There are pitfalls when trying to demonize your enemies, or those you disagree with. In this piece, I fall into all of them; I let my convictions and emotions paint the picture rather than the evidence.
Still, I think the sentiment is right; the facts are besides the point. My point is logical rather than evidence-based. The point I'm trying to make is that the right wing ethic is one based on self interest, and thus not ethical at all, while the left wing ethic is based on the interests of people besides yourself, and therefore ethical. Ethics is all about rightness of behavior, or interaction with those around us. Therefore, if your "ethic" is based on self-interest, it is not ethical at all; it doesn't account for your impact on others. Republicans are children who never grew up. I'm definitely not perfect, but I at least consider the impact of invading countries before millions die.
I've long thought about the essential difference between right and left, and if you hadn't figured it out: I'm on the left. Everyone is somewhere, even social scientists and political commentators. What is usually omitted is where they stand. I think that's important. In fact, I might advocate for mandatory admission of your party (for reporters).
Let's look at the issues, one by one, so that we can judge, on the merits of each, their ethics, rather than generalizing as is so often done.
Economy
Probably the issue that seduces the most left-leaners into the right fold, the economic philosophy of republicans is that 1) taxes suck, 2) government is the enemy of business people, and thus all people. This forgets the fact that almost all Americans work for either business people (rather than BEING business people) or the government, and thus would benefit from someone to keep business in check (with such regulations as no rape, no murder, no slavery, no child workers, no 120 hour weeks, no etc).
Health Care
If people get sick and don't have insurance, whether it's their fault or not (which, according to republicans, it probably is), they should die because they don't have the money to pay for treatment. Republicans don't want to pay for anyone else's anything. The world is hard, but it's better if we all come together. Imagine yourself without your family. Claiming your $100 a year is all fine and good, but saving the lives of countless others? To republicans: worthless. Why? Self-interest. Childishness.
Social Issues
Republicans: Jews are okay, but gays should be imprisoned. Gay marriage is a laughable proposition, because gay anything is sinful. If I don't understand it, it should be illegal.
Republicans are all about helping oneself. Democrats are about people helping each other. Sure, most republicans have good intentions and actually believe they're helping others by condemning them. But that's not all. Some are racist and even those who think they're doing good are actually doing bad because they don't understand that other people are beautiful, just like themselves. Being different is beautiful, just like being the same is. What's ugly is condemning, hating, and/or persecuting people. Don't forget, the right wing is the wing of slavery, naziism, war, Jim Crow, etc. Don't want to be in this category? Join those who love others besides themselves, on the left. Care about people besides yourself.
International Issues
Republicans: I'm afraid. The world might invade us. Terrorists might attack us. War sucks, but I don't mind it. Let's spend more than half of our budget on military, so that we have no money for teachers, health care, or anything else. Let's lay off teachers so we can invade countries thousands of miles away for the purpose of upsetting millions of people and causing them to attack us more. But if we have space missles, we can shoot all the people who hate us because we blow them out of existence. Awesome! It's like that explosion I saw on TV!
Conclusion
Ethical behavior, as your Mama (should have) taught you, is about how to behave in the world by considering others besides yourself. The republican ethic of the self is childish and, in my view, morally wrong because is considers only the self and not that of others. Christianity is strangely identified with the republican party, which further discredits christianity (it didn't need any more). My angry words don't mean that I devalue any person. I love every person ever born; however, if I were to sit idly by and let them rape the world, I'd be a bad person. Therefore, republicans, rethink your selfish ways and try thinking about other people.
You've given some thought to this post and though I am a right wing conservative and a Christian, there is really no room to differ or challenge your statements per se. Especially at the current time of the two parties in our nation state.
If we were to include so many of us like me and over the generations back down the long corridor of the two parties as they evolved, it was very very different then.
I practice what we once were as I love history and this nation state is fascinating for what is, has done, and what it is doing to itself. I am 6th generation and my family came here from Scotland in 1660.
So, in "response" to your post, I thought it would be good to go back a little further and to define what happens to cultures, without exceptions, to all nation states that arrive where we are at at the current. This way, the chasm of "parties' is rendered null.
I will begin here;
1. All great cultures in the past, all of them, begin as a form of Federation of free people. A conservative culture based on the provision to survive as a independent concern. We, the People, were no different. Compare this item list and cut and paste to where it is applied to the United States at this juncture in 2012.
2. When the body politic is formed in said nation, it tends to be as we were so framed, a Constitutional Federal Republic. A "democracy" is never considered since it is a manage of
everything with no order.
3. Next comes the protection and freedom of said Republic's borders.
4. Systemic organizations ensues with laws, coins, roads, infrastructure, mail, money as currency, banking etc etc and a deep deep concern of no debt and no adventurism.
5. Then, as comfort ensues and provision for higher intellect evolves, the academia begins to flourish and influences that slowly dilute the Federal Republic begin slowly at first then become the dominate norm.
6. Then the system of governing becomes almost caustic towards its opposing parties as they evolve also.
7. Then culture and taboos and indulgence begins to erode origins and classes appear. With this comes infighting of classes and finally in rare times, civil war.
8. The system evolves more in self indulgence and self gratification. "All for one, one for all" is replaced to a peculiar aura of life that is about "Me".
9. The first foreign engagement, for whatever reason, occurs, and it is quickly learned that adventurism (war with or without reason) is highly lucurative.
10. Then along with adventurism, comes borrowing and out of control debt.
11. At this stage the culture's moral center begins to collapse. Men become more feminine, women become more manly, masculine.
12. Pretty soon, homosexuality dominates everything in a form of fashion statement, a form of expression of being
avante garde.....Soon, the men are wearing miniskirts (Rome, Egypt, Greece) (known as Gladiators in modern times). The women are piercing their genitals, faces, body parts, tatoos, the hair is shortened, they also become the predominate social and political force (Cleopatra, Hillary Clinton).
13. Finally the adventurism, the cultural torment, the debt, the wholesale loss of being and process, does the nation state in through a democratic like socialism that effects said state to where no one is content.
!4. Collapse soon follows within one generation of item number 13.
We, the People, here, are at stage 12, drifting towards the first part of 13.
And that is basically what makes me, a conservative, in the true sense in what once was........
Hope this is helpful (this was and is part of my masters thesis, in gross abbreviation for time and space here.).
Hope that is helpful and thank you for your first post. Well done.
Fedora is tipped, and a different view perhaps for you from a right wing conservative.
Robert
I think once you feel others owe you a living, you will always feel that way.
