Those who identify as democratic socialists might consider leaving this country. Far right nationalists might ponder doing the same.

Despite a decade of Tea Partiers, Occupy Wall Street, the Koch Brothers and Bernie, the tide of American politics ebbs and flows between extremism and moderation.

The U.S. political system, though polarized and stagnant now, will not stay this way. The Republicans (GOP) and Democrats are here to stay, and that’s okay.

Jonathan Haidt and Sam Abrams of the Washington Post argue in a Jan. 7 article that the American political system is broken.

“The two parties are purer – and further apart – than at any time since the end of Reconstruction,” wrote Haidt and Abrams. “As the parties and their supporters were purifying, the new left-right dimension came increasingly to map onto the urban-rural dimension.”

Haidt and Abrams argue 10 dimensions, including but not limited to the media, more immigrants and rising localism to defend a trite thesis of a broken American political system.

Their graphs, however, note a trend: extremism around the advent of the 20th century gave rise to almost unprecedented political moderation between 1930 and 1980 – a so-called second “Era of Good Feelings.”

Extraordinary partisan bitterness might be with us today, but it will not be eternal.

In a May 17 Politico article, Daniel J. McGraw postulates the solution to U.S. political extremism could be the eclipse of the Baby Boomers and the rise of the Millennials.

“Exit polling indicates that (the Millennial) age bracket has split about 65-35 in favor of the Dems in the past two elections. If that split holds true in 2016, Democrats will have picked up a two million-vote advantage among first-time voters,” wrote McGraw.

As Millennials vote now and in the future, they will remember voting for Democrats even if they chose to switch parties in the future and vote for the GOP.

We are also the generation of servant leadership, of culture studies and of greater engagement and competency to navigate a diverse society. We are more socially tolerant – at least on the surface – of difference and diversity.

Political parties, especially in the U.S. system of monolithic umbrella parties, are not blind to protest movements, social changes and the need to appeal to the moderate and independent voter.

Travis Ridout, Thomas S. Foley professor of government and public policy in the Washington State University school of politics, philosophy and public affairs, also believes the present political coalitions will persist.

“What we actually believe is not that different from Europe, but we fight it out within two political parties. Politicians will move toward the center for one more vote,” said Ridout. “Politicians care about reelection.”

Ridout cited the example of President Obama on marriage equality and its impact on the national dialogue. “Politicians have the ability to lead public opinion as well. Gay marriage followed Obama.”

Political officers lend credibility, clout and visibility to certain issues and vice versa. In our participatory republic, parties and the electorate are reciprocally responsive to one another.

Change to the system, for better or worse, comes not from regional or protest parties in our first-past-the-post system. It comes from the two major parties absorbing ideas. The Democrats largely embraced the Greens after the 2000 election loss. The Republicans did the same to the Reform Party after 1992 and 1996 losses and the Tea Party after 2008. The system alters itself not from without but from within.

In the end, the greatest political sin might be wasting time on radicalism, protest votes and lack of participation.

The U.S. political system is one of independents, moderates, compromises and broad electoral coalitions. Moreover, the beauty of federalism is the ability to not always need radical change from Washington.

Besides, in 20 years we will not likely be talking about political stagnation. The political dawn of the Millennial is coming, for the present crop of petty partisans cannot live forever.

Tyler Laferriere is a first year master’s student in applied economics and statistics from Phoenix, Ariz. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of the Office of Student Media.