Looking at this thread, and the bitterness between the Republicans and Democrats, I happened to write a short note on the great divide. America is a nation divided. Vertically. Into Republicans and Democrats. Republicans call "them" "left-wing, liberal nut-jobs", and Democrats call "them" "right-wing conservative nut-jobs". Both are right. Both are wrong.
How can I tell? Because I am neither Republican nor a Democrat. Heck, I am not even an American, so there are a thing or two I know about the world that most Americans don't. Ah and yeah, having lived in the US for 5-odd years, there is a thing or two that I know about Americans that most non-Americans don't.
Republicans are still living in the past
Republicans still think that the US is the most powerful country in the world and war is a solution to all foreign policy issues.
No more. Firstly, the strength of a country is not in its military alone, but also in its economic strength. US is militarily strong, but it is not economically as powerful as it once was. If you remember, USSR was as powerful as the US once, but it was brought down to its knees because it stumbled economically. It did not lose its military might till the very end - it had a big fleet of high technology fighter airplanes on the ground - but no money to fuel them.
Secondly, the wars that are fought now are not the conventional wars - they're more like Gurilla or terrorist wars where pure military might is of little, if any, significance. Come to think of it - US could not win in Vietnam and Somalia, and lately the victories in Iraq and Afghanistan can be summed up with this quote "Once you hear of the details of victory, its hard to distinguish it from a defeat - Jean-Paul Sartre".
Finally, even a small nation state, like N Korea or Iran can now stand up to the US on the might of their nuclear weapons. Conventional warfare just does not cut it. There's Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) of course, but a small crazy nation state like N Korea does not care because it really does not have anything to lose, while US has everything to lose.
Republicans still think that Global warming is a sham propagated by the likes of Al Gore
Maybe it is propagated by Al Gore. Maybe it was done to gain power and control. But moving beyond the political aspects of it, are the physical aspects of it untenable? It is obvious that if you burn carbon-based fuels, you release CO2 in the atmosphere, and CO2 is a greenhouse gas, so it traps more heat from the sun than O2 and N2 would. This is Physics 101. If you don't believe CO2 is given off by fossil fuels burning, or CO2 is a greenhouse gas, you're bordering on insanity. If you believe the earth is heating because of the natural heating cycles of the earth, why push it even more so that it goes over the top? Some Republicans that I talk to tell me that the earth is actually cooling, and 2007 was the coolest year in last 15 years or so. Balderdash. The 8 hottest years on record have all occurred in the years since 1998.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/recenttc.html
What is wrong with the Democrats?
Democrats still believe in robbing Peter to pay Paul
Democrats still believe in higher taxes, especially the higher income people to spend on the "unfortunate". This is so stupid because
- This reduces incentive to work. If one is "earning" without working, he'd rather not work and "earn" a little less, than work and earn a little more (and see a big chunk of earning taxed away).
- The "unfortunate" (or anyone for that matter) does not appreciate something that is not hard earned.
- Higher taxes are bad for the economy - they drive away the industry. Why would someone set up a true multinational in the US if the US is going to take 40% of their profit away, if setting up the same company in another country can reduce the tax liability by 90%. A case in the point, Schlumberger, the oil drilling company is moving to Dubai.
- If the industry moves away, there goes your employment, and there goes your taxes. Is that too hard to understand?
- What part of never kill the goose that lays the golden egg you don't understand?
- This country was founded on the notion of "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". It is pursuit of happiness, not provision of happiness.
- This is Capitalism, not Socialism. US is prosperous because of enormous wealth creation by Capitalism. Socialism didn't work in USSR, it didn't work in North Korea, it didn't work in East Germany, it didn't work in China (till it shunned its Socialist/Marxist policies in favor of Capitalism).
Democrats still believe that they can tax companies to keep jobs in the US
This is an erroneous view of the world. Companies shift jobs overseas to cut costs and stay competitive (and of course make profit - but then isn't profit the motive in any enterprise? Is this charity?). You tax them to keep jobs in the US, and they lose their competitive edge. Believe it or not, but at this time, there's nothing in this world that cannot be made outside the US. The world is a competitive place. You tax your companies, the companies would simply close shop and move.
Democrats still believe that war is not the right thing, and they can use diplomacy instead
Maybe, but its not a given. Some people just hate the US. It has no rhyme or reason. If Iran wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, its not because of a reason, Palestinians or otherwise. Its just what it is. The world is not a rosy, quiet, friendly place. Just like Republicans are war mongers, Democrats are diplomacy mongers. US does indulge in a lot of diplomacy, but a lot of it is covert than overt. Of course it also indulges in a lot of overt, rather than covert operations. Diplomacy is not a panacea for all ills, and it ticks the Republicans off that Democrats don't get this.
There are stark differences between Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately, instead of talking and resolving these differences, they resort to shouting each other down. This is a nation divided, and it does not bode well for the country.
http://arbitrarymusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-democrats-dont-understand-and.html |