Why I Am A Republican

Hammer has once again laid out for us below his difficult to pin down political philosophy, a party of one so to speak.  In this piece, I'll try and lay out for you why I am a Republican.  In order to do so, I will make generalizations, both about the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.  You will be able to point out exceptions to these generalizations until the cows come home, but that will not change the prevailing point.

1.  Republicans support the free market and capitalism.  They recognize that for the market to be truly free, some regulation is required as human nature can and will result in attempts to gain unfair advantage--which means that that market is not free.  Republicans believe deep down that capitalism is the most successful force in human history for alleviating poverty.  They don't walk around thinking that capitalism is a necessary evil.  They believe regulation is the necessary evil.

2.  Republicans tend to believe that the United States is a force for good in the world.  We tend to believe that when the US has intervened in world events, it has been for both the good of our citizens and for the good of the world. Not only do we not "apologize" for our success and influence, we celebrate it.  We believe that the United States is indeed indispensable, and we believe that the world works best with the United States in a position of unchallenged leadership.

3.  We believe that the first duty of the U.S. government is to protect its citizens and their sovereignty.  This tends to mean that we are strong on defense and that we believe it is not only possible, but required, that our borders be controlled.

4.  Republicans believe that all things being equal, the more government does and provides, the less the individual will seek and the market will supply.  We believe that our society does indeed have a duty to see to it that the truly needy have food, shelter, and medical care.  We believe that this provision must not become or be allowed to become a dependency relationship for anyone but the most indigent.  We believe that this basic level of entitlement has been vastly exceeded and that as a result, a permanent underclass almost completely dependent on government has emerged and is perpetuating itself.  We believe policies designed to lift people from poverty are more effective than those which seek round the sharp edges of poverty.

5.  Republicans believe that less taxation is better than more.  They understand that the things we require of government cost money, and that taxes are necessary.  Republicans generally believe that taxing consumption is better than taxing work.

6.  Republicans believe that there are few things that the federal government should do, and that it should do them well.  We believe that there are more things state and local governments should do, but not considerably more. And they should do those things well.  The government should not compete with private industry.

7.  Republicans tend to believe that the Constitution was an inspired document, and that the intent of those who wrote it should be considered when seeking Constitutional sanction (if the wording is unclear).  We believe that the Constitution is a "living document", in that it contains within itself mechanisms for its being updated with the times.  Should the document be found wanting, the citizenry can change it.  Neither Congressional fiat nor Judicial mandate can legitimately do so.

This is a pretty good starting point of things about the Republican Party that I like and why I am a Republican.  Because I believe these things, and because the Republican Party is the primary political organ devoted largely to advocating for these positions, I choose to associate myself with it.  You can be pretty sure that I believe in general, that Democrats do not believe these things or that they do so only superficially.