Americans need to stop blaming their personal problems on the political establishment. The reason we haven't progressed as a country in the last 40 years has nothing to do with political decisions, but with the fact that the power between our two parties has shifted after every election. The ruling party has gone back and forth between Republican and Democrat for at least since I've been born (1984). Same with congress- one party holds the majority for 4-8 years, often in the beginning of a president's 8-year term, before succumbing to a mid-term shift in public opinion. The lasting impact of these shifts are that new policies aren't established long enough for them to sink in with the public.
It suggests to me that if people are in trouble, whether it be financially, socially, medically, or even spiritually, they tend to blame the establishment rather than a lifestyle which lead to their problem. The problem may have never occurred in the first place if a certain choice hadn't been made. Of course, a bad choice can and should have the chance to be mollified by the policies of our acting government. But the idea of hanging all our problems on the party in office, listening to the opposing party's rhetoric as saving the day and voting them into office, only to reverse the policies, laws, and agendas of the predecessor, only means that we will get nowhere if the balance of power keeps shifting like this. Judging by this perspective, the last 40 years have been a major success for the conservative party, because most countries in the world have progressed while we have maintained our course, perhaps even regressed with the current administration's policies.
The voters must also not take for granted a party's seeming majority in any given election. The assumption that a candidate or party will win, as evidenced by the last election, can have a severe impact on the results if a great many people are doing it. The radical right, feeling every ounce of purpose, utilizing every amount of voting power they could muster, were successful in defeating an overly confident majority who frankly couldn't stand their candidate. Remember, many Republicans found the current president intolerable during the primary elections. Then for whatever reason- likely out of some defeatist loyalty to their party- they embraced him as their leader like he was the Second Coming. Better than Hillary, they said. The Democrats created all their problems, they said.
Don't blame all your problems on the government, or you will end up with one that only creates more.
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