SIGH! Okay, folks, let's get a few things out of the way about American politics and economics. There are always some far-out wackos on each extreme side, but for the most part, we all want the same things:
Nobody, conservative or liberal, wants poor people to have to do without food, shelter, health care, etc.
Nobody wants anyone, rich or poor, to behave unjustly toward another.
Nobody wants corporations to run the country or abuse their employees or communities -- but everyone wants corporations to be successful, because successful corporations create jobs and feed pensions and 401k's.
We all want everyone in the country to have the opportunity to succeed and prosper when they put forth the effort.
I'll say it again -- we all want the same things, we just disagree about how to get there. Liberals (to my understanding) don't trust the free market to provide necessary things, like healthcare, to the masses in a just way. Conservatives believe that, with certain specific, limited regulations in place, the free market is the only way to ensure that affordable, advanced healthcare is available for the masses. Liberals look at the state of our economy now and say, see, the free market hasn't worked. Conservatives say, our markets haven't been genuinely free for a long time, which is why we're where we are today.
The debate we need to be having in our country is about free markets. But instead, we're calling rich people greedy and painting Hitler moustaches on posters of our president. It's ridiculous. We're trying to win people to our side by appealing to their basest fears and prejudices rather than to their highest values and intellect.
I'm afraid next year's ugly presidential campaign will be the death of me. Because Lord knows, it's going to be u-g-l-y.
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