COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

Recently, I was discussing Indian River County’s voter registration trends and the resulting shift in the balance of power between the local Democratic and Republican parties, when a relative newcomer to Vero Beach, who is also a political activist, offered that he thinks the county would be a better place if there were no Democrats here. “You are probably a Democrat, aren’t you?” he added.

“I am registered as an Independent,” I replied.

I wondered to myself if the gentleman is familiar with Joseph Conrad’s novel, “The Heart of Darkness.” Conrad’s 1899 novel, of which the movie “Apocalypse Now” is an adaptation, tells the story of the exploitation perpetrated on the people of the Congo during the age of European colonialism. As much as anything, Conrad’s novel explores who we might become if unrestrained.  In the process, Conrad reveals the seed of darkness that lies dormant in every human heart. Christian theologians refer to “total human depravity” and “original sin” to describe the dark side of the human heart.

To express this concept in political terms, absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is as true for political parties as it is for individuals. Witness the excesses of the Nazi Party in Germany and the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union.

As inconvenient and difficult as it may be at times to engage in debate, collaboration and consensus building, and as frustrating as it may be to make concessions, such is the American way. Political compromise is the oil that lubricates our democracy.

No development could be more ruinous to our democratic republic than for any one party to dominate the political landscape. In order to curb our excesses and to shine light on our blind spots, we need debate and compromise. In short, we need each other – Republicans, Democrats and Independents, for without the checks and balance inherent in a viable two-party system, we would forever be on the verge of devolving into a dictatorship.

No single system of thought and no one political philosophy holds the promise of resolving the many vexing challenges we face as a community, a state and a nation. It has never been true, and it will never be true that all the right answers can be found in one book, on creed, or one political platform.

Political opponents benefit from the competition of ideas, for debate sharpens thought, stimulates imagination and energizes creativity. There is, to be sure, a symbiotic relationship between competing political parties. For any one party to dominate, as my friend desires, would be the end of democracy as we know it.

I know my friend is civic minded and is committed to helping build a better community. I only hope he will come to see how getting what you want can sometimes be the road to discontentment.  Though he may not realize it, that last thing he really wants is a one-party system.