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Political Morality
Nov. 6th, 2004 01:41 pmI have heard a lot in the past week about how the Democrats in the US aren't moral, lack a moral center, don't talk about morals, things of this sort. Democrats respond, in anemic fashion, that they do care about morals.
I want to set the record straight: both Republicans and Democrats have a moral center. Thing is, on each side of the divide it's expressed differently. Democrats are compassionate moralists; Republicans are punitive moralists.1 I am referring more to how they express themselves in the law of the land than personal feelings of amity.
Democrats express their morality in their concern for others lives. They are moral in their concern for the well-being of everybody in society. In some cases this morality is expressed as an attempt to restrict freedom, such as anti-gun restrictions. In other cases, the vast majority of them, this morality is an attempt to expand freedoms and raise the floor for everybody. This is why liberals push for environmental conservation, for clean air, for clean water, for well-funded public schools, for well-funded social welfare, for a reasonable work week, for free public libraries, for rehabilitation of criminals when possible, for equality under the law despite race or sex or religion, for strong transportation infrastructure, and for public control of parts of infrastructure where it's more important to do things as well as possible as opposed to as cheap as possible. Government should stay neutral to helpful.
Republicans express their morality in their concern for others moral center. They are moral in their concern for the spiritual purity of everybody in society. Most of the time, this expression of morality is punitive. They do not like social welfare because they feel it results in unwed children and try to stymie it, ignoring that social welfare was a response to the problem. They do not like freedom of choice because it does not square with their belief on Life, and thus work to restrict a woman's choice for abortion. They do not like people enjoying sex and feel that available birth control leads to more sex, and so work to restrict access to and information about birth control. They feel that criminals should be punished severely and work to make punishments ever more severe. Government should leave people alone until it comes time to stomp them hard.
It wasn't always like this. Republicans used to stand for the rights of the individual against the power of government and large companies, and for a clean environment; some, maybe even many, still do. Yet many modern-day Republicans' want the tenets of their religion enshrined in law, and many in power stand for the rights of the corporation against the power of both governments and individuals.
I cannot reconcile an invasion of the bedroom as an endorsement of privacy, whether it is done by one person or by government.
I cannot reconcile leaving people to starve if they do not follow the tenets of a particular religion to be compassion, whether the charity come from individuals or from government.
I cannot reconcile a spend on credit economic policy no matter when as sound for an individual, let alone as sound for government.
I cannot reconcile denying adults the right to marry as strengthening the structure of the family. My forefathers had multiple wives and concubines and were considered moral men - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Modern-day Muslims are allowed four wives under the Koran. Some Amerindian tribes had two men living together as a married couple. Many historically-known marriages had lovers on the side and were still strong marriages. Marriage is not all about one man and one woman and how they have children; fidelity is not all about sex. Family is about love and respect.
I am a compassionate moralist. I am not a Democrat, but I find myself in agreement with Democrats far more often than disagreement. I have both rights and responsibilities as a citizen. I cannot expect to hold on to my rights if I do not fulfill my responsibilities. And this is why I rarely vote for a Republican - I'm too moral.
1 As a rule.
I want to set the record straight: both Republicans and Democrats have a moral center. Thing is, on each side of the divide it's expressed differently. Democrats are compassionate moralists; Republicans are punitive moralists.1 I am referring more to how they express themselves in the law of the land than personal feelings of amity.
Democrats express their morality in their concern for others lives. They are moral in their concern for the well-being of everybody in society. In some cases this morality is expressed as an attempt to restrict freedom, such as anti-gun restrictions. In other cases, the vast majority of them, this morality is an attempt to expand freedoms and raise the floor for everybody. This is why liberals push for environmental conservation, for clean air, for clean water, for well-funded public schools, for well-funded social welfare, for a reasonable work week, for free public libraries, for rehabilitation of criminals when possible, for equality under the law despite race or sex or religion, for strong transportation infrastructure, and for public control of parts of infrastructure where it's more important to do things as well as possible as opposed to as cheap as possible. Government should stay neutral to helpful.
Republicans express their morality in their concern for others moral center. They are moral in their concern for the spiritual purity of everybody in society. Most of the time, this expression of morality is punitive. They do not like social welfare because they feel it results in unwed children and try to stymie it, ignoring that social welfare was a response to the problem. They do not like freedom of choice because it does not square with their belief on Life, and thus work to restrict a woman's choice for abortion. They do not like people enjoying sex and feel that available birth control leads to more sex, and so work to restrict access to and information about birth control. They feel that criminals should be punished severely and work to make punishments ever more severe. Government should leave people alone until it comes time to stomp them hard.
It wasn't always like this. Republicans used to stand for the rights of the individual against the power of government and large companies, and for a clean environment; some, maybe even many, still do. Yet many modern-day Republicans' want the tenets of their religion enshrined in law, and many in power stand for the rights of the corporation against the power of both governments and individuals.
I cannot reconcile an invasion of the bedroom as an endorsement of privacy, whether it is done by one person or by government.
I cannot reconcile leaving people to starve if they do not follow the tenets of a particular religion to be compassion, whether the charity come from individuals or from government.
I cannot reconcile a spend on credit economic policy no matter when as sound for an individual, let alone as sound for government.
I cannot reconcile denying adults the right to marry as strengthening the structure of the family. My forefathers had multiple wives and concubines and were considered moral men - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Modern-day Muslims are allowed four wives under the Koran. Some Amerindian tribes had two men living together as a married couple. Many historically-known marriages had lovers on the side and were still strong marriages. Marriage is not all about one man and one woman and how they have children; fidelity is not all about sex. Family is about love and respect.
I am a compassionate moralist. I am not a Democrat, but I find myself in agreement with Democrats far more often than disagreement. I have both rights and responsibilities as a citizen. I cannot expect to hold on to my rights if I do not fulfill my responsibilities. And this is why I rarely vote for a Republican - I'm too moral.
1 As a rule.
