Just another angry modern moderate

This archived article was written by: Dean Thacker

My parents are Christian business owners from Southeastern Idaho, so of course I grew up in an extremely conservative Republican household. Being politically aware highschooler, I both agreed and disagreed with my parents with my parents political views. Their views on business and small government made sense to me, but their views on abortion and gay marriage seemed ridiculous.
When I first came to college, it felt like I was bombarded with the “liberal agenda.” College has a reputation of being a very liberal place for good reason. Everywhere I looked it seemed to scream “Democrat”. Again, I felt like there were things that I agreed with and disagreed with.
Becoming more politically aware, by taking Dr. Jennifer Truschka political science courses, made me realize that my political views are not reflected by both Republicans and Democrats. I also realized that the political culture in America needs to change.
Political culture is the underlying themes, beliefs, and process of the politics in a country. America’s political culture is very black and white. With only two political parties, it creates a huge divide. Every issue in America is split down the middle, it is either left or right.
This is terrible for our country because not everything is black or white-especially in politics. It really bothers me that the political parties only focus on two extremes. Democrats won’t change their extreme view on health care and republican won’t budge on immigration.
How can we progress as a country when we can only order chicken or beef when we just want the pork? This is why being a moderate in this political climate feels pointless. If you are someone that believes in all of the extreme views of the Republicans or Democrats, this is perfect.
However, a great number of Americans, 35 percent, identify as moderate. Why is there not a middle ground, or grounds, that reflect those who are moderate? I think it is because we are trained to think in every political issue there are only two ways to fix the problem and that is absolutely not true. Why do I have to be either a Democrat or Republican? Why can’t I order the pork?