Political Parties: God's practical joke on the universe?

Take the Link to "World's Smallest Political Quiz" and  find out where you fit on the political spectrum.  It’s oversimplified, and probably wrong in many cases, but it’s sort of fun and you may learn something about yourself.  Wherever you end up on the chart: Libertarian, Liberal, Statist, or Conservative, there’s a party in the United States that will match your interests pretty well.  (Note – a “statist” is one who favors a big, powerful government that tends to restrict personal freedom but may have lots of entitlements.  Hitler’s Germany, Mao’s China, and Castro’s Cuba are some examples.)

Look up “political parties in the United States” with google and you can find a Wikipedia article: List of political parties in the United States.  I’m amazed to find 35 parties listed, with five “major” parties (organizations in the majority of states).  I knew about Republicans, Libertarians, and Democrats, but the Constitution and Green parties are lesser known.   Another website lists about 40 parties with short histories and platform information, including some really weird ones: politics.com list of political parties in the US.

The 30 or so “minor” parties from Wikipedia cover the political spectrum.  The article states the list may be incomplete, but the 30 listed ones do exist.  Let’s examine them briefly:

Are  you an illegal alien from Mexico who thinks the United States owes you a living, and you shouldn’t have to work for it?  The Raza Unida party is for you.

Are  you a White supremacist?  American Freedom Party.  Or, you might fit into the National Socialist Movement (also known as the Nazi party, left over from Hitler’s Germany.)  Nazi’s are Statists on steroids. 

Are you a communist, seeking the violent overthrow of the United States government and the establishment of a dictatorship imposing Marxist principles on the population (which would make you a Statist on the "World’s Smallest Political Quiz.”)  The Communist Party USA and the Workers World parties are there for you.  Or, the Socialist Action party.  Or, the Socialist Worker’s Party.  These parties may have given up on violence, and now rely on lying, cheating, and stealing, misrepresentation of issues, and character assassination.

Socialists of all sorts have many parties in the list: Freedom Socialist (especially for leftist women); Socialist Party USA; Socialist Alternative party; Socialist Equality party. 

I may not have categorized the Socialist and Communist parties perfectly; I’m no expert and it’s hard to tell them apart by means of the information given.   They all look to be wildly leftist and vote with the Democrats.

If you are moderate and/or independent, there are several parties you can choose from: Americans Elect, Independence Party, Unity Party, or if  you’re really confused, The Reform Party of the United States of America (Founded by Ross Perot).  Of course, it’s illogical to belong to a party just to be independent.

There are parties with a very strong Christian emphasis.  Christian Liberty Party is an example.  

If  you’re a pot advocate, there’s the Marijuana Party. 

Left-leaning parties generally vote with the Democrats, Libertarians and conservative parties with the Republicans.  Independents vote whichever way the wind is blowing. 

The so-called “minor parties” can have major effects on elections.  They constantly work to influence the platforms of the major parties.  And, as third parties, they can throw the elections in the opposite direction of what they intend: In 1992, Ross Perot’s Reform Party polled 19% of the vote, running for fiscal responsibility, and I believe he made it possible for Bill Clinton to become president, because Perot’s platform was mostly conservative.  In 2000, Ralph Nader, running with the Green Party, polled about 3000 votes in Florida, just enough to swing that state to George W. Bush.  (Yes, after all the counting was done, Bush did outpoll Gore.)

Mankind continues to be God’s practical joke on the universe.  Political parties may be one of man’s funniest features.