An Influx Of Political Parties Defeats The Purpose Of What They Seek To Address

 As the rest of the world enjoys or at the very least rushes towards the 4th Industrial Revolution, I comfortably sit in the dark with a candle lit as if it's protesting its overuse. I'm not sure if I am to find comfort in that soon France & possibly the USA will follow suit. This contrast between "us" and "them" doesn't only concern resources but is also found in our definition of and approach to democracy.

This is going to be a very short piece, I'm not yet sure on what exactly but perhaps you, as the reader, will help me decipher as you read along. It will, however, be on the lines of how having a hundred drillion political parties is counterproductive and defeats the purpose of what these initiators seek to achieve. 

Political issues are clear and straight forward, it's black & white, there's no grey area around it. If you understand what it is you stand for both as an individual and as a collective, what it is you want to achieve and how you want to go about it then it's either you're on the right or on the left, of course there's a middle ground just for democracy's sake but anything beyond or outside of that is theatrically unnecessary.

There is no need for so many political parties in South Africa or any democracy for that matter. I do not encourage extremism because it has proven itself destructive, all I am saying is that when you have a concentrated number of political parties, everyone who feels they have what it takes to make a difference will be forced to fix what already exists, you won't be faced with an impossible (dirty) pool of small scattered parties with no influence whatsoever. 

I think my frustration comes from the realization that some of these 'parties' do not know what exactly they want beyond 'calling for a certain leader out of office', most should just be labeled NGOs and how they're run suggests they came about as an idea that randomly sprung up during a short trip to the bathroom. 

Every' morena' who has been told they are 'revolutionary' feels the need to go this route which clearly shows there is no concern for what they claim to stand for, they aren't at all occupied with the idea of doing right by the 'people' whose votes they collect like manna from heaven come every election but it is simply seen as a gateway for anyone who grew up thinking they'd make President feeling this is their only shot at having history recognize them. 

A perfect case study is Zimbabwe's Nelson Chamisa, President of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), the official opposition in the country. I hear the 'political party' has no constitution nor clear structure, I read somewhere that "he intentionally decided not to share these crucial details." It gets worse, apparently Chamisa has not stepped foot in parliament since 2018. I'm not too sure what to make of this except to concede that indeed he seems to be leading his party from the back, a trait no leader except him possesses.

I will not bother touch on the complexities and needs related to growing a strong healthy economy as I am not an Economist but really, introducing new (and weaker) political parties everyday is not only ridiculous but nonsensical even, does it not make more sense to fix what already exists? Good people, we are abusing democracy now!