George Washington Was Right, Political Parties Are Worthless

I was in college, like many people voting for the first time.

“What party do you want to register in?” asked a person at a table on campus.

“I ain’t in no political party,” I told him. “I’m independent.” (It sounds better when you say it with my New York accent.)

Two weeks later I got a letter welcoming me as a member of the Independent Party, which existed back then.

I called them immediately and told them to take me off their rolls. “I don’t wanna join any club that wants me as a member,” I said, paraphrasing Groucho Marx.

Done.

I don’t know if the Independent Party is still out there , but that’s the closest I’ve ever been to being part of a political party. I prefer to say I’ve never belonged to a political party and never will. I’ve never understood their value, our attraction to them, or why anyone would need them to tell you how to vote in a given election. Why do we even need them at all? We don’t. They do more harm than good, are more unproductive than constructive, and make it too easy for voters to make choices that are convenient and casual rather than contemplative and careful.

I didn’t write those words. George Washington did more than 200 years ago, in what came to be known as his Farewell Address .

It would be difficult to find a historical document in this country with a more direct and acerbic assessment of political parties. Washington, whose birthday we celebrate in February, was terrified of the formation of political parties. They were called “factions” in his day. He believed that individuals would become so enamored of their connection to a party and so covetous of what the party could provide them that they would put matters of party over matters of country.

If you look at the current