Written by Bob Maschi   

We live in a political system that many people call (and as many assume) is a democracy. It’s a two party democracy—a monopoly created for and enjoyed by the Democrats and the Republicans. To the blind observer, these two parties seem to be engaged in constant struggle on nearly every issue.

But instead of looking at the two as dire enemies, try instead to look at them as competitors—each one attempting to outdo the other in their visible support of the economic system called capitalism. Don’t think of them as warrior-armies engaged in a deathly battle against each other. Instead, think of them as baseball teams. They compete. They attack. One wins, one loses. One loses, one wins. They glory in their opponents defeat—but neither of them do so with any desire of completely ending baseball as a sport.

Unusual things have happened to this game since Bill Clinton was president. Most obviously (and I’m not quite sure how to say this politely, so I won’t try) one of the teams has gone a little fucking whacky. Okay, make that a lot fucking whacky.

The Republicans have moved so far to the right that conservative icons like Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater probably wouldn’t recognize it—and just as probably—wouldn’t be welcome within it. And this has led to a major strategic problem for the Republicans as their party now almost entirely consists of homophobes, racists, sexists and bigots. More specifically, older homophobes, racists, sexists and bigots—and they’re dying off.

At the same time, the Democrats are growing. For the next generation or two, it appears that people of color will vote Democrat, not Republican. The recent and on-going battles over gay marriage, immigration and women’s reproductive rights will deliver many more votes to the Democrats—or at least votes against the Republicans. Other groups, like unions and environmentalists, don’t really feel like they have any option other than to vote Democrat. So, it might seem that the Republican Party is destined for oblivion.

But wait! What good would that do provide for the wealthy who run and benefit most from our political system and economy? As Noam Chomsky has wisely pointed out, “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....”

The existence of BOTH parties is a necessary ingredient for the continuation, and increase, of the wealthy and corporate control over our lives. Our elitist oligarchy cannot have, cannot allow, one of their pet political parties to slobber itself out of existence. So there are only two ways for the Republican Party to continue to win elections as a major party. The first way would be for it to put a leash on their wackier elements and to adopt more acceptable positions (lol, I know, pfft… not a chance). The other way is for them to change the system—to cheat.

This is why it was necessary for the system to do something to defend itself. This time, it defeated the Voting Rights Act. This revision will now allow states, especially the more racist states, to disenfranchise lots of Democrats through voter ID laws, gerrymandering and other political maneuvers—allowing the Republicans to survive, even thrive, as their actual numbers shrink.

I’m not suggesting some grand conspiracy here. Keeping with the baseball analogy, some players pitch, some guard second, some are good at hitting home runs or stealing bases. During the game, they don’t need to constantly check with one another on what to do next. They work as individuals on a team toward a common goal. The short term goal is to win the game. But the long term goal is to keep the sport alive.

It’s easy to get caught up in this game by rooting for your team. But the teams actually need each other to keep this game going. Like two sides of a step ladder, the Democrats and Republicans hold each other up—so the wealthy can continue to hold us up—at political gunpoint.