When Mitt Romney selected Paul Ryan to be his running mate, conservatives were overjoyed, proclaiming America now had a clear choice in November. Republicans feel America is going down the drain and voters should choose between Socialism and Capitalism. As a liberal, I feel the choice is between Socialism and Social Darwinism, but I don’t think it’s a clear choice. Romney and Ryan are already claiming the Republicans will save Medicare, because even though they’d like to delete it from the budget, they know millions of voters want it. Conservatives are far more socialistic than they are willing to admit.
I’m more than willing to accept the Socialistic label, but I believe conservatives need to accept the Social Darwinism label. The United States has been socialistic since the 1930s. Republicans obviously want to reverse that trend, although I doubt many of them want to return to absolute free market capitalism. I don’t believe there really is a clear choice, but I do believe the overall directions of both parties are clear. Liberals want to spend the money on social support systems to give everyone a minimum level standard of living, and conservatives want to dismantle the safety net and introduce a kind of Social Darwinism so nobody gets a free lunch and everyone competes.
Over population and the removal of real survival of the fittest cruelty, has produced an excess of humans that can’t compete. The world is fat with people, and there’s not enough natural jobs to let them all survive. Republicans want to go on a diet and let the excess fat die off.
Either we’ve got to create a safety net, or let nature take it’s natural course. Free market capitalism is based on survival of the fittest competition. As a liberal, I don’t want to see the kind of suffering that real Social Darwinism will create and wish to fall back on Socialism. Nor, do I think Republicans really have the stomach for tooth and claw competition. What the leaders of the Republicans really want is unrestrained competition to pursue wealth and they see the safety net, environmental protection, and other social engineering as getting in the way.
Most conservatives aren’t rich, and just as vulnerable as liberals to fall victim of Social Darwinism. In their struggle to stay afloat they have developed a tremendous resentment against others who don’t struggle because they are protected by Socialism. You can’t blame them, but do they really want to see millions suffer without government handouts? Would the Republicans really have let the banks and car companies go bankrupted a few years ago?
If we could reach some kind of consensus most people wouldn’t mind giving food stamps and welfare to the truly needy, if we also had an effective system that could distinguish the Meek of the Earth, from the free lunch opportunists. Americans give billions to charity every year to help the helpless, but Americans also hate ineffective charities that waste money.
There is no clear choice in how be efficient with tax money. Republicans scream they want to reduce spending, but all they ever do is reduce taxes, and going into national debt is no solution to the problem. Neither Obama or Romney offer an effective solutions to problems we face. All they do is play on people’s emotions. I really believe many Republicans feel the United States will suffer an economic collapse if we don’t elect Romney. They really are in an emotional panic over this, but us liberals just as strongly believe Romney has no magic bullet to save the country.
Predicting the future is impossible, but I’m to describe the liberal’s fear of the future. Republicans will win in November because the party in power seldom maintains power in a bad economy. Wall Street will be overjoyed at this Republican victory and the economy will heat up, and the unemployment rate will go down. Republicans will then start dismantling Socialism in America to a small degree reducing the middle class and increase the poor. Unless there is some kind of new economic bubble, growth will be slow, and hidden unemployment will be high. The Republicans will cut taxes but not pay off the debt. If there is a bubble that heats up the economy, it will eventually pop like the housing bubble and we’d go into an even worse recession than we’ve just had. The Republicans will not do anything about the Environment and will work to dismantle the EPA. In the next twenty-five years global warming will become obvious to all, but it will be much too late to do anything about it.
See, us liberals fear for our country too, just as much as conservatives. There are real solutions to our problems, but the clear choice Republicans talk about from both parties in 2012 won’t help us all find them, and we can’t find them without working together, which appears to be unlikely in this ever growing politically polarized society.
I think both current choices will lead to doom. We need a third option, but not a third party.
JWH – 8/16/12
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