I've heard it said that Republicans think the government should be like a father; Encouraging people to take care of themselves, while laying down a strict law. And Democrats want the government to be like a mother; Taking care of the people, no matter what they do. And it's true. But what's important, I think, is the reasoning behind it.
A Liberal columnist that I love to hate, Garrison Keillor, had an article in today's paper, where he was talking about Abilene, TX (My semi-hometown actually, which is just weird. o.O), and basically the whole article is about finding out why 75% of the population voted for Bush (Or "The Current Occupant"). He concludes that it's because the population of Abilene is very self-sufficient. I mean, he literally makes it out to be that Abilene is just one big family, and everything there was made or grown locally.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/22/opinion/edkeillor.phpNow, Abilene's not a big city. But it's a decent sized city. Some national maps have it labeled, and it's about the biggest thing between Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio. And it's absolutely not true that everyone knows everyone else, although it's small enough that it's not surprising to bump into people at Wal-Mart or whatever. And it's not a place where everyone eats locally grown crops; I know very few people who eat locally grown crops, and the ones I do are hippie-liberals.
xd Anyways, I'm getting off track, but what he comes away from this with is that the working-class Republicans are self-sufficient, and come from towns where everyone takes care of everyone else. And so that's why they don't need or want these socialist policies like the ever expanding welfare or social security. But, he says, people like himself, and he makes this sound like "most people," are dependent on other people, and that's why we need the Government to take care of us.
My problem with this is that he took away the totally wrong idea. Republicans don't think, "I can take care of myself, so screw everyone else!" And that's another thing, it's not like Abilene's a rich town either; They're working class, normal people. And that's what they really think; Not, "I can take care of myself, so screw everyone else," but "I can take care of myself, and so can you if you work at it." You don't need the government to help for so many of these things. People all over the nation, and all over the world, make it through with some hard work. Why can't you? Why should the people who work hard for a living have to pay for the people who just don't want to work? Who are willing to just "get by" on Government hand outs? And then, they complain that the government hand outs aren't enough! They want to get paid a very livable wage for doing nothing! Now, if you're injured? If you literally can't work? That's one thing. But the people who can work, and just won't, need to get out there and get themselves a damn job, not rely on the Government to pay for their big screen TVs and XBOXs.
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