system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What gives electrons and protons their charge?

I understand what a charge is down to the electron and proton level, but what gives them a charge?

**edit**: a better phrasing of my question as suggested in the comments "Why does the universe exist in a way that particles have these different states?"
gpt
Something that helps to understand is that the "charge" is nothing more than a description of a 2 state system in which the particles are one way or another.  The assignment of "+" or "-" is simply to let us do math.  We could reverse them and still be physically accurate.  Perhaps a rephrasing of your question would be "why does the world exist in a way that particles have these different states?"  Good question.