The Differences Between the Left and the Right in America

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about political affiliations as of late, trying to wrap my mind around how people could still be right-wingers in 2018. It seems like we have the answers, yet half the country still refuses to accept evidence/facts. 

For example, we know that the golden age of economic expansion happened under FDR’s watch, where the top marginal tax rate was 63%, and rose to 94% for those who made over $200,000 (which in todays’ dollars would be well over $2.5 Million). Yet, when Bernie Sanders proposes raising taxes on the top 10% of “earners”, everyone somehow acts like the country will be bankrupt. 

We have provable verifiable statistics that show black people are 2 times more likely to be killed by a police officer when there is any sort of interaction. Yet, so many people who say they aren’t racist refuse to acknowledge there is a problem. White people and black people use drugs at similar rates, yet black people are arrested for drugs 4X more often. 

But still, nothing to see here, maybe those darkies…er, I mean black people need to get it together and respect authority.

Cognitive dissonance is a very real thing, but even outside of those more obvious examples, there are plenty of people who don’t hate minorities, don’t hate people of color, want people to have healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt them (like in every other western country),  don’t think the Mexicans are stealing their jobs, and believe in science. 

YET THEY STILL VOTE REPUBLICAN.

I think I have figured out the 3 major differences between the left and right wing of the United States (notice I didn’t say Republican/Democrat, because the elected officials are basically all right wing.) 

1. Empathy

2. Macro vs. Micro

3. Immediate Gratification vs. Long Term Sustainability

Empathy I think is the biggest difference between the left and right. And that is not to say that right wing voters don’t have empathy at all, just significantly less than the left. Go policy for policy and you can see what I mean.

Immigration? The right wing pretty much promotes deporting all undocumented immigrants, regardless of their contribution to American society, how long they’ve been here, if they own a home, etc. None of that matters if the question is “Are they here legally?” and the answer is “No.” The left seems to be much more empathetic towards those who, I don’t know, left their country because it’s a literal war zone and they are seeking refuge. Does the left want to allow in all undocumented immigrants all the time for any reason with no borders? Of course not. We also aren’t proposing a blanket ban on anyone who wasn’t born here.

Healthcare? Tax funded college? The number one answer I get from people as to why that is a bad idea is “I shouldn’t have to pay for other peoples stuff.” Here’s the thing about that…you already do.

Insurance for example, everyone pays into a pool of money, and that money is divvied out based on who needs it at the time. If you pay car insurance every month and never get into an accident, guess where your money is going? To the people who crashed their cars. If you’ve never had to call the police, an ambulance, never used a public library, or had kids you sent to a public school, guess what. YOU ARE STILL PAYING FOR EVERYONE ELSE WHO USES THESE THINGS. 

Macro vs. Micro, if you know what these terms mean then this should make perfect sense. Macro meaning big picture, micro meaning small individual effects. So for example, when right wing folks say things like “I know there are so many school shootings, but I’ll never give up MY guns!”, my immediate reaction is “Oh, you don’t really care as long as it doesn’t affect YOU personally.” 

First off, the left is not advocating for any gun confiscation or banning. If you believe that, you’re just wrong. Especially in the black community, we aren’t giving up our tools. But to ignore the fact that statistically speaking, where there are more guns there are more gun related deaths (here’s the Harvard meta analysis to prove it), means YOU DON’T CARE ENOUGH TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM.

Secondly, most elected republicans only become an advocate for any marginalized group when it personally effects them or their family. (The most glaring example of this would be Dick Cheney being TOTALLY against gay marriage, then changing his mind to being in favor of gay marriage after his daughter came out as a lesbian. Somehow, he didn’t think gay people deserved rights until he found out there was someone in his own family that was being affected. Macro vs. Micro.)

The tax cuts will crash the economy sooner rather than later, however as long as the big business execs make their bread NOW, they don’t care what happens later because they’re already all set. That’s where the “Immediate gratification vs. Long term solutions” kicks in. 

For example with climate change, the state of Arizona is proposing a bill that would make it law that we have to begin using renewable technology so we can do important shit like saving the planet. But what are republican congress people saying is the reason we shouldn’t do it? 

“It’ll cost too much.”

But…solar power is cheaper than gas. So…..in the long run it would be MUCH cheaper to switch to a never ending energy source, like the sun, wind, and water. But, it’ll be expensive at first to produce the infrastructure needed, so they say “Agggggh, too expensive, what’re ya gonna do?” Short term gratification vs. long term planning. 

So, although there are levels to this shit, I think these are the basic differences between the left and the right, how we think, and how we vote. If any of this offends you, look in the mirror and really ask yourself “Do I think of how things will affect EVERYONE or just ME and MINE?” “Do I want to gain as much as possible regardless of how it affects others?” “Do I care about what happens later on or do I focus more on the here and now?” 

You might be right, but I’m never wrong.