Republicans v/s Democrats

[carrot red]

What are the biggest differences between a Republican and a Democrat?
My observation is that the biggest difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Republicans deal with the world as it is, while Democrats deal with the world as they believe it ought to be.

I don’t know much about politics, so I’ll stop here and leave the floor to whoever wants it.

[Monica]

I think there are a lot of differences, and I agree with yours. Republicans try to continue living with decency and morals and tradition and democrats like to twist and destroy morals and twist things to fit in their little fantasy. In the Bible it says Right will become wrong and wrong will become right. That's kind of like it is now, most democrats are trying to make society lose sight of God, and twisting it so that they make us out to be cruel. After the hippie age stuff got messed up. :(

[deathbyhokie]

money. republicans believe if you give the people money they'll spend it on the things they need, where as democrats think the government is more effective at determining what people need and spending money on it. that's why bush is always pushing a tax cut, and the democrats in congress are always shooting it down.

[AtmaWeapon]

Umm... yeah... something like that.

In general, the major difference is in conservatism and liberalism.

Conservatives believe in the morality side of any issue. Republicans tend to be conservative. Examples of Republican beliefs are anti-abortion, pro-prayer in school, and support of the war on terrorism.

Liberals are the polar opposite. They believe that freedom should supercede morality. Democrats tend to be liberal. Examples of Democratic believes are pro-choice, separation of church and state, racism (by which I mean affirmative action), lessened spending on defense, and they are firm promoters of civil rights for minorities.

A nice little rule of thumb is this:
If a Republican believes something, Democrats foolishly oppose it, just to be different. If a Democrat believes something, Republicans foolishly oppose it, just to be different.

[Ich]

As a rule, Republicans look to the people for solutions to problems. As a rule, Democrats look to the government.

[Axel]

carrot red and monica are the only people here living in a fantasy trying to make the world work how they think it should.
Atma is absolutely right.

Conservatives: beleive in tradition. they follow traditional values and try to ensure that the beliefs and systems that now exist remain as they are. they are slow to change, but quick to defend what they feel should be. they tend to be more nationalistic an militant than Liberals.

Liberals: believe in change. they follow values of freedom and reform. they hold little respect for existing values for the fact that they exist, and respect only what they believe is right. they are quick to change, but slow to go back. they tend to be less nationalistic and more pacifistic than Conservatives

[Monica]

Ok, I'm used to saying Republicans and Democrats but Conservative and Liberal seem more accurate. But Axel, the world is not perfect. Everyone can't be completely equal, as most liberals want. And most seem to believe that you don't have to be good or right as long as you're happy. That's what I meant when I said fantasy.

[AlexMax]

Republicans: Try to to restrict our 1st and 5th amendment rights in the name of the 'war on terror'

Democrats: Try to restrict our 2nd amendment rights in the name of 'war on crime'

They both blow, and are both in corperations pockets. There is only one solotion, and that is civil disobediance. :sb:

[AtmaWeapon]

Alex is correct in that they do, in fact, both blow. They are, in fact, corporations as well. Such is the reason why George Washington and other early Framers warned strongly against the formation of parties.

[Axel]

ah the dangers of a two party system.

[TheGeepster]

Actually, I do think the 2 party system doesn't particularly help, because party loyalty often supercedes voting one's conscience, or voting the will of their people. It polarizes the whole process, often linking together many aspects which ought to be considered separately. That said there are some key differences between the two major parties.

Republicans tend towards conservatism, and Democrats tend towards liberalism.

Conservatism
* Traditional Moral Values
* Equality of Opportunity
* Gov't Role Minimized
* Value Private Enterprise
* Individuals responsible for own consequences
* It's your tax dollar
* Empowerment to achieve
* Value Achievement over Diversity

Liberalism
* Alternative Lifestyles and Moral Relativism
* Equality of Results
* Gov't Role Maximized
* Value Gov't Programs
* Often blame companies w/o acknowledging individual's role
* It's government money
* Dependence on government
* Value Diversity over Achievement

That's a few of the major differences in idealogy. What I have noticed is that liberals today seem to be unwilling to apply their standards for those who don't agree upon themselves. I think this may be due to the belief in situational ethics, and a "ends justify means" approach.

As a matter of fact, it's my personal theory that if you want to know how they're behaving, all you have to do to look at what they're accusing their opponents of.

Look at the various political threads for discussion on the relative behaviors of the two parties.

[inori]

One point that I think many people are missing in this thread is that "Republican" is not a synonym for "conservative"; "Democrat" is not a synonym for "liberal." Republican and Democrat are political parties, whereas conservative and liberal are ideologies. While the Republican party's policies tend toward the conservative, and the Democratic party's policies tend toward the liberal, knowing a person's political affiliation does not necessarily mean you know their way of thinking.

[Tsukuru]

Originally posted by Axel
[B]carrot red and monica are the only people here living in a fantasy trying to make the world work how they think it should.
Atma is absolutely right.


I agree that Monica's post was extremely biased, but I don't see the same bias in carrot red's post. Carrot may or may not be democratic, republican, liberal, or conservatave (and may have shown a history of it).

[Monica]

Why do my posts always look worse than I mean them to be? I'm not the best at wording them, so I always make them blunt and strait to the point. Yes, I have strong Conservative morale and beliefs. I just cannot agree on most "Equality > Morals" It doesn't feel right...:(

[Axel]

do you know where the terms Left Wing and Right Wing came from? the French Revolution, in the National Convention (first legislature of France, assigned to creating first French Constitution) the Liberals were placed in the left wing of the building, the conservatives in the right wing, and those of middle range interests were the Center Wing.

we need a Center Wing party.

[Tsukuru]

Originally posted by Monica
Why do my posts always look worse than I mean them to be? I'm not the best at wording them, so I always make them blunt and strait to the point. Yes, I have strong Conservative morale and beliefs. I just cannot agree on most "Equality > Morals" It doesn't feel right...:(

Hey, don't back down! You have every right to make extremely biased posts, mine are too. :)

The true problem with debates is that no one ever really wins. I guess it's more about being heard than winning a debate.

[Starkist]

Axel - What you call centrists or moderates are merely the people with no backbones. They put their finger in the air to tell which way the wind is blowing and then follow it. To say someone is a moderate or a compromiser just means that they have nothing to stand up for.

I'm biased toward my own opinion. :D

[TheGeepster]

One point that I think many people are missing in this thread is that "Republican" is not a synonym for "conservative"; "Democrat" is not a synonym for "liberal."
inori, I mentioned that in my post, moreorless (or so I thought). But you are right. Not every person in a particular party shares a particular idealogy. But I think the primary differences are found in the idealogy which best fits the party.

I did think of another that I have heard. Republicans tend to be idea people, and Democrats tend to be better at the politics (at least until some of their recent antics anyways). And I think this is so true in general.

For those calling for a Centrist or Moderate party, consider that the left may have shifted much further to the left than the right has shifted to the right. It strikes me as true than the Democrat party seems to be run more by it's extremists, and the right extremists, while they may exist, are not in control of the Republican party.

[Axel]

well, I'd say the opposite, so I think our opinions cancel out.

for the record, extreme Liberals are Revolutionaries, and extreme Conservatives are Reactionaries.
however, extreme Leftists are Communists, and extreme Rightists are Fascists.

anyways, I think the ideals behind a Centralist party would be a combination of Leftist and Rightist ideals, perhaps merely composed of moderate conservatives and liberals. in Congress it would be able to keep the two parties from becoming deadlocked.

[TheGeepster]

Our opinions are that, opinions based on our perceptions of reality. So what we say here has little effect on the actual facts of the matter.