system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Politics in the United States would be better if there wasn't a party system.

The two party system is designed to pit people against each other. We had people rioting in the streets, looting, fighting and beating others senseless because they were "on the other team". We treat politics today how we treat sports teams except much more violently and passionately. People instantly dismiss someone's opinion if they are on the opposite spectrum of them. They don't and refuse to listen to anything someone has to say if they aren't on the same side. If the two party system was abolished and we simply looked at politicians for their individual views, instead of grouping some together with others and putting a label on them, the people could make better and more precise decisions instead of basing it on if they were on the same political party.
gpt
I don't disagree that thing would be better if people evaluated each candidate based on their individual stances (and the merit of those stances) but the reality is that it just isn't going to happen.  Pretty much every country in the world that has any semblance of democratic or republican (little "r" not big "R") systems ends up with a party system.

We have had political parties pretty much since the founding of the United States - our 2nd President, John Adams, was affiliated with the Federalist party in 1797.  For the _vast_ majority of our history, we were able to both have parties and have more civilized debate about issues, looking for compromise and opportunities to pursue the best path forward.

The two party system isn't the cause of the issues in this country.  The issue is that we are increasingly unwilling to accept that people who disagree with us on _anything_ might have some valid reasons for doing so and, thus, we are increasingly unwilling to have any discussion with them to find middle ground.

If we were to abolish parties overnight, that wouldn't change.  People would just galvanize over salient issues and be just as unwilling to listen to the other side as they are today.