Democrat versus Republican
I composed a list of some of the fundamental differences of democrats versus republicans so that people new to the political scene can decide which political philosophy is more aligned with their core beliefs.
On government involvement in people’s lives
Democrats believe that government should play a large role in its citizens’ lives. They want the government to provide more services than it currently does.
Republicans believe government should stay out of people’s lives as much as possible. People are quite capable of making rational decisions on their own without some government telling them how to think.
On visions of the future
Democrats tend to take a short term view on topics. They believe that governments can effectively micromanage the private sector.
Republicans tend to take a much longer outlook when making decisions about policy. They realize that trying to micromanage people from the federal level is an exercise in futility.
On gun control
Democrats believe that enacting stronger gun legislation will take guns out of the criminals’ hands.
Republicans believe that if you try to take the guns out of the hands of citizens, the only people left with guns will be the criminals.
On Abortion
Democrats argue that life begins when a child is born. Therefore abortion is not murder.
Republicans believe that life begins within the mother’s womb. Taking that life is just as wrong as taking the life of any other person, maybe even more so because that child never has the chance to see the light of day.
On children
Democrats believe that it takes a village to raise a child. At least that is what Hillary Clinton has preached.
Republicans believe that it takes parents and family to raise a child.
On Gay Marriage
Democrats believe that any human has the right to marry any other human regardless of sex and that those unions should be treated exactly the same as a union between a man and woman.
Republicans believe that marriage is a union that can only be formed between a man and a woman. Gay couples have the right to live together but should not be recognized as a lawful marriage.
On National Defense
Democrats believe that the United States should never take military action abroad unless attacked first. They also believe that the United States should not maintain a high level of spending for national defense.
Republicans believe that national defense one of the primary roles of federal government. In general they believe in funding the military sufficiently to maintain a technological edge over every non-NATO member nation. In general republicans also believe in stopping ruthless dictators from invading their neighbors just as Hitler should have been stopped immediately after invading Poland.
On Taxation
Democrats believe that wealthy people have somehow cheated other citizens in order to amass their wealth and therefore ought to be taxed at ridiculous rates.
Republicans believe in a more level rate of taxation. They believe that all workers regardless of income level should be able to keep the majority of the money they earn.
On government spending
Democrats believe that government spending is just as good for the economy as private sector spending. Democrats believe that the private sector is just as wasteful as the government.
Republicans argue that private sector spending is far more efficient than government spending. Republicans believe the government to be extremely inefficient at doing anything especially governing its citizens.
On social security
Democrats want social security to be a mandatory retirement program for every citizen and that government will tell you how much money you deserve to retire with.
Democrats also believe that government is capable of running a national retirement system efficiently.
Republicans believe that social security was designed to be a safety net and that people should be encouraged and incentivized to save for additional retirement money for themselves.
Republicans argue that politicians will continue to squander public funds like social security and that is why it should not be in government hands.
On healthcare
Democrats believe that healthcare should be funded 100% by the government through taxes. They believe that someone in a government position should decide whether or not a particular procedure should be performed on a patient.
Republicans believe that giving free healthcare to everyone will lower the quality of current healthcare, completely stifle future research investments and cost way more than the current system.
On education
Democrats believe that pouring more money into schools is the best way to educate our children. They believe that a decent education for a child is something that can be bought with more money.
Republicans believe that parent involvement and personal responsibility is the best way to educate our children. Republicans think that the destruction of the family unit has lead to the decline in schools’ ability to graduate well educated students.
On immigration
Democrats believe that we should allow immigrants to come here and drop off their children for American taxpayers to raise. They also believe in granting amnesty to all illegal immigrants (about 30 million or so) who are currently living here.
Republicans believe that illegal immigrants should be deported. Some republicans believe that the border with Mexico should be defended with military troops.
On welfare
Democrats believe in redistributing the income of the people who are well off by taxing them and giving that money to poor people through entitlements. Democrats believe that people on welfare deserve a raise. Democrats believe that it is alright for people to live their entire lives on welfare.
Republicans believe that no man who is capable of working for a living deserves a free ride. You are supposed to work and save for future needs, not sit around and live off the taxes that the government has collected from working people.
Republicans believe in short term welfare and helping someone long enough for that person to get back on their feet and earn a living for himself unless he is handicapped.
On personal responsibility
Democrats believe in bailing out any industry that is incapable of running itself profitably so long as that industry has a union workforce.
Republicans believe that markets work best when governments don’t meddle with them. Weak companies should be allowed to fail so they can be replaced by newer stronger more efficient ones.
On labor unions
Democrats believe that all corporations are run by greedy businessmen whose only goal is to exploit the workforce wherever possible. Therefore, the unions should be supported to offset the greed at the top.
Republicans understand how hard it is to build a business that can compete with the rest of the world. Labor unions are also capable of abusing their power as was the case for General Motors.
On crime
Democrats tend to be soft on crime and support organizations that inhibit the prosecution of criminals.
Republicans are tougher on crime for the most part and usually support the death penalty.
While some of these claims may hold a fair amount of validity in a very, very general way, the blatant logical fallacies that riddle the paragraphs above only serve to extirpate that validity immediately. Now, it would be disingenuous for me to make such a statement without the provision of supporting evidence but, at the same time it would be a waste of effort to enumerate each respective fallacy one after the other. Therefore, while I will not pick apart the entire blog, I will give a few examples:
-On a whole, the entire blog contains hasty generalizations. Many statements in this blog about democratic beliefs reduce a whole political party to one or two sentence claims that are unfounded. While some democrats may hold some of the beliefs listed above, ALL democrats do not think in the ways listed above.
-On Labor Unions: By stating that “Democrats believe that all corporations are run by greedy businessmen whose only goal is to exploit the workforce wherever possible.” you manage to come to the conclusion that this is why democrats believe unions should be supported. This is clearly an example of oversimplification. The reasons behind democratic union support are far more complex than just fighting against “greedy businessmen” and many democrats see the inherent need for big business.
-On Children: The claims about democrats and their beliefs about children are COMPLETELY unfounded and the claims carry the non sequitur logical fallacy with regard to the entire blog. Since when are “children” a political policy or political issue that is discussed by democrats or republicans? This is unrelated to the rest of the blog and really has no substance or factual background.
Again, these are just a few of the logical fallacies to be found in this blog and I hope that people who turn to this website for political guidance are thinking CRITICALLY before coming to any conclusions about party politics.
Nice comments Max,
Obviously you are a Democrat who is tortured emotionally over the fact that your Democratic Party possesses liberal core beliefs that paint you in a bad light. Of course no party member agrees 100% with every party stance on certain issues. I certainly don’t agree with everything the Republican Party does. That is why you find an occasional conservative democrat like some of the Blue Dogs that are concerned about the federal government’s addiction to spending.
Yet, both statements that you call into question are true for more than 50% of the democrat party whether you want to admit it or not. That is what gives me the right to state them. You may disagree with the percentages. However, if you look at the actions of your beloved democrat leadership you will see that I have every reason for making these claims.
Democrats won’t make these statements publicly because it is not good politics; but, their actions speak louder than words. Maybe you ought to question your support for the democrat party. Have you read my post about where I state “I have friends who think they are Democrats who are actually Republicans”?
By the way, families and children are a political issue. It became an issue in the 90’s when Hillary Clinton wrote her book titled “It takes a village”. As she is obviously one of the democrat party’s leaders, I feel completely justified in saying that she speaks for at least 51% of the party. When this book was released there was an uproar about the issue. Hillary published a book announcing to the world what democrat core beliefs are on the subject. The title says it all. So sorry Max. You will have to live with that so long as Hillary remains a spokesperson for your party. This is now forever recorded in history.
As far as labor unions go, would you feel better if I dropped the word greedy? Would that make you feel better? It is nonetheless true. Look at the current policy of the Obama administration. They want to reduce the salaries of top executives in corporate America. The TARP recipients are first. The next step for the democrats is going to be to use the financial crisis as an excuse to find a way to cap other executive salaries. They are already talking about it publicly.
That is yet one more perfect example that justifies my statement that democrats believe that CEO’s are greedy and that they are exploiting everyone for their own gain. In democrats’ eyes, they make too much money. Remember when the Obama democrats were going to punish oil companies for making too much money? They want to punish drug companies for making too much money. They want to punish health care workers for making too much money. Oh yes they do Max. Watch and see.
As you grow older you will become more conservative. Then you will begin to realize that what I have said on this post as well as the bulk of this site is absolutely true. Open your eyes mate. Open your eyes. Stop torturing yourself with this misguided allegiance to the Democratic Party. Your intuition is telling you that deep down inside you are not a Democrat. Stop supporting the madness.
I agree with Max….your blog is riddled with some common generalizations advanced by conservatives to paint their side as the better side. And a retort of “As you grow older you will become more conservative. Then you will begin to realize that what I have said on this post as well as the bulk of this site is absolutely true. Open your eyes mate. Open your eyes. Stop torturing yourself with this misguided allegiance to the Democratic Party. Your intuition is telling you that deep down inside you are not a Democrat. Stop supporting the madness”….was a poor response. I am more interested in facts than some misguided notion propagated by conservative television. Frankly I believe that the two party systems in America is run its course..and it does you no good to classify it as a right vs wrong issue
Jamel,
It is not about painting one party to look better than the other. That is playing politics. That is not what I have done here. What I have done is laid out what I believe to be the differences between the parties on various issues. If you disagree with my summaries of Democratic or Republican viewpoints, then why not suggest where I was wrong instead of saying that I made common generalizations. Where pal? Show me where?
Sorry you didn’t like my response to Max about being a tortured Democrat. I believe that is what he really is. I see it all the time among people that I call my friends. They have bought into the bullshit propoganda that sensationalistic media has fed unsuspecting voters like them. When you stop and ask them what their beliefs are on a certain topic, they quote the Republican party line on the topic. Yet these people call themselves Democrats and pull the lever for their local Democrat at every election. When someone like me tries to convince them that they need to research what their party representatives’ stances are on these issues, they fluff it off. They are embarassed that they have been fooled. Then for some reason unbeknown to me, they still profess their allegiance to the Democratic party. I think that people like this would rather be popular than take the side that the wisdom of history has proven to be true time and again. Sounds like you are one of them.