George Washington is arguably America’s favorite hero and role model, so why would we have the audacity to ignore him? The first President of the United States warned the infant America about political parties in his farewell address, in which he stated “[political parties] are likely. . .to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”

Ladies and gentlemen, our first president was a psychic.

As the 2016 Presidential Election draws closer, many Americans find themselves in a bit of a conundrum. When they exercise their right to vote, they are faced with a difficult decision; should they vote for the candidate who they believe has a chance of winning, or the candidate that aligns with their beliefs? For the vast majority, they chose the candidate who they believe has a chance of winning, meaning a candidate from either the Republican or Democratic party.

Although the United States stand for freedom and democracy, our system is evidently failing. Democracies are intended to allow the people to chose their champion, but we have allowed the unprincipled men that Washington spoke of to divide the nation into two vast factions of political ideology.

On election day, we are expected to pick a party. But how are voters supposed to pick from two parties that they disagree with? The tried and true answer is typically to chose the party and the candidate that you hate the least.

Sure, there are the options of third parties and independents, but too often are these voters discouraged to vote for the candidate that they would truly like to see emerge victorious. They are deterred by the fact that their champion will not succeed. They are victims of the two-party system.

However 60 percent of Americans would like to see a third major party and 26 percent do not believe that the major parties adequately represent Americans. Considering the constant satirical jeers towards Congress and other doltish politicians, these statistics come as no surprise. Despite these facts, it seems nearly impossible for a third party to ever emerge with the power to overthrow the two political powerhouses that the Republican and Democratic parties have become. After glancing through the directory of representatives in Congress, I found not one congressman or woman that identified as anything other than a Republican or Democrat.

Even if there was a party that could garner enough support to become a major player, it would likely replace one of the two major parties to create another two-party system. Historically, this has happened multiple times. Sometimes the third party would make a huge impact on the election, but eventually, within a few election cycles, the system would regress back to its old ways.

Eliminating the two-party system is a feasible task. All that needs to occur are slight changes in the way we vote. We could transition from our current first-past-the post system to a system where voters had a motivation to chose the candidate that they truly desired without having to worry about the candidate they dispise. These systems do exist, and they will not damage our democracy. What will damage our democracy is the current system are the cunning, unprincipled men that Washington spoke of. They have stolen the reins of the government and hindered our choice in representatives.

That’s surely not what freedom is.