George Washington is one of my personal heroes. My father’s home office had a copy of Friberg’s “The Prayer at Valley Forge.” In an elementary school wax museum, I donned a curly-haired wig and memorized a 60-second monologue detailing the important dates and accomplishments of George Washington’s life. I don’t remember much of what I said, but I often looked at George Washington through the lens of American civil religion, seeing him as a near-sacred figure in the nation’s pantheon—a prophet, if you will.
Famously, George Washington staunchly opposed the development of political factions, calling them “potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.” Contrary to his warning, America has adopted a party system, which has recently become too toxic.
Political parties themselves aren’t the cause of the toxicity, but rather the problem stems from how people adopt or project identities tied to those parties—throwing themselves into political tribalism and viewing those with opposing viewpoints as threats to their way of life. This dynamic is a byproduct of the winner-takes-all electoral model in the United States, which consolidates power into two dominant parties.
Though systemic reforms like electoral changes could help, the real shift begins when individuals dispose of the two-party mentality and embrace free thinking to weaken the tribal grip on American society. The Left-Right binary has turned politics into a forced package deal, stripping away the freedom to pick policies individually and fostering enmity instead of debate.
Not long ago, political identity had limited sway on social circles and relationship opportunities. Social media reminisces about a time–like the 1980s–when political disagreements didn’t fracture friendships. In other words, it wasn’t an identifier. Instead, people championed free thinking along ideological lines and compromise wasn’t a dirty word. Today, political identity is a key attribute in all walks of life. Is it because politics have become more popular? Is it a result of pressing issues of our time? Or is it a tool used to control the way we think by a select few?
I was recently in a class where we discussed the current state of party politics in America. It was described to me as grocery shopping but with prepackaged carts. As we shop, we are given two choices: a blue basket and a red basket. Each basket has something we need or love, but we can only leave the store with one of the baskets. Regardless of what we choose, somebody will be upset with the contents of our baskets. I would rather fill my own basket, but the grocery store makes it nearly impossible for my order to be filled.
The same is true in American politics. I generally ascribe to more conservative views—limited government, personal responsibility, and preserving historically successful institutions, but the prepackaged baskets don’t leave much room for moving. If I push for improvement in education or healthcare, areas where I see real gaps, I’m suddenly a traitor to the red basket, subject to name-calling like “RINO” or worse from those policing party lines. The blue basket might contain some of what I want on those issues, but they come with policies that I can’t stomach. Yet the owners of the baskets punish that kind of independence.
Regardless of your politics, it is likely that your beliefs don’t perfectly match up to a political party’s ideology. It may also be true that you don’t know enough to have a particular stance on every single issue. There are so many items that make up the political baskets, that it is hard to have a great understanding of each item’s impact. However, don’t get apathetic; your opinion matters. The issues you care for should be civilly discussed and advocated for.
That’s why I’m not out to dismantle political parties—they’re still how change happens—but to end ‘basket shaming’ that locks us into red or blue straitjackets. Participation matters because it’s how we reclaim Washington’s vision: a government of the people, not just the loudest partisans. Free thinkers can start by picking their own issues—education, healthcare, whatever moves them—and pushing them locally, through town halls or school boards, or by backing independents who defy the baskets. That’s how we loosen the tribal grip and fill our own carts, one civil step at a time.
