Republicans talk as if they have the monopoly on Liberty; Freedom; Equality; The Bill of Rights; The Constitution; The Will of the People; Government by Consent; Self Determination and Patriotism. They think they are the only ones who wave the Flag with pride. Paul Ryan talks about these in platitudes every time he is on the podium, implying that if you are a Democrat, you don’t adhere to these principles. Another Republican platitude is “A rising tide lifts all boats”. (A side note; if you are unfortunate enough to not have a boat, I guess you’re gonna drown?).
So when Ryan and other Republicans imply that If you are a Democrat, you don’t adhere to the principles of Freedom, Self Determination, etc, they are telling you, that only their party can deliver what we all believe in. It is a fantastic marketing ploy, and a a classical Trump tactic….If you say it with conviction, and often enough, people (some people, anyway) will believe it.
Buts let’s look at just a couple of these principles and talk about the differences:
Liberty:
The Republicans has said that in the name of Liberty, we adhere to a free market, capitalist system, and that regulations on corporations are an attack on liberty. They believe in deregulation and opening the free market. They attack any attempt of the Federal Government to impose regulation, whether it be on financial institutions, oil companies in regards to the environment, or food companies and labeling. Any person with a sense of reason knows that complete liberty logically leads to inequality. Too much liberty for controlling organizations, limits liberties for the working mass. All we need to do is read Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, a true life representation of the meat packing industry in Chicago, to see how the liberty of corporations stole the liberty of hard working Americans.
After that book was published, and read throughout the country, the FDA was formed, regulations were implemented, and abuses of liberty were curtailed. Without that Government regulation, our food supply would still be tainted, and workers would still be subject to horrendous working conditions.
In more current day events, Republicans speak of the Citizens United ruling as in favor of free speech and liberty for corporations, non-profits, labor unions and associations. They tout that this free speech cannot be regulated. What this means, then, is that those with more money, have more free speech. Democrats would contend that money is not speech, but property, and those with property should have no more liberty than those without.
Let us remember the words of the currently popular Alexander Hamilton;
“Vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty.”
The Constitution:
Yes, Republicans and Democrats have differing views on the interpretations of the Constitution. Should Supreme Court Justices be chosen based on interpreting the Constitution in regards to the time it was written, or is it a living breathing document that reflects the time of its necessary reference?
Simply because parties differ on that, does not mean that any one party has the correct philosophy.
I again quote two of our greatest founding fathers, who disagreed on this matter:
“Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.”
“Do not Separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.”
― James Madison, Unverified
Equality:
I will use the 14th Amendment and equal rights for this one, as this is where conservatives and liberals have historically disagreed. The 14th amendment in part: forbids states from “deny(ing) to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” So what right a state grants to one group of people, it must grant that same right to all groups of people. Since we have determined that the Lesbian/Gay/Bi-sexual/Transgender (LGBT) population is a group by definition, then we MUST grant them that same,equal right to marry.
We may all agree that government should do for the people, only what the people cannot do for themselves….the debate then becomes, what we can, and can't do for ourselves. But in the end, nobody has a monopoly on liberty, freedom, self determination, or being patriotic; and only when we realize this, and stop accusing the other of the absence of values, maybe then can we get something done for the benefit of all.
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