Originally posted by MLB
But if you think about it, the economy, life in general, and peace would be a hell of a lot better without the parties.
And I quote from George Washington, Farewell Address, Sep. 17, 1796
"However, [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
Economics and politics don't go hand in hand, so no. They are only casually related - at least as far as most of the Western world is concerned where free markets are only supplemented with government, rather than a market derived by the government.
I wouldn't say life would be better. Several areas in the world don't have political parties, or politics at all, and they're complete shitholes. Political parties don't bring ruin to lives, major setbacks to classification do. Look at Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tibet, Laos or Libya. They have no political parties and it's still repressive as can be. I'll take my bipartisan Congress if it means that I can take a shit in a house with running water. However, as far as the United States is concerned, we're one of the worst supporters of our poor in helping them build a life for themselves - this shouldn't be read as a rally for more entitlement programs or social aid but a call to help people not be stuck in a perpetual rut their
entire life without being an exceptional human being.
As far as peace goes, we'll never achieve peace if people disagree. That's just a sad statement of reality. It's disappointing that people can't disagree - but again, we're not looking at political parties as a culprit. So many issues are so much bigger than just partisanship...
Some of the things abolishing political parties might help with though are deciding Western issues like abortion, food stamps and retirement aid.