I have heard that argument that the more major political parties, the less overall general approval.
Like if the contending candidates for President went from two to three, this means that only 33% of the nation would approve of said official as opposed to roughly 50%.
While I can see the point, I somehow get the feeling that the truth is that we haven't had a candidate with more than 10% true approval since antiquity, and even then there is just too much skepticism.
Personally, I think the reason why the future feels so grim for us is that a very important job disappeared in the 20th century and has festered in our minds since: Discovery.
The ancient world was filled with explorers, and there were always new things to learn about the world, which at that time was the only "universe" we really understood. Since the world has been mapped, the Earth has few frontiers, and even then if anything of sincere value can be found from orbit in space we can fill that said region quite rapidly. We need to get to space quickly, because I can genuinely see someone shooting off nukes someday as they are genuinely bored and ashamed enough of humanity for failing to gain that "final frontier."
It sounds ridiculous coming from a middle aged man like myself, but I want to explore the universe. I want to get the fuck off this planet and meet the three titted aliens and...paint them.
Anyway, DISCOVERY!
