# Explain American politics to me please **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 15, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517 "2011-04-15T17:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/21 "2011-04-16T18:08:56Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > As **Voyager** said, we should ask Uncle Jack, who sleeps in the best bedroom, drives the most expensive car, and always eats food from the best restaurants, to contribute a bit more from his multi-million dollar trust fund. It doesn’t seem fair that he contributes the same as the other adults, who are on minimum-wage jobs. Uncle Jack contributes FAR, FAR more than minimum wage workers, not only as a percentage of his income, but in actual dollar amounts. Minimum wage workers pay zero in federal income tax. > [@sh1bu1](#): > > It’s a great analogy because Americans never go into debt to buy a house, always pay cash for cars, and they pay off the principal on their credit cards every month. This isn’t going into debt for cars and houses and other infrequent purchases. These are regular operating expenses. It would be like Americans putting food, gasoline, and utilities on their credit cards. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/22 "2011-04-16T18:46:24Z")
Here is American politics for you. Eight straight years of deficit spending by a president using the money to drop bombs on brown people is good. Two years of deficit spending by a president using the money to stimulate the economy and reform the health care system to make it more accessible to poor people is bad. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/23 "2011-04-16T18:47:58Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Uncle Jack contributes FAR, FAR more than minimum wage workers, not only as a percentage of his income, but in actual dollar amounts. Minimum wage workers pay zero in federal income tax. > > This isn’t going into debt for cars and houses and other infrequent purchases. These are regular operating expenses. It would be like Americans putting food, gasoline, and utilities on their credit cards. How so? Do you know what percentage of government spending goes toward servicing the debt? You might be surprised to know that it’s lower than the average family spends to service their own debt. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/24 "2011-04-16T19:08:05Z")
To understand American politics, you have to understand Americans. Of course, there are Americans all over the political spectrum, so it’s hard to pin us down. My view: By and large we are spoiled. We want what we want, and we want it now. We don’t want anyone telling us what we can and can’t do. If a program benefits us personally, it’s a Good Thing. If we perceive it as a good deal, we may be filled with glee at taking advantage of it. If something benefits someone else, then it’s a Waste of Resources and should be done away with. We see ourselves as Individuals and have little concept of ‘promoting the general welfare’ as our Founding Fathers said we should. If something is done to ‘promote the general welfare’, it is Socialist. (NB: Socialist = Stalin, Kim Jong Il, and Hitler all rolled into one Evil Entity.) Of course when asked, everyone agrees that police forces are a good thing, as they protect society. Roads and bridges are good things, because they allow us freedom to travel. Public schools are good, because we don’t have to pay the full tuition to educate our children. Childless people like me pay for other people’s kids to go to school. But that’s OK, since it benefits society to have an educated populace. There are scads of examples of ‘socialist’ expenditures that we Individuals agree are good to promote. But we Americans are not deep thinkers. We want simple answers. We’d rather not have to think situations through. Just go in with guns blazing, and Might makes Right. So things like health care are Socialist because we don’t understand that a healthy population is more productive and better for the economy and for the country. We don’t see how better health enriches us personally. We think it’s better to pay half a million dollars to treat someone after an illness takes hold, than to spend a thousand dollars to keep the illness from taking hold in the first place. So American politics is a war between those who say ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ and those who say ‘I’m all right, Jack. Keep your hands off of my stack.’ ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/25 "2011-04-16T19:09:46Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > How so? Do you know what percentage of government spending goes toward servicing the debt? You might be surprised to know that it’s lower than the average family spends to service their own debt. Because the debt keeps increasing every year and deficits are perpetual (and yes, even Clinton never really eliminated this except by counting the SS income). This year to a tune of $1.5 trillion. It’s not like an average family where one year they take out a loan to buy a car and the next four to five years they work at paying it off. To continue the analogy, it would be like buying a car, making interest only payments for 5 years, and then buying another new car. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/26 "2011-04-16T22:56:42Z")
Well, my explanation of American Politics is: Most of us are not paying attention at all. The few of us who are paying attention fall into small groups, most of whom are more interested in one narrow aspect of human society, and base all of our political involvement on that narrow aspect, and otherwise join the majority that is not paying attention. Once we elect someone, we believe ardently that everything that happens in the world is their fault. So, generally, we re-elect them. Then we bitch about it. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/27 "2011-04-17T00:30:31Z")
Here’s my attempt to explain American politics. There are two spectrums on which people’s political ideologies lie: the fiscal spectrum and the social spectrum. On the fiscal spectrum, the right wants smaller government and the left wants larger government (see below for why the last part isn’t really correct). The right generally thinks that a smaller government promotes economic growth and that government “meddling” in people’s economic affairs should be restricted as much as possible. The left generally thinks that we should achieve a “just society,” and government programs (such as welfare and affirmative action and some form of universal health care) are the way to get there. Saying the left “wants larger government” is a bit misleading–they just want the government to do stuff and don’t care about the size of government. On the social spectrum, the above positions are generally switched. The right generally thinks that things should be a certain way and government power should be used to achieve their desired outcomes. The left generally thinks the government should take a hands-off approach. The Republicans are generally right on both spectrums, and the Democrats are generally left on both spectrums. The Tea Party movement is a loosely affiliated group of lots of different organizations who all generally want smaller government. They really don’t have a definite position on the social spectrum, but I think we can presume that many (if not most) of them are on the right on the social spectrum. Finally, there’s a lot of talking past each other that goes on. For example, on the fiscal spectrum, the left generally thinks that the government should help poor people, so they think that the right thinks that the government should help rich people. But those on the right don’t think that–they just favor policies that the left thinks unfairly helps rich people over poor people; but generally those on the right don’t consciously want the government to enact policies that help rich people. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/28 "2011-04-17T02:49:03Z")
> [@biddee](#): > > I am not American so only have opinions from what I read online and in the international news. To tell you the truth I’m really not that interested but one of my friends just posted this on Facebook: > > A family spends $38,200 per year. Their yearly income is $21,700. They add $16,500 in credit card debt every year to pay their bills. After a family debate, keeping in mind that it was not going to be possible to borrow $16,500 every year forever, the parents and kids agreed that a $380/year premium cable subscription could be terminated. So now the family will have to borrow only $16,120 per year. > > He is a staunch Republican probably tea-partier (what are they really?) who insists he is a ‘doer’ and that ‘doers’ shouldn’t pay for ‘takers’ unless they want to. > > How true is this statement about the ‘family’ he is talking about? > > Please would someone try to explain in layman’s terms what is really going on in politics in the US. I’m not trying to incite anything and would post this in general questions because I’m looking for answers not debate but I know it could get into debate territory so posting it here. Its not really a very good analogy at any level. The reason income is so low is because of tax cuts and lower revenues due to the recession. The reason spending right now is so high is because we have engaged in stimulus spending and there are more people on unemployment and food stamps. If we get rid of the effects of the recession, the tax cuts and the stimulus, we STILL need some cuts but we have effectively eliminated the vast majority of what your friend is worried about. We have to address medicare (and to a much lesser extent, social security) and we can probably cut a little bit from the discretionary budget but to be honest we have had 3 decades of cost cutting, there simply isn’t a lot of fat left. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/29 "2011-04-25T17:15:38Z")
Everyone in America thinks everyone else in America is Out To Get Them. And they’re right. That’s American politics in a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![Hold\_Fast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@Hold\_Fast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hold_Fast)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/30 "2011-04-25T17:26:21Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The analogy breaks down in a couple of ways. First, a lot of the family’s outgo goes to hiring security guards for the neighborhood, which the neighbors can’t afford to do. More of it goes to pay gramma’s hospital bills, and college tuition for junior, which he says he will pay back with interest. The parents just took a big cut in pay, and don’t want granny to die or junior to have to drop out, so they add a bit to debt. > > Meanwhile Uncle Jack, who lives with them and makes a ton of money, doesn’t want to contribute any more, even for neighborhood security, and in fact wants them to cut his room rent. > > Analogies are fun, aren’t they? Well said bra. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517/31 "2011-04-25T20:37:27Z")
It’s very easy to understand American politics by simply applying Kohlberg’s Moral Hierarchy: Level 1 = Tea Party Level 2 = Republicans/Conservatives Level 3 = Democrats/Liberals From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Kohlberg’s six stages can be more generally grouped into three levels of two stages each: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional.[[7]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development#cite_note-istoought-6)[[8]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development#cite_note-moralization-7)[[9]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development#cite_note-measurement-8) Following Piaget’s constructivist requirements for a [stage model](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_development#Piaget.27s_four_stages), as described in his [theory of cognitive development](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_development), it is extremely rare to regress in stages—to lose the use of higher stage abilities.[[13]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development#cite_note-walker-12)[[14]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development#cite_note-colby-13) Stages cannot be skipped; each provides a new and necessary perspective, more comprehensive and differentiated than its predecessors but integrated with them.[[13]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development#cite_note-walker-12)[[14]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development#cite_note-colby-13) > > _Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)_ > > 1. Obedience and punishment orientation (_How can I avoid punishment?_) > 2. Self-interest orientation (_What’s in it for me?_) (_Paying for a benefit_) > > _Level 2 (Conventional)_ > 3. Interpersonal accord and conformity (_Social norms_) (_The good boy/good girl attitude_) > 4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation (_Law and order morality_) > > _Level 3 (Post-Conventional)_ > 5. Social contract orientation > 6. Universal ethical principles (_Principled conscience_) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-american-politics-to-me-please/578517.md?page=1)