Republicans
vs Democrats: A World View
Democracy relies on a collective wisdom, through experience, over time, of an informed electorate. This is in sharp contrast to a dictatorship. Even a benevolent dictator can't know what's best for everyone, but a system of laws and regulations that evolve are more likely to result from a collective wisdom. Republicans believe in the collective wisdom of citizens; Democrats believe that government knows best, particularly when that government is populated by intellectuals with "good intentions" for us all.
We refer you to Thomas Sowell's book, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. He writes of the "constrained" and "unconstrained" views of human nature. With apologies to him, we'll refer to the "Blue view" and the "Red view," corresponding to the colors attributed to political leanings of States in modern media reports.
Blues believe in the inherent goodness of mankind and feel that government, run by benevolent humans, should force us all to achieve our potential of ultimate goodness. Thus, activist judges are acceptable, as are lying politicians, as long as the intent is "pure." It's acceptable to forgive the transgressions of a Bill Clinton because he's smarter than the rest of us and he intended to do good things for the rest of us. One cannot forgive a Republican for doing the same things simply because Republicans are assumed not to be of a kind and benevolent spirit, so any transgressions must be punished.
The Red view is that human nature is to be fallible, and society's system must take that into account. They believe that a person's role in that society, particularly in a position of authority, must be executed within the confines of the purpose of that role. In other words, judges are expected to maintain law and order based on the historical precedents, traced to the Constitution. To change the direction of the law, even out of a personal opinion that a new precedent is better, is a violation of the oath of office. An elected official was hired by the people to do a job. To step outside of that authority is unforgivable, regardless of "good intent."
Blues believe that government must force equality, yet those doing the forcing are not equal to the rest of us. "Superior" intellects are permitted to determine what "equality" means; however, it certainly doesn't include them.
Reds believe that equality means just what it sounds like. Elected officials, even intellectuals, don't know better than collective citizens what is best for all of us. In fact, non-intellectuals may have far more common sense and may govern far better. Reds assume that human nature is to be selfish, whether fighting for one's life or simply improving one's lot in life. Given the freedom to pursue those selfish goals, within the framework of our Constitution, society (and fellow citizens) will benefit, without government forcing specific actions through threats and punishment. This is what capitalism is all about and why it flourishes in a free society–and vice versa.
Reds believe that the Blue approach to governing–"I know what's best for you"–will always have a host of unintended consequences, even though they arise from good intentions. Reds prefer to govern through incentives that consider human nature. For example, if Blues force businesses to contribute a given amount to charities, coercing them to "goodness," there is an infringement on freedom, as well as a "solution" that requires law enforcement. On the other hand, if government permits capitalism to flourish, with minor incentives, the competitive market will drive businesses to find a way to help charitable causes. Done for selfish business reasons, the result will be a more lasting and impressive achievement simply because the businesses are doing what they want to do, rather than what they were forced to do. They would see such contributions in their best interests, and they would continue to increase the contributions as long as they felt it was in the best interests of the business. Government's role, if there is one, is to find the "trigger" that takes advantage of those business management principles.
This is just the beginning of trying to explain how two intelligent people, with good intentions, can examine the same information and arrive at entirely different conclusions regarding the defnition of the problem and the nature of the solution.
Check back often for additional explanations of these "World Views."
