I spend too much of my time being spun out between outrage and cowardice. On one hand I want to destroy my perceived enemies but on the other I am afraid to speak up when asked a direct question. Or more precisely I do not want to defend my position. Is it because I don’t believe in the position or is it because I do and am afraid?
It is not always easy to articulate what happening. It’s even harder to understand how certain things work. And it’s nearly impossible to definitively say why something is happening. The reasons why are never clearly defined except in certain religious contexts where the dogma is defined and set in stone. And even then people will diverge from the official canon. Asked what happened to Jesus and all Christians will answer. Asked how and almost all can described the stations of the cross. Ask why and you will not be able to count the many Christian denominations who all claim to have the answer.
The same can be said for out political beliefs. Ask a member of a party what the party stands for and you will probably get a mostly straight forward answer. Ask how the party accomplishes its goals and most will be able to answer clearly about the main points. Ask why and you will see the how messy each party is. I think this is partly because party membership is not an affirmative and valuable thing. It costs nothing to join a party. There are no requirements. There are no penalties for leaving, with the exception of a few states that hold closed primaries. This is partly because unlike religious organizations it is very difficult to create a new party that has any direct benefit.
So we are stuck picking a side that mostly approximates our interests or not picking any side and being left without organized representation. This leads to the strange situation of not finding a party to represent my interests of favoring markets and private property while also believing in the need for social programs to help those in need.
Political parties increasingly say things about these interests as a means to maintain power and not as guiding principles. Neither spends much time talking about the inherent inequality that deprives the poorest among us even the most basic necessities. The majority of their time is spent pitting those in the middle against each other using cultural and social issues. Meaningless slogans dominate the discussions. These are perfect distractions so the people in power and their wealthy patrons go about their lives unencumbered.