For a long time (before Reagan) I considered myself a Republican. I long considered the phrase “the government which governs best, governs least” to be a personal motto of sorts. However, I have always felt that government plays a critical and absolutely important part of our society, without which we would not have an environment where a dweeb like me could consider the idea of becoming a billionaire without also being considered insane. I have less and less felt in alignment with the Republican party over the years since Reagan (initially because they started tying the anti-abortion plank onto the party platform and using it as a litmus test) but the article below really crystallized that I will never consider myself a republican again.
How the GOP Became the Party of the Rich
The inside story of how the Republicans abandoned the poor and the middle class to pursue their relentless agenda of tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109
I am not sure what to call myself, though, because I still, for the most part, despise Democrats (though, to be totally fair in the matter, I pretty much despise all politicians, though when I was younger I felt that only, perhaps, half of them were crooks, not the 99% that I feel are crooks today). What I have read about Libertarians doesn’t make me feel much better; there are things that free enterprise is basically incapable of doing in such a way that society benefits (roads, bridges, schools, police, fire, etc.).
- I believe in the greatest good for the greatest number, but am against maximizing the greatest good to the extent that any minority gets crushed.
- Free enterprise, to be successful, needs to have widespread competition and the gathering of resources into the hands of the few (or one) without heavy government regulation is a recipe for disaster (see our current banking situation).
- Generally I am against unions, but I believe that attitude might be because I have read so much about corrupt union bosses who have never worked a day in their lives (much like most of our politicians!).
- I believe that minimum wages create an environment where people can be abused because certain jobs will not be worth what the law says it must be worth, but somehow the job needs to get done. I believe the minimum wage should be whatever it takes to get someone to do the given job in the local environment, not something arbitrarily set by some government official.
- I believe in a progressive tax system and people at or below the poverty line should be paying the least (as a percentage of their income) and those at the top should be paying the most.
- However, I do not believe that the progressive tax rate should ever get above 50% and feel that the range of 25-35% is optimal as it gives the person an incentive to work harder (I know there are places in Europe where Doctors only work 2-3 days a week because to work more would be to work for free).
- I strongly believe our government should be operated more like a business in that people who under perform should be kicked out and people who over perform should be rewarded. Additionally, our government should always be making the cost/benefit decisions like businesses, but where the cost/benefit is to society and the greatest good for the greatest number without causing minorities to suffer unduly.
- In fact, I believe that our government should get involved in any enterprise where there is excess profit. I am against privatizing of social security, for instance, because I see no point in paying Wall Street any portion of those funds. However, I think social security purchasing treasury bills that pay slightly better (or perhaps not even slightly) than inflation is also a crime against society. If social security was managed (by people getting paid government wages, not the exorbitant salaries and bonuses of Wall Street) like a regular pension fund, it could use that influence to help moderate the excesses of corporations via shareholder activism, trivial since the social security trust fund would likely be the largest shareholder of most large publicly traded companies.
I am heading home, perhaps I will add more later…
