive personal and financial interests are covered over by his alleged political convictions.

Partisan politics worked fairly well in the past authoritarian social order because social issues had not yet developed a layer of social armor which we recognize today as socio-politics and also because there were approximately equal numbers of socio-political character types (liberals and conservatives) in the opposing Democratic and Republican Party’s. The balance of power between the left and the right was supported by the authoritarian social order. Politicians operated according to their predetermined individual character structure within their party. Nevertheless, despite their ideological differences members of both parties were of one mind in their respect and love for America indicating that their biological core was more or less present in their political decision making process.

This is no longer the case in today’s anti-authoritarian society. With the political shift to the left firmly established, political ideas and activity originating from the biological core are becoming difficult to recognize. They have been replaced by political extremism and people using politics – socio-politics – to find solutions for personal problems that originate from their own destructive, middle and superficial layers. Today, this trend is becoming the rule for people on the political right just as it was true in the past for people on the political left. Politics and political activity is replacing religion as the modern “solution” for each and every individual and social problem.

With the polarization and decline of Western society accelerating, the absurdity of conducting “politics as usual” is slowly dawning on the public as the confusion being generated by the emotional plague has infiltrated every aspect of political life.

Understanding Trump’s Strategy for 2016

From a socio-political standpoint, Trump is a conservative character who is also a populist. To have a sense of Trump’s strategy for the presidency requires an understanding of socio-political characterology and the antiauthoritarian transformation of Western society.

In the past authoritarian era, there were roughly equal numbers of liberals and conservatives in both political parties. This is how the two party system worked to maintain a balance of power between the opposing ideological forces of the left and right.

With the anti-authoritarian transformation that started in America around 1960, the Democratic Party began it’s shift to the extreme political left and the Republican Party soon followed and moved leftward. The significance of this so-called socio-political red-shift was that there was no longer any ideological difference between the two parties. Politicians in the Democratic Party continued to peddle their outworn socialist programs and like-minded politicians in the Republican Party tried to play “catch up” by promoting their own version of leftist-oriented policies.

People who were fed up with the old system of “politics as usual” began wanting something new from their politicians. They looked to outsiders like Donald Trump as someone who seemed to not buy into what was being offered by traditional party politicians.

But, the result of the anti-authoritarian transformation of society was that the two party system became a thing of the past and people are more clueless than ever about it’s demise.

By contrast, what Trump intuitively understood in this new environment was that in order to make contact and win over the electorate people must be realigned not according to conventional political parties but, on a deeper, more inclusive level according to their individual, pre-existing socio-political character structure.

This is where an understanding of socio-political characterology is essential. Based on people’s socio-political character structure, liberals and conservatives have diametrically opposed ways of viewing the world. The liberal relates to his environment primarily from his intellect. He is a collectivist and, in the past authoritarian era, had a mechanistic view of the world. The conservative relates to his environment primarily from his emotions. He has a selective attitude toward others and a mystical view of the world.

In order to win, Trump must convince characterologic conservatives, like himself, that he is one of them. This is where his anti-intellectual, emotional, shooting-from-the-hip manner and his strong pro-American bias are a plus. However, from a bio-psychiatric perspective, Trump is either an oral unsatisfied, phallic narcissistic character or a manic depressive character. Regarding his diagnosis, the important questions are these: Is he capable of controlling the destructiveness to his political reputation as a leader resulting from his shooting-off at the mouth? Is he capable to hear the ideas of others? These questions go directly to the heart of his capacity for the good judgement that is a requirement for the job.

Another unknown factor is that liberals no longer adhere only to the mechanistic view of the world. They have embraced mysticism as part of their leftist armamentarium in the “save the world,” “green” environmental movements. With the decline of traditional, religious mysticism, the political left has gained a silent but powerful force in the ideology of secular mysticism that Trump with all his usual contentiousness must contend with.

The Demise of the Two Party System in America

The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, “Clueless.”

In the March 5-6, 2016 issue of The Wall Street Journal, “The Republican Party is Shattering,” Peggy Noonan writes about the destruction of the Party. But if she would take a step back and look at the whole picture, she would see that not only the Republican Party but the Democratic Party and the entire Two Party system in America has broken down.

The function of the two party political system was the foundation of American politics in the past authoritarian era. At that time, there were generally an equal number of liberals and conservatives in the Democratic and Republican Parties and the system functioned to maintain a balance between the opposing ideological forces of the political left and the right. The opposing forces operated on the principle of attractive opposition (see chapter 5.) Today, this system has become a thing of the past and people are generally unaware of what is happening or why.

The reason is that, because in today’s anti-authoritarian society, American politics has shifted far to the left of center, the two party system no longer functions as a balance of opposing ideas to maintain social and political stability. American politics has become destabilized under constant pressure from leftist progressives. It no longer has a rational function.

Why are Republicans Confused about Trump?

In order to clarify the confusion about the legitimacy of Trump’s candidacy, knowledge of a person’s individual and socio-political character structure is essential.Two questions need to be answered positively:

1) Regarding the quality of his judgement, is Trump a phallic narcissistic character with an oral unsatisfied block, a manic depressive (“bi-polar”) character or an out-and-out sociopathic character? (See my blog, Apropos of Donald Trump, February 18, 2016.)

2) Regarding his political attitudes, is Trump somewhere on the conservative right of the political spectrum? The answer is definitely yes.

Satisfactorily answering these questions is essential to deal with the political destructiveness of the emotional plague that is ready to erupt and create havoc over people’s confusion regarding Trump’s candidacy. In any case, considering that the alternative to Trump is either a criminal or a socialist, the choice is not clear.

The Demise Of The Two Party System In America

The two party system in America which has been in existence since the beginning of the American Nation is nearing collapse.  In an attempt to understand the November 2012 election debacle for the Republican Party, the Republican National Committee (RNC) released a report concluding that unless drastic policy changes are made “it will be increasingly difficult for Republicans to win another presidential election in the near future.” The report describes the party as ” ideologically rigid, still clinging to the days of Ronald Reagan, unable to speak to a wider electorate and increasingly viewed by voters as indifferent to the struggles of average people.” The report criticized the party for not embracing “comprehensive immigration reform,” not providing more help for people’s  economic needs and not being “inclusive and welcoming” of minority groups on social issues.

The report is looking at what happened in November from a political and not from a bio-social perspective.  It is looking at it from the viewpoint of social symptoms and not from the underlying social movement from which surface events are manifested.  From a bio-social perspective there has been a marked shift to the left in the political mainstream that began around 1960.  This was, in part, manifested by a rise in people’s dependency on the government (welfarism), in collectivism, in mechanistic thinking and in the use of the intellect as a defense against emotion. The goal is to wipe out individual authority and replace it with the collective authority of “Big Brother”. Like a social tsunami, this wave from the political extreme left first destroyed the Democratic Party in the 1960s and  now has moved to the right and is in the process of destroying what remains viable of the Republican Party

In order to win over the electorate what the RNC task force is recommending is nothing less than a capitulation to the political left by  going along with the very same socialist agenda that are currently being instituted by the Democratic Party.  This “me too” policy  is self-serving and politically motivated. It means that there is no longer any real difference between the two parties since they are both offering the same socialistic measures.  It also means that there is no longer any real opposition in organized political parties that provides a viable alternative  to  the socialist onslaught being actively spread by the political left.

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 137 other subscribers
  • Follow Charles Konia, M.D.’s Tweets on Twitter

  • See Charles Konia, M.D. on Amazon

  • See Charles Konia, M.D. on Facebook

  • American College of Orgonomy