WHICH CURRENT PARTY BEST SUPPORTS YOUR RIGHTS AND BELIEFS?
Some time ago someone asked if I was a Democrat or Republican. When I responded, “It depends, I have voted for both,” they asked me what had influenced me to vote the way I did. Other than to say, I “liked the candidate and what I believed he or she stood for,” I had trouble answering.
This caused me to do some research about what it means to say “I am a Democrat” or “I am a Republican.” In particular, what were the beliefs and rights of each party? I spent several hours on the internet, skimmed several books, and read the campaign platform of the 2020 Democratic party( I never did find the 2020 platform of the Republican party), but I was unable to find what I was looking for — a statement of the beliefs and rights either party believed citizens were entitled to.
So, after thinking about it for a few days I began to develop a list of the beliefs and rights I believed in. Then, I began asking friends to respond to my list and to share their views. When I was no longer adding to, or editing the list, I remembered the words of a former teacher who told me that “actions speak louder than words,” so I decided to assess the policies and practices of each party and make a judgment about each party’s current support of my beliefs and rights. The result of this assessment is at the end of this article.
My current list follows. At the suggestion of a grandson, I have listed them in 18 categories. I encourage you to make your list, then do as I have and determine which party comes closest to meeting your expectations.
In most cases, I worded each statement beginning with “The right.” This worked well in all but a few cases where I found it necessary to preface the statement with “I believe.”
DEFENSE/SECURITY
1. The right to feel secure in my home and my country 24/7.
2. The right to live in a country with the best military in the world, whose various military branches are composed of carefully selected, well-trained, best-equipped personnel and whose budget and actions non-military leaders oversee.
3. The right to feel confident that my country’s leaders are protecting me, our for-profit businesses, and our non-profit institutions including local, state, and federal government offices, from cyber warfare attacks.
4. The right to feel confident that my country’s leaders are protecting the country from bio-warfare.
5. The right to buy ammunition, pistols, rifles, or shotguns for self-defense or hunting.
6. The right to serve in one of the armed services (if qualified) and to know that if I am injured while serving, I will receive free quality medical care.
7. The right to know that the people I vote to represent me will support our allies and not collude with our enemies.
HEALTHCARE
1. The right, as a taxpaying citizen, to not worry about the financial consequences to my family or me if I or a family member becomes ill.
2. The right to buy prescription drugs at prices no higher than those paid in other countries.
3. Confidence that government agencies whose mission is to protect our health make decisions based on medically sound not economically based reasons.
ENVIRONMENT
1. The right to have a dependable supply of tap water that is safe to drink, the right to breathe clean air, and the right to eat the fish I catch in lakes, streams, and rivers with confidence.
2. The right to know that the people I vote to represent me at the local, state, and federal levels are doing what they can do to reduce global warming.
3. The right to know that the people I vote to represent me support our country having a reliable source of electric power that is not polluting our environment or adding to climate change and that can be counted on 24/7(barring temporary outages due to weather).
CONSUMER PROTECTION
1. The right to eat food that is free of harmful contaminants and to know what ingredients are in the food I buy including whether or not the food contains GMO ingredients by each having a label that is easy to understand.
2. The right to feel confident that the products I buy are safe.
GLOBAL COMPETITION
1. The right to know that trade agreements with other countries do not result in unreasonable cost increases or inhibit our country’s ability to export its goods.
2. The right to know that individuals, farms, and businesses can operate in a competitive environment free of unregulated monopolies and tariffs.
WEALTH DISTRIBUTION
1. The right to know that everyone pays their fair share of taxes — and to know that people will pay a higher percentage as their income increases.
2. The right to know that the people I voted to represent me support legislation that assists the less fortunate who are unable to help themselves.
3. The right (if I am working a full-time job) to earn a wage that pays enough to disqualify me for state and federal programs designed for low-income people in my state.
INFORMATION
1. The right to have a free press.
2. The right to read printed news, watch television news, or listen to news radio that is truthful and unbiased.
3. The right to have a choice about the political commentators I wish to read, listen to, or watch.
RELIGION
1. The right to know that the people I vote to represent me support the Constitution’s principle of separation of church and state.
2. The right to believe (or not to believe) in the God and religion of my choice.
EXPRESSION
1. The right to think as I wish to think and to write or say what I think without fear of government interference or physical attacks by those who disagree with me.
2. The right to engage in peaceful civil protest.
3. The right to know that the people I voted for view disagreements as normal and support them as long as civility is maintained.
GOVERMENTAL EFFICACY/RESPONSIVENESS
1. I believe every citizen must have the right: to register to vote; to vote in person on election day or during an early voting period or by mail; to know their name will not be deleted without their being contacted, and to know that their vote will be counted.
2. I believe everyone’s vote must count the same and candidates of both major parties must have an equal chance to be elected (no gerrymandering).
3. I believe politicians must live up to the terms of their oath of office and must do what is in the long-term best interests of ALL the people who live in the district or state they represent.
4. I believe all elected and appointed officials must tell the truth and be held accountable when they don’t.
5. I believe all local, state, and federal budget requests (including the military) must be well thought out and fully justified and all expenditures must be audited to ensure they were legitimate.
6. I believe the ability of paid lobbyists to influence legislators or legislation must be strictly controlled by state and federal laws.
7. I believe all people must receive equal treatment under the law.
8. I believe the separation of power between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches must be adhered to.
9. I believe our elected representatives must provide strong support for the F.B.I., the Justice Department, the Intelligence Community, and must provide strong Congressional oversight over them.
10. I believe in strong states’ rights.
11. I believe the Constitution must be upheld.
FINANCIAL SECURITY
1. The right to pay into Social Security and to know that my retirement benefits (income, Medicare, etc.) will not be reduced unless there is a national emergency that results in a bipartisan vote to reduce them in both houses of Congress.
2. The right to know that any money of mine held by a bank is safe.
EDUCATION
1. The right for my children to attend a quality public school or publicly supported institution of higher education (if I decide this is where I want them to go) with a curriculum determined by qualified educators, not politicians.
2. The right of my family members or me to pursue an apprenticeship or to enroll in a post-secondary institution (university, four-year college, community college, or technical college) that matches our ability.
3. The right to borrow to further my education (or that of family members) at reasonable interest rates.
4. The right of teachers at all levels to be protected by freedom of speech laws.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The right to travel on good highways and across safe bridges, to have a sewage and garbage collection system that works, and to have access to reasonably priced broadband technology.
PRIVACY OF PERSONAL DATA
1. The right to know that, if someone wants to use or disseminate personal information about me, I must first approve it.
2. The right to know that if I purchase a landline and/or cell phone I will not have robocalls or telemarketers bothering me and I can send or receive emails without fear of being hacked.
DISCRIMINATION/SOCIAL BIAS
1. I believe that at birth, all people are created equal, and everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
2. I have the right to live anywhere in the country I can afford to.
3. I have the right to avoid being discriminated against because of my age, sex, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.
4. I have the right to marry whomever I wish (with their agreement).
5. I believe women have the right to make their own decisions about having children without government interference.
6. I have the right to adopt a child if I wish to do so without being discriminated against because of my age, sex, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.
EMPLOYMENT
1. I have the right to be paid for the work I do with no regard to my age, sex, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.
2. I have the right to apply for jobs that match my ability, education, and experience without fear of discrimination.
3. I have the right to choose whether or not I want to be a member of a union.
IMMIGRATION
I believe this country should recognize the contributions of immigrants to the success of this country and I support carefully thought-out bipartisan immigration policies that are not based on age, ethnicity, religion, sex, or sexual preference; allow people to apply for immigration to this country who will not require government help to become self-supporting; and who demonstrate both the knowledge and potential for becoming good citizens. I also believe that legitimate asylum seekers have a right to have their cases heard.
FUTURE
The right to know that my heirs who have the ability, motivation, and confidence to succeed will have the opportunity to enjoy a better life than I did.
CONCLUSION
Based on my observations of the actions and policies of current political leaders at the local, state, and national levels, I have little trouble deciding that the current Democratic party best supports most of my beliefs and will best protect my rights.
Unfortunately, I found that many of the actions — and inactions of the current Republican party under its most recent president and current leadership are not ones I agree with. I have serious doubts that they believe all citizens should have the rights I believe I am entitled to and I am certain they do not share many of the beliefs I hold dear.
This project proved to be very worthwhile for me as I hope it will be for you. It forced me to think carefully about my beliefs and my rights and to judge each party and its members’ and leaders’ agreement with them.
In all future elections, I hope the news media and all citizens will require all candidates to state their beliefs and the rights they believe their constituents are entitled to — then ask them how they will protect these beliefs and rights!
P.S. After reading over my list, a conservative acquaintance of mine who is a Trump supporter said,’ “Jim, be real, you’re too optimistic. I think you are confusing rights and beliefs with hopes. Just change “The right to” and “I believe in” to “I hope” and you will be all right.”
I thanked him for his input.
