Republicans say, "We OWN the world." Democrats say, "We ARE the world." [View all]

[RBInMaine]

Last edited Sat Dec 7, 2013, 06:26 AM - Edit history (5)

The right wing worldview is one that centers on SELFISH OWNERSHIP. They see the world in a vacuum with the attitude that "You get exactly what you deserve and work for in life". Their existence centers on money and materialism. To them it is, "I've got mine. Go get yours, and shut up." They worship an unfettered free market, see the rich as deserving masters of industry to emulate and celebrate, and vast income disparity? "Ah well," they say, "That's the market. Let the market dictate. No need for minimum wages or limits on CEO pay or bonuses." Everything to them is based on a market calculus of winners, losers, and zero-sum games. Want to improve education? Install private schools, competition, make teachers compete for "merit pay," base everything on standardized test scores, fire people left and right, and may the "best" school win. Want to improve the economy? Turn the reigns and our tax dollars over to the "professionals," the corporate rich who "run this country, and allow them to compete in the market. That'll take care of everything. The market will sort it out. And for goodness sake, don't regulate the all mighty market." The poor? "Ah well, they deserve it. They are lazy and irresponsible. Simple as that." Healthcare? "It is not a right. The market will take care of it. Private insurance and health savings accounts are the way to go. If millions of people don't have it, ah well, they are lazy and undeserving." Damaging the planet? "Ah well, the plant is an economic resource. The market will dictate whatever happens to the planet." Even though they like THEIR government programs and spending, they mainly see government as "bad" and as a way to help the rich and their corporations since they think the rich will somehow take care of the rest who "work hard". Their preference would be a corporate plutocracy who sees people as a labor resource and don't even think about something as evil as labor unions. Exporting jobs? "Ah well, that's the market. Companies ned to compete." --- I know this is how they think because their leaders and right wing media spokespeople say it, their behavior bears it out constantly, and their rank and filers talk in these terms all the time.


Our side is VERY different. We see ourselves as connected to one another, not isolated like the R's do, and we believe "My success depends on your success and we ALL need to succeed." We believe we ARE the world, a collective of mutually bound citizens who are in it TOGETHER. We believe in individual responsibility, but collective responsibility too. We see how poverty begets poverty, and we have a moral aversion to vast income disparity which we knowisn't inevitable. We see the market as a means of opportunity, personal creativity, and how we create wealth, but we also see the need for rules to the game so that the market is working well for everyone, not just a privileged few. We have a powerful social conscious. We KNOW life doesn't just happen in a vacuum and that there are both compelling individual and social causes of such problems as poverty, crime, addiction, illiteracy, etc. and we believe we need to respond to these problems TOGETHER. We believe that while government can't and shouldn't do all things, it can and SHOULD do some things. Education needs to address the ENTIRE student, and while we need good teachers and programs, we believe in a strong PUBLIC education and that education is much more than awarding "merit pay" and having kids pass standardized tests. We see healthcare as a right of citizenship and are disgusted by the notion of people going bankrupt when they get sick. We believe in very fair taxation, public investments in education, renewable energy, and infrastructure, and we see the way to broad prosperity as investing in our people, their education, science and the industries of the future, and a vision of PROGRESSIVE capitalism where businesses see that taking care of workers, including allowing them to organize for decent pay and conditions, and taking care of the planet is GOOD for business. We know that trickle down economics does not work and has never worked. We are the PROGRESSIVES and the POPULISTS which means just that: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS FOR THE PEOPLE.

The arc of history has ALWAYS bent in our direction, and it is now. We are on the right side of history. We need to embrace who we are, articulate it well and REPEATEDLY, and fight for what we believe in with the right kinds of policies. The MAJORITY of the nation is with us, especially the emerging generations, and the other side is BANKRUPT on the FUTURE and BANKRUPT on TODAY. They have ZERO ideas aside from being "all about ME and my rich friends and corporations and to hell with everyone else". They are bankrupt on both economic and SOCIAL issues. All they want to do is go backwards. We are the party of FORWARD. Now let's get out there and make FORWARD happen.

This is the difference. Two very different worldviews.