Robot Heart

The Other Side

I found out this week that my boyfriend John is really and truly a Republican (well, a pre-Bush Republican) after I wallowed in denial for too long. Actually, he doesn’t care about politics that much, but after meeting me he can’t help but hear about it every day and get involved.

His reason for not wanting to vote for Obama is simple: he doesn’t want his taxes to raise. John works extremely hard for his money. He poured himself into his work during his 20s, working 80-hour weeks and forgoing a social life so he could retire early. And, according to John, Obama would take that money away and put it into the hands of people who sit on their couches all day.

Side note: We do keep forgetting that our society is full of leeches. Not all pregnant teenagers got in that condition accidentally. Not everyone is out there wanting work like Obama would have us believe. Some of us are looking for the easiest way out; a government paycheck. And this is what intelligent people who are voting for McCain keep in mind moreso than the red herrings of abortion rights and gay marriage.

We know there are people willing to work hard, but sometimes their sense of entitlement gets in the way of taking any old job that would pay the bills. (Hello, some of my generation!) Others really and truly can’t find work. I want to help the latter. But nothing is in black and white, and I know my tax dollars aren’t soley going to those that truly need help. I’ll never forget an ex’s friend who was laid off and began taking unemployment checks from the government. This was a metrosexual white man, and he spent his checks on designer shoes and video games. That is what we are paying for.

John told me that when a Democrat sees a kid on the side of the road asking for money, they get upset and want to give him money, send him to school, fix the system. A Republican sees that child and admires his entrepreneuring skills and ability to find a way to make money instead of doing nothing. *shrug* Perception.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still an Obama supporter. But it’s important to remember how the other side thinks. We’re getting bogged down by Palin and the social issues and how ridiculous the RNC was. We’re forgetting there are people already working hard for their money, trying to make ends meet, who responsibly purchased homes and don’t want to pay for other people who spent outside their means, who only want to be able to retire when they had planned to and enjoy the life they worked hard to have. And Obama hasn’t spoken to them. McCain may not have either (I hate that the Republican party seems to have no platform at all), but traditionally the Republicans won’t tax those with higher incomes, so McCain is who they will vote for.

I’m voting for Obama because I want to help the side that needs help, even if that means paying some of society’s leeches. He understands the problems of our country and has great ideas on how to fix them. I know he has the ability to inspire those couch potatoes to get up and make something better of themselves, and he will increase our standing in the world. He will work to bring back those jobs that have been shipped overseas. He has stressed the importance of science (probably one of the biggest pulls for me) and finding alternate forms of energy. But people are voting for McCain simply because they want to keep the life they worked hard to have. That’s it. Only those with simple minds would find any relevance to the dog and pony show the Republicans keep putting on.

And that is why I’m extremely worried that Obama may lose.

Can we just make a brand new country and start over again? Will Canada give up some of their land for this endeavor? Pretty please? Or maybe we can take over Montana or something. It’s quite pretty there.

I think what “the other side” doesn’t get is that our side isn’t all for handing money over to people who don’t work, either. Our side isn’t always going to raise your taxes. (See: Obama’s tax policy.) Our side isn’t about taking away the life you work hard to have. Au contraire.

I can’t speak for all liberals when I talk about this, but I know my idea of “welfare” means giving people resources they need in order to become successful and pay their own bills. This means quality education, vocational training, improved access to higher education, and sufficient education to understand and navigate the basic financial institutions that every American deals with. (I think this is critical when you look at the mortgage crisis or massive amounts of credit card debt. The biggest problem is ignorance — people who lack the knowledge to protect themselves and rely on the wisdom of people who will take advantage of their ignorance to turn a profit.)

I also believe that corporations/businesses should be held accountable for their actions. We give them huge tax breaks every year with the understanding that this money will go back to the consumer and employees. However, over the last 30 years, we’ve seen that even while there has been overall economic growth, less and less of that money has been returned either to the consumer or the employee. Pay has not kept up with the pace of inflation or with overall economic growth. Benefits have been reduced. You have major companies ripping off, lying to, and stealing from their employees and clientele on a regular basis. We don’t hold companies accountable for the slack we cut them, and to me, that is a huge issue, especially when you end up having massive corporate bail outs as a result of mismanagement and abuse — Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac all come to mind.

I think there has to be some sort of balance. Cut companies some slack — but require greater accountability. If we’re going to continue relinquishing our government’s responsibility for basic infrastructure, we especially need to step up corporate accountability. Do the same for people, though. Cut them some slack, give them some help — but require them to be accountable, make sure the changes they say they are making are being made.

I think my biggest criticism of the Republican mind set is that they are more than happy to cut slack for corporations and businesses, but unwilling to do the same for people. Why? You think the ethics of corporations are more sterling than those of the individual? We either need greater accountability in our system (what I think of as responsible liberalism), or we need to stop giving breaks to anyone (from what I gather, this is libertarianism.) The notion that we should hand out money, breaks, or benefits to any one group, corporation or individual, without making them accountable for those benefits, in my opinion is a stupid way of doing business and an even stupider way of running a country.

Personally, as a liberal, I believe in giving all people the benefit of the doubt, but requiring accountability. That way if your corporation lies to its customers, for instance, about how much their mortgage payments will cost them, or if an individual uses their unemployment check to buy designer shoes, you can stop providing those benefits and start requiring real accountability. Otherwise, neither system is a very healthy way of governing, and neither system is effective or productive.

Posted 1 year ago 22 notes