Republican Club
By Brian Harmon
LW contributor
One study from the Pew Research Center said that over 70 percent of Americans believe that there is too much hostility between Democrats and Republicans. I agree with them, and I believe most Americans and LWers do, too.
This problem is not going to be solved overnight, and it might not be solved completely.
I believe that if we understood the underlying issues that set the two parties apart, it would be the first step in solving the problem.
After 50 years or so of study and thought, I have finally figured out what I believe is the primary difference between the left and the right, Democrats and Republicans, and conservatives, liberals and progessives.
Conservatives believe that the biggest question the government must answer is: “What is the proper balance between freedom and order?”
Progressives believe that fairness is the biggest issue. They believe billionaires living in the same country as people who are on the verge of starvation, is the biggest problem Americans face. Some may also put global climate change in that category.
It’s not that conservatives don’t care about a highly unequal distribution of income; it’s just that we don’t think it’s the most important issue. Just like progressives do not believe that the balance between freedom and order is irrelevant, it’s not number one on their list of problems.
A book I have been reading is called “Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America From the Culture of Contempt” by Arthur C. Brooks. He is the president of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the largest conservative think tanks in America.
While looking at reviews of the book, I found that the most scathing criticism was that the author does not emphasize, or hardly mention, the problem of the increasingly large gap between the rich and the poor. I regret to say that this critic might have a good point. When President Donald Trump took office, the real average wage in the U.S. was the same as it was in 1974. By “real,” economists mean after correcting for inflation, how much a dollar will buy.
I may be one of the few Republicans in America who carefully watched the debates between the Democratic candidates who wanted to be president. I saw that the candidates were almost entirely concerned about fairness.
Another major issue was decriminalization of illegal immigration. President-elect Joe Biden was vilified because it was said that when he was vice president under Barack Obama, more people were deported than in the previous administration. Obama focused on what might objectively be considered a good idea by focusing on illegal immigrants who committed crimes in the U.S.
The presidential hopefuls on the Democratic side also were concerned about making higher education more available to lowincome individuals. Although there was some difference in the best way to achieve this goal, all believed that something must be done.
Questions about when a human embryo or fetus becomes human were not discussed. Nor was the constitutionality of Row v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision regarding abortion laws.
Republican debates in 2012 and 2016, as well as the Republican convention show a significant contrast.
Starting with the most recent, this year’s GOP convention focused mostly on law and order, support for the police and military, freeing up the economy so that it can grow at a faster rate, and criticism of rioters and those leaders who fail to stop them.
In previous years, almost all favored stopping illegal immigration to the extent that it is possible; getting tougher on crime; lowering taxes; reducing government regulation of business; a color-blind racial policy; and getting tougher on China Iran and other nations. With one exception, all candidates expressed concern about the negative effect of rising deficits on future generations.
