Serious answer - I’m a halfhearted Democrat and these are the basic differences I see (subject to exceptions, of course):
Democrats:
-more regulation
-stronger social programs
-social liberalism (pro-choice, pro LGBT equality, etc.)
-in certain geographic areas, like my beautiful home state of Michigan, heavily working class/pro-labor
-tend to favor progressive change
-’‘equality’’
Republicans:
-less regulation
-smaller social programs
-social conservatism (pro-life, anti-gay)
-values tend to be dominated by small business and upper middle class
-tend to favor the status quo
-’‘personal responsibility’’
(FWIW, the above is how my Republican stepfather explained it when, as a child, I asked him the difference between Republicans and Democrats, and I would like to think he was trying to explain it in the least biased way possible.)
As for my personal opinion about what they have in common:
-Corruption, hypocrisy, racism, righteous indignation (about different things), a fundamental mistrust of humanity, corporate prostitution, and pretty much all the stuff that makes people suck
-A strong pride in being American and specific (but very different) ideas about what that means
To answer your final question, I am a halfhearted Democrat because I’m extremely socially liberal and Democrats at least pay lip service to the idea of social justice.
No, think you misread. The page insinuates that most on the “Left” have religion that is scientific, whatever that means, non-organized, and unconventional. I believe most Democrats are mainstream Protestants, no?
I wrote in a recent thread that conservatives and liberals (or Republicans and Democrats) are both patriotic and love America equally. They just express their patriotism differently. Liberals love America so they want to make America better. Conservatives love America so they want to protect America.
I think at a fundamental level many conservatives identify with that sort of frontier-spirit, creating-their-own-destiny survivalism of our ancestors. There was a time in our history when not working hard would kill you and negatively impact your entire community.
I think liberals often speak with the voice of those who never had the opportunity of real freedom - the slaves, the immigrants, the women. Kind of like A People’s History of the United States. Behind all the glory there is an unspoken narrative of oppression, injustice, and inequality.
These viewpoints both reflect realities about our country’s identity. Taken at face value neither of them are really wrong. We just really seem to differ in terms of which narrative deserves more emphasis.
Republicans: “me and mine”
I have earned (or inherited) all that I have, and I’m entitled to every penny of it. Anyone who is less fortunate simply hasn’t tried/worked hard enough.
Therefore:
small government “don’t try to restrict how I can increase my wealth”
screw social programs (leeches don’t deserve help - they’re just lazy)
scare the rest of the world so that “they” can’t affect my wealth/sources of wealth
Democrats: “I’m willing to help those less fortunate”
I may not be rich, but I am doing well enough or “better” than others, and I can’t abide allowing so many to suffer.
Therefore:
bigger government to control the “haves” from having “everything”, and to support social programs
favor social programs to help those who need it
help the countries that could use it, but not force “america” down their throats
Conservatives don’t love America. They just hate everyone who isn’t American, and any fellow Americans who aren’t 100% like them. Nor do they want to protect America; they are perfectly willing to harm America to get their way. Look at their whole “make Obama a failure no matter the cost to the country” policy.
They “love” America the way some control freak who becomes a family annihilator “loves” his family.
And you’re so much like them. You have all the hatred and intolerance that you claim to oppose. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see you post one day that you’ve joined the Tea Party movement and you’re campaigning for Michele Bachmann - you’re only an inch away.
I’m a Democrat because the Democratic party at least still pays lip service to basic Christian values such as compassion for the less fortunate, and community service, while the Republican party proclaims the values of selfishness, aggression, and narrow-mindedness.
But truthfully the Dems are now conservatives and the Repubs are batshit crazy so I can’t drum up a lot of enthusiasm for either.
I remember when the big difference between D and R was that the D’s were innovative, and passionate about justice, whereas the R’s were just sort of stodgy. Bizarre to think of now.
I was responding to the “78% support God” parenthetical. But yes, I’d agree that most Democrats have mainstream religious beliefs, and the “non-organized and unconventional” part doesn’t apply. I think the scientific part may refer to belief in evolution as opposed to creationism and young earth theories, which is probably correct for most Democrats.
Random Google, I admit, but this says: 41% of Democrats believe in evolution. Scary. 58% of Republicans. But I am skeptical of these types of polls, they can dichotomize people into “pure evolutionist” and “YEC,” when lots of people are more nuanced. And their responses can be pushed in one direction or the other depending on wording of the question. Granted, in this case, it is pretty unambiguous, and thus scary.
Ah, that old false equivalency again. When I try to forbid Christians from getting married or or protest their funerals or waylay them with a crowbar and beat them to death, your comparison might work. Until then, it doesn’t.
I recently heard an interesting idea about why politics has become so polarized and personal in the US - why people can no longer say, “Oh, you ascribe to that policy approach, and I ascribe to this one, let’s go grab some dinner,” but rather view themselves as Mortal Enemies if on different sides of the aisle.
And the proposed (part of) the reason is that the parties have sorted very neatly into authoritarian versus non-authoritarian. And those descriptors aren’t just about political philosophy, but tend to reflect a very basic component of a person’s temperament and personality. It’s become a clash of fundamental, building-block worldviews, which people defend as essential components of who they are.
I’m sure there are other reasons, but this certainly rang true for me as a big part of the issue.
A lot of people had a fanatic unreasoned hatred for Bill Clinton. And a lot of people have a fanatic unreasoned hatred for Barack Obama. Would you say these are two completely unrelated phenomena or two aspects of a single phenomenon? I’d say the latter; the fanatic unreasoned hatred is a constant with the different targets it’s directed at being only a minor detail.
There are posters on this board who have a fanatic unreasoned hatred of liberals. And you have a fanatic unreasoned hatred of conservatives. To me, they’re pretty much the same beliefs and the political faction they’re directed towards is only a minor detail.
Both. They are partly examples of the same thing - hatred for any Democrat who ends up President. And partly they are something specific to Obama; racial hatred for a black President. Which is why Obama is hated more, breaking the record for death threats received early in his Administration.
Both nonsense. I have perfectly good reasons to hate conservatives, they’ve worked hard to deserve hatred. And again; unless I start trying to kill and oppress people then your comparison fails. I…argue with people on message boards. How terribly brutal and fanatic I am.