So, I live in a European country where our right-wing politics would probably be considered “left” by Republican Americans.
I vote sort of central. Not too left, not too right. Even though I disagree with many things that our rightwinged politicians stand for, I can see some merit in them at times. The same with our left-leaning politicians.
When I see discussions among Americans, it seems to me either party just hates the other party, automatically calling them bigoted. And it comes across as a heavily divided country without any hope for reconciliation.
So 2 questions: Republicans: is there any democratic strength you wish your party would implement?
And democrats: is there any republican strength that you wish your party would implement?
I wish the Democrats would lay off the gun control.
Regarding taxes, both parties fail in different ways. Democratic tax policy fails at the Federal level - low/zero taxes at the Federal level makes sense because the Federal government hasn’t needed to collect taxes since establishing the Federal Reserve banking system and moving off the gold standard. Republican tax policy fails at the State level - low taxes at the State level makes less sense, because the states actually need the money to pay for programs that market forces do not provide for.
Neither party is doing enough to make our military industry more efficient, less organizationally top heavy, and less corrupt. Spending resources on war is bad, but losing a war to tyrants like China or Russia would be worse. I want USA to have more weapons for less money.
Both parties fail when it comes to welfare programs. Republicans would implement sadistic and self-destructive abolition of all safety nets. Democrats craft welfare programs that pull the rug out from under people as soon as they start down the road toward financial stability, trapping people in poverty by removing the safety net too soon. For example, Medicaid is the only good healthcare available in this backwards nation, but you need to stay poor to get it - earn too much money and you’ll end up poorer than when you started.
I’m not a democrat, I’m far more left. But if there’s something I’d like the Republicans to do, it’s to actually repeal some of their laws and attempt to make the government a bit smaller and more efficient (without just removing funding/programs/departments). Currently, that doesn’t seem to be happening.
I used to believe the Republican party brought much needed conservatism to the table. There were reasonable concerns that the Democratic party was too heavy handed with implementing morality and over reaching laws. The Democratic party has mostly been in the right side of social permissivness since then and the Republican party has gone fucking crazy Reactionary which they have rebranded as “Conservative”. It has become an intersection dynamic where the Democratic party has become a coalition of progressives and conservatives, who just to want to keep the rights they have. Unfortunately there are many “Team R” fans that don’t recognize that their party no longer represents them.
So short answer, the Democratic party has already absorbed the strengths of the Republican party.
I wonder how much it is the parties changed and how much it is we changed as a people. When I was a kid it was a race to the middle, the majority of the population could vote either way. Now the middle is basically gone and power is from who can get their base motivated.
For me, a two party system seems really odd too. The flipside though, is having like 18 parties that all represent something, which takes way more cooperation and finding middle ground. This might seem good on paper, but can sometimes lead to indecisiveness or an unwillingness to take unpopular decisions. In the long run, that might cause a country to slowly fall behind on various topics due to a lack of vision.
Source: I’m a Dutch guy who has seen this happen in it’s own country.
So, I live in a European country where our right-wing politics would probably be considered “left” by Republican Americans.
I vote sort of central. Not too left, not too right. Even though I disagree with many things that our rightwinged politicians stand for, I can see some merit in them at times. The same with our left-leaning politicians.
When I see discussions among Americans, it seems to me either party just hates the other party, automatically calling them bigoted. And it comes across as a heavily divided country without any hope for reconciliation.
So 2 questions: Republicans: is there any democratic strength you wish your party would implement?
And democrats: is there any republican strength that you wish your party would implement?
I wish the Democrats would lay off the gun control.
Regarding taxes, both parties fail in different ways. Democratic tax policy fails at the Federal level - low/zero taxes at the Federal level makes sense because the Federal government hasn’t needed to collect taxes since establishing the Federal Reserve banking system and moving off the gold standard. Republican tax policy fails at the State level - low taxes at the State level makes less sense, because the states actually need the money to pay for programs that market forces do not provide for.
Neither party is doing enough to make our military industry more efficient, less organizationally top heavy, and less corrupt. Spending resources on war is bad, but losing a war to tyrants like China or Russia would be worse. I want USA to have more weapons for less money.
Both parties fail when it comes to welfare programs. Republicans would implement sadistic and self-destructive abolition of all safety nets. Democrats craft welfare programs that pull the rug out from under people as soon as they start down the road toward financial stability, trapping people in poverty by removing the safety net too soon. For example, Medicaid is the only good healthcare available in this backwards nation, but you need to stay poor to get it - earn too much money and you’ll end up poorer than when you started.
You should just read what the Republicans will do if Trump is reelected.
They’ve published their plans, and I want exactly zero of any of the “policy” they plan on implementing.
I’m not a democrat, I’m far more left. But if there’s something I’d like the Republicans to do, it’s to actually repeal some of their laws and attempt to make the government a bit smaller and more efficient (without just removing funding/programs/departments). Currently, that doesn’t seem to be happening.
Note that “left” in the USA would usually be considered centrist or only slightly left in Europe.
You don’t necessarily know how left I am, though
Hah, true.
I used to believe the Republican party brought much needed conservatism to the table. There were reasonable concerns that the Democratic party was too heavy handed with implementing morality and over reaching laws. The Democratic party has mostly been in the right side of social permissivness since then and the Republican party has gone fucking crazy Reactionary which they have rebranded as “Conservative”. It has become an intersection dynamic where the Democratic party has become a coalition of progressives and conservatives, who just to want to keep the rights they have. Unfortunately there are many “Team R” fans that don’t recognize that their party no longer represents them.
So short answer, the Democratic party has already absorbed the strengths of the Republican party.
I wonder how much it is the parties changed and how much it is we changed as a people. When I was a kid it was a race to the middle, the majority of the population could vote either way. Now the middle is basically gone and power is from who can get their base motivated.
the real issue is having only two parties. it makes the tribalism even stronger.
For me, a two party system seems really odd too. The flipside though, is having like 18 parties that all represent something, which takes way more cooperation and finding middle ground. This might seem good on paper, but can sometimes lead to indecisiveness or an unwillingness to take unpopular decisions. In the long run, that might cause a country to slowly fall behind on various topics due to a lack of vision.
Source: I’m a Dutch guy who has seen this happen in it’s own country.