What is a faction?

Rather than 2 static political parties, in America we have 2 coalitions formed from the 6 major “factions” that exist in America. For our purposes, a faction is the primary political principle(s) that motivate a person or group to act politically - whether that means voting, demonstrating, organizing, or donating. The coalitions that we call “parties” form and reform as they rally around principles that attract (or repulse) these factions. Instead of a “third party” what America needs is a “new party” that may or may not have the same brand name as the existing major parties but will have the opportunity to govern differently, because it is founded on the right combination of principles to solve the major problem of our time:

How do we as a society respect everyone’s time and attention?

No one aligns exclusively with a single faction. Most folks have sympathy for two or more of the principles below. When your core principles align with the factions that are the basis for one of the major political parties, you feel like you have a political home in that party. When your core principles don’t align with one of the major political parties, you can either give up or advocate to recreate the party in your image. Consider for yourself which factions best align with you. Then, consider which factions would need to align in order to champion respect for everyone’s time and attention.

The 6 major factions in America…

  • Equity — driven by fairness, equality*, and social justice

    Ironically, in today’s political parlance the group most focused on equity is commonly referred to as “progressive” regardless of the emphasis on progress or mere virtue-signaling about the need for equity. Across the many sub-factions of Equity, there are a wide variety of opinions about how much should be sacrificed and by whom in the name of fairness.

  • Liberty — driven by rights, freedom, and free speech

    In America, the language of liberty is often co-opted by many other causes/factions when it suits them. The test to determine whether someone is actually driven by liberty or using it as a smokescreen is to see how quickly they abandon those ideals when the liberty of “others” is at stake.

  • Progress — driven by solutions, science, and pragmatism

    As political drivers go, this faction can be very productive, but it is only helpful when aimed in the right direction. When left unchecked or combined with a poorly matching faction, it can result in the stuff of science fiction nightmares.

  • Virtue — driven by faith, religion, and absolutism

    On its own this faction can seem noble, but without guardrails it can quickly lead to oppression of those that disagree with the (perceived or actual) majority. Also, virtue is not limited to purely religious individuals or groups. Any movement or organization that is built upon a single “right way” or an unwillingness to compromise is likely part of a Virtue-first sub-faction.

  • Supremacy — driven by rage, indignation, and (self-) segregation

    The most well known and active sub-faction in America is White Supremacy as a result of the country’s original sin, but the history of individuals driven by revenge is not limited merely to those of European descent. Each form of “me and my group are more important than others” is dangerous and can seep into the psyche of any other faction that is not vigilant.

  • Invisible — more of a designation than a driver but consisting of the traditional populists, the overlooked, the underserved, and the left behind

    This faction is often ignored politically until they are enticed or manipulated by one of the other factions into action. Those that view themselves as invisible are often more motivated by issues of baseline survival than a clear sense of political purpose. However, the feeling of being invisible can itself be a powerful motivator that has the ability to drive cohesion across traditional political boundaries.

*As a clarification about the distinction between “equity” and “equality” which are sometimes used interchangeably: The difference between equity and equality is that one is a process and the other is a result. Equity is the process of building up the people who have been knocked low or held down. Equality is merely the result of people ending up in the same situation. Equality can be achieved without equity by simply knocking down anyone who has already climbed up or been raised out of the pit of poverty. This is just a vulgar form of vengeance. Instead, those driven by equity strive to help others by giving them the tools or helping hand to get out of the pit - and then working to fill in the empty pit, so that no one else can fall back in.