The differences between Democrats and Republicans should be broken down into two categories: fiscal policy and social policy. I believe that in 2016, our real differences lie with the fiscal policy. Our social policies are simply the way that our party leaders (The Establishment) use to divide us.
Fiscal Policy
Despite all of the issues that we think divide us, it really comes down to this. If you believe that for the most part, we should earn according to our merit, then you are likely a fiscal Republican. On the other hand, if you receive some kind of government money or benefit either in a paycheck or a social benefit, then you will likely be inclined to vote Democrat.
Personally, I believe that the correct answer for a healthy society is a balance of both. Perhaps it is the two camps divided that hold our economy in a reasonable place. Maybe, if either is too overwhelming then people will suffer and our financial house collapses.
Like it or not money is at the center of our existence. It’s like the great Zig Ziglar once said, “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.”
Social Policy
Social policy is what our politicians use to divide us. It does not matter what stance Republicans or Democrats take, the other party will take just the opposite and then rally its base for support. Most people don’t concern themselves with politics, and even more of us don’t worry about the politics of finance. That’s why it’s so easy for politicians to take our attention off of what really matters and get us to focus on fighting our friends on issues that, if we really dig deep enough, we find that we are not that far apart on. Most of us don’t have conversations that look for what we have in common, we prefer to be hyper-sensitive and fight, and fall in line behind our crooked politicians.
Our politicians (on both sides) gain power when the people are divided. Listen closely to any politician when they talk social issues and you will hear them flip flop all the time. It’s because they do not really care. Their only objective is to create division and narrow the voting field so that they can win. For this reason, we should never vote on social issues.
There is not a single social issue solution that any political candidates have proposed that is actually a doable thing that is going to happen. NOT ONE. Donald Trump cannot build a wall. Santa Clinton cannot wave her magic wand and give everybody free college. And Sanders cannot tax every Wall Street trade. SO STOP FIGHTING ABOUT IT. Focus on the monetary policy. How are we going to pay our bills? And after we pay our bills, what are we going to do with the money we have? Fight about that.
Why is everybody so pissed off?
What wrong with our country right now—two things: 1) Corporate Welfare and 2) Wall Street. While we are fighting about sound bites that will never happen anyway, major corporations and banks are laughing hysterically at us. We suffered the greatest financial collapse since The Great Depression, and not a single substantial thing was done about it. As a matter of fact, the very people who caused the collapse (oh yes we know who they are), are in a better place now than they were before the collapse! They are what’s wrong with this country. Without them, we wouldn’t be fighting over a minimum wage increase. Free markets would have made it happen anyways. But this group has moved so much money to the top, that there is not enough at the bottom. Sure we could try to tax them at a higher rate, but that never works. They simply find a policy provided loophole and take their money overseas. No, we need to stop doling out corporate welfare and favors for our financial institutions.
I love Bernie Sanders for taking a stand on this. I personally cannot vote for him because I believe more in free markets than demand-side economics. I think it’s a noble issue to run on, but I don’t feel comfortable with Mr. Sanders in charge of everything else. More than that his proposed solution for Wall Street would never work anyway.
An interesting thought
Here’s an interesting thought exercise. Take the social issues out of the conversation about Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders and I believe that the two would manage the country’s balance sheet in a similar fashion.
I think that the Sanders followers are the Occupy Wall Street folks, and the Trump followers are the Tea Party folks. At their height, neither one could define what they were mad at. It’s because they always got distracted by social issues. Both groups were mad at the Establishment for their dishonesty and favoritism to the corporate and financial elite.
In conclusion
I’m not trying to suggest how any of us should vote. All I am asking is that we vote for the right reasons and stop fighting amongst ourselves. The real enemy is our government and the corporations that tell them what to do. We all know that power corrupts. Don’t you think that our government has enough power?