Politics. A subject that, like religion, must not be discussed. Politics has become such an emotional flashpoint, such a divisive polemic, that we can no longer talk about it. Yet it divides our nation like nothing has since we decided slavery wasn’t such a great idea.
But what is it, really? Beneath all the shouting, the rage, the hatred and the name-calling, politics is really just competing ideologies. Your political stance is essentially what you think our society should be. It’s your view of the world you want to live in, your utopian vision.
At least, that’s what it used to be. That’s what it still is for most liberals. But for conservatives, politics has become a weapon for hurting those they disagree with. Republicans no longer even bother with having a political platform. They’ve lost their vision. They’re so enraged that they just want to oppose whatever the Democrats want, without even considering what their politics would do to their own lives.
For instance, Liberals want their tax dollars to pay for universal health care. They’d like to be able to go see a doctor when they’re sick or injured, without having to argue with profiteering health insurance companies over what’s covered, which doctor is in their network, what medications they’re allowed to have and how much. They’d like to have some assurance that, if they get cancer, they won’t have to bankrupt themselves to pay for treatment. They don’t think coverage should be dependent on whether they have a job or not.
Conservatives are opposed to this. Is it because they like having their HMO decide for them which doctor they are allowed to see, what medications they are allowed to take, or what treatments are covered? Do they like knowing that if they get laid off they’ll lose their coverage and have to spend their life savings on cancer treatments or their kids’ orthodontia? Or do they just pin the label “socialism” on the whole idea and never even consider what it means to their own lives?
Liberals have, for decades, maintained a social safety net. It’s a lot more porous than we’d like, but it’s still there. Conservatives have always opposed it, minimized it, and attempted to destroy it whenever they gain power. What do they dislike about unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamps, and other programs that keep people alive when they get laid off or suffer a medical calamity? Do they really think their neighbor should have to be destitute and homeless just because they lost their job or got sick or injured? It could just as easily happen to them, after all.
When you ask a conservative this question, and I have, they tell you about welfare queens and slackers who take advantage of these support systems. Like one person getting by without working is worse than thousands of our fellow Americans living in tents, dying of cold and starvation.
Liberals want a program that covers child care, so that working families don’t have to spend most of their paychecks on day care, and single moms can afford to work. Conservatives are against this. Are they against people working while having children? Their rhetoric is all about families, and it pisses them off when people don’t work. So why don’t they like covered child care?
Liberals want to invest in affordable housing. Conservatives don’t. Is it because they like the fact that skyrocketing rent and mortgage payments have made it so that most families can’t buy a home or afford rent where they live? Do they like having their 25-year-old children living with them because they can’t afford rent on an entry-level salary?
Corporations, billionaires and banking chains have arranged for loopholes in the tax code so that they have to pay little or no taxes. Liberals would like to fix this so that they pay their fair share to support the country that supports them. Republicans always oppose any sort of tax reform. Do conservatives like having to support the country with their taxes while the corporations they work for pay nothing?
Somehow, I don’t think conservatives have thought this through. The things Liberals want for our country are things that would make Conservatives’ lives better and make the country economically stronger, but conservatives stubbornly oppose these changes. Why? Is “owning the libs” more important than having a good life? Is their hate stronger than their instinct for self-preservation? Is their selfishness so strong that they don’t want to have these societal benefits if other Americans get them too?
We all want better lives, don’t we? At one time, even conservatives had a vision of what life should be like. That vision has been lost, buried under tons of hatred and angry rhetoric and bumper-sticker slogans. I would like to invite conservatives to back up for a moment and consider: What kind of world do you want to live in?