It may come as a surprise, but I've been listening to and watching some of the Republican Convention this past week. Not a lot, but enough to get some of the flavor of what's being said. I am willing to look for signs of common ground....truthfully I'm worried that there seem to be so few. The other night, though, I heard a concise statement- perhaps it was Laura Bush speaking- that really clinched for me why I am philosophically in a completely different space than the R's. The woman speaking said "I'm a Republican because I believe that the great thing about our country is that anyone who works hard can be anything they want to be." (forgive me if the quote is not word for word, I believe I have the intent).
My parents repeated that mantra to me and my siblings from the time I was little- not the Republican part- but the belief that hard work and desire were all it would take for us to be what we wanted. And I believe that is largely true- for the lucky people in my family. I don't believe that it's true for Americans generally. Some people truly are smarter than others. Some people truly are faster than others- genetically. Some people have better eyesight. Some people are mechanically adept. I could go on, but I think the point is simple. I believe that everyone can be something worthwhile, but not all people are capable of being President or physicists or basketball players. In fact, I think that many people aren't able to be the 'something worthwhile' without some help. I think everyone has impediments in their lives and part of the role of the 'community' is to offer help with that.
The other thing that I find terrible about the Republican sentiment is the unstated but implied corellary. So, if you haven't succeeded and aren't who you want to be, it's no one's fault but your own. Obviously you didn't work hard enough or want it enough. While I think there are people who are the cause of their own problems- I also think that vastly greater numbers of people fall somewhere in the middle- not quite able to be all they would like, but able to succeed reasonably.
I was pleased to have that insight. It affirms that my political choices have more to do with belief than with candidates.
My parents repeated that mantra to me and my siblings from the time I was little- not the Republican part- but the belief that hard work and desire were all it would take for us to be what we wanted. And I believe that is largely true- for the lucky people in my family. I don't believe that it's true for Americans generally. Some people truly are smarter than others. Some people truly are faster than others- genetically. Some people have better eyesight. Some people are mechanically adept. I could go on, but I think the point is simple. I believe that everyone can be something worthwhile, but not all people are capable of being President or physicists or basketball players. In fact, I think that many people aren't able to be the 'something worthwhile' without some help. I think everyone has impediments in their lives and part of the role of the 'community' is to offer help with that.
The other thing that I find terrible about the Republican sentiment is the unstated but implied corellary. So, if you haven't succeeded and aren't who you want to be, it's no one's fault but your own. Obviously you didn't work hard enough or want it enough. While I think there are people who are the cause of their own problems- I also think that vastly greater numbers of people fall somewhere in the middle- not quite able to be all they would like, but able to succeed reasonably.
I was pleased to have that insight. It affirms that my political choices have more to do with belief than with candidates.
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