{Editor’s Note: This is the 15th installment of a series of articles attempting to address the 32 questions posed by Ron Paul in his recent farewell speech given in front of Congress. Check out the previous installment, “Why Does Congress Willingly Give Up Its Prerogatives To The Executive Branch?"}I can't think of a more appropriate time to discuss the charade of the two-party system than when it is on full public display as it is currently is with the much hyped "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations.  The Fiscal Cliff drama is just another Act in Two-Party Theater that our Congress continually plays out in order to make sure nobody forgets that the Republicans and Democrats are "dueling rivals" and stand for drastically different directions to take the country in.  The problems associated with the Fiscal Cliff - a heavy debt burden and high taxation - were created through bipartisan cooperation. It's a safe bet that any and all proposed solutions will also be touted as a victorious achievement in "bipartisan cooperation".  And just like all of the previous agreements that led to the fiscal cliff, the compromise reached will lead to larger government.The Fiscall Cliff in a nutshell: a series of tax breaks that will all expire at the same time at the end of the year, while supposed "drastic" cuts in military and domestic spending kick in at the same time.   This current "crisis", like all of the annual or bi-annual fiscal crises, was the result of the last agreement that Congress came to regarding the raising of the debt ceiling, which will also certainly be one of the issues on the table in these negotiations.  As with nearly every aspect of these Congressionally invented crises, the idea that there are drastic spending cuts coming is largely spin.   CATO recently produced a good video breaking down the myths behind the automatic spending cuts, commonly referred to as "sequestration cuts".While it's true that military (not to be confused with "defense") spending will be cut for one year, it will then continue to proceed to rise once again.  Most of the sequestration cuts are actually simply cuts to previously proposed increases in spending, the net result being that ten years from now, government spending will be $2 Trillion higher instead of....$2.1 trillion higher without sequestration.The real pending crisis is not government spending cuts or even higher taxes, though certainly any and all tax raises are damaging to the economy.  No, the real crisis is the crisis of government; that government will spend and grow and spend and grow until some outside force, be it an economic collapse or other unforeseen event, forces it to change.  And this continued growth is made possible by distracting the public with the illusion of choice, by presenting two opposing sides that appear to be superficially different, while at the end of the day delivering the exact same policies.Why does changing the party in power never change policy? Could it be that the views of both parties are essentially the same?Carrol Quigley, American historian and mentor of Bill Clinton, stated in his book Tragedy and Hope:

The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy.

Former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura has described the two major political parties as "gangs".  While they may often have rivalries amongst each other as they vie for power, they are in complete agreement that they should collectively be in control.  He often compares politics to his time in professional wrestling, where the wrestlers will have intense on camera rivalries, beat each other to a pulp on TV, and then go out for drinks afterwards together.  At the end of the day, it's all a show and they are all on the same team.While Democrats and Republicans stage public feuds over distracting social issues and invented fiscal crises, they continue to agree completely on the Federal Reserve monopoly over our currency, eroding away civil liberties, the War on Drugs, expanding the Police State, unconstitutional wars, Presidential kill lists, and just about every other nasty government program one can think of.  These subjects are never allowed to be part of the public discussion, as they veer off the "3x5 index card of acceptable discourse" , as Tom Woods often refers to it.  Dissenting third parties are kept out of debates and forced to spend most of their time fighting legal battles just to get onto ballots.The system is rigged, that much is obvious.  But what are you gonna do about it? It's just the way things are , so quit complaining!, your average defensive statist might say.  To counter this we must first recognize, as French political philosopher Etienne de la Boetie did, that mass consent is the basis for all government rule.  Even the most tyrannical of regimes exist only because the people of a nation passively allow it to en masse.  As long as the people accept the political system as it is, we will continue to have it.That of course, is beginning to change as more and more people are awakening to the ideas of liberty.  As more people continue to ask the questions posed by Ron Paul and question our current system, we will get that much closer to a day when the masses no longer accept it.Keep asking the questions, and keep spreading the message.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!