Tell me, which is the party of "the little guy", again?

[OCinBuffalo]

The concept of being "the party of the little guy" was explained to me, at age 8 by the elected Ds in my family, in these terms:

1. The Democratic party was there to protect Catholics from Protestants forcing their religious beliefs on us. This was explained using the stupidity of Prohibition as the consequences of what can happen without this protection.

2. The D party was there to protect the little guy from the wealthy bosses looking to exploit him as a worker, and this was explained by the stories of the very real union vs management brawls they knew about, or had been in.

3. The D party was there to protect the little guy from big business, insurance, etc., looking to overcharge the little guy as a consumer, or prevent him from starting a business that might compete with them.

4. The D party was not there to support socialism, or Communism, as that is just another way of screwing the little guy.

 

Various other bits and pieces were explained, but this was basically it. It was about ensuring that nobody was cheated, or taken advantage of. When I asked why we stole signs, etc., at election time, if we don't want anyone to be cheated, I was told "they do the same thing, and this is an election, which we have to win, or the little guy gets screwed. Get it? Now go get me a beer".

 

That was basically my understanding of politics from age 8-16, and the # of beers I fetched is probably in the high 100s.

 

Later, in high school, I heard the same "little guy" thing from my liberal, but fair minded, and truly intellectual, Econ "professor" = I took Macro and Micro in high school. But, he expanded it to include:

1. Protecting the little guy's right to speak his mind, without fearing retribution from his boss or society

2. Protecting the little guy's right to live his life as he sees fit, and not allowing the Moral Majority(remember them?) to force people to live like them, and ensuring that all of our rights were protected

3. Protecting the little guy from predatory credit cards, banks, etc.

4. And the new thing, that wasn't protecting...give the little guy an opportunity, through loans, to get educated, start a business, and give him a helping hand if bad things that were out of his control happened.

 

All of this seemed entirely reasonable to me. I do remember, very clearly, being a supporter of Reagan, even as an elementary school kid, because I "knew" politics. First, politics meant that I could be "bad" without getting in trouble , and I parroted what I heard about JFK and Reagan. But, I learned very quickly, and developed a real understanding. I learned what a leader was, by observing how my elected family members acted, and how other people acted in response. Thus, it was then easy to see that Carter/Mondale simply: weren't. I also learned that being a supporter of Reagan in no way conflicted with any of the above. This why so many of my family, even the elected Ds, had no trouble supporting Reagan.

 

If we move on to today, and use the lists above as a guide, it's become exceeding difficult for me to determine which party represents the "little guy". I'm not saying the Rs do and the Ds don't, arbitrarily. Let's go through the list:

 

1. Which party has been protecting Catholics, and which party has been attacking them? Which party has been attempting to force their stupid "religious beliefs" on all of us, including Catholics? Which party has been defending religious freedom, and the right to live, associate, and do business based on your conscience, unhindered?

 

2. Which party is protecting the individual worker? Which party is demanding that the individual worker comply with what they've decided is best? Which party is about creating jobs in general, and which party is about only creating government jobs, and then exploiting those that "owe them"? Which party is out to protect small business and their employees, and which party...is doing the opposite of that, by pushing for endless new regulations and taxes that make it more difficult for the "little guy", because they are written by the big guys?

 

3. Which party is about protecting the consumer, and which party is about vilifying the consumer? Which party is about lowering the price of gas, and which is about raising it? Which party has caused food prices to rise?

 

4. Which party is about defending speech, especially political speech they don't agree with, and which party is acting like the Communists my democratically elected Democratic relatives hated so much?

 

5. Which party is about individual liberty, and which party is about telling us what we can't do/drink/eat/buy...and also think/say, because they've declared all of it is "offensive", to them, and therefore, we must comply. Which party today most closely resembles the Moral Majority of the 80s, in terms of their desire to force their values upon us?

 

6. Is it possible to determine which party isn't on the side of the banks? Of the credit card companies?

 

7. Which party is about opportunity, and not entitlement? Which party is about helping hand, and which party is about ensuring the lifelong security of its constituency, thus removing the creation of opportunity, and replacing it with obligation to the hand that feeds?

 

None of the answers to the above questions are easy today. 30 years ago, they were no brainers.

 

This is why, when I hear someone talking about the Republicans "moving to the right", and nothing about the Democrats "moving to the left", that person immediately begins with 2 strikes of idiot.

 

I am curios: how would you answer these questions?

Edited June 5, 2013 by OCinBuffalo

[sodbuster]

http://www.lp.org/

[PearlHowardman]

We live in a Plutocracy - government by and for the wealthy.

 

I'll say one thing for Obama though, he's whacking the satanic, murderous, evil, Islamokooks in Afghanistan, et al.