...at least, a new way for me to view them.
Everybody with half a brain knows that Republicans and Democrats are basically the same thing. I've many times said that Democrats are just sheep in wolves' clothing.
Recently, a reason why they might be so similar dawned on me. They actually believe the exact same things.
I'll start with the obvious case: Republicans. Most Republicans, not all but most, fit the following description. They are people who believe in some kind of god figure and imagine that this god figure will always balance the equation in the end. If things aren't made right here, they will be rectified in the hereafter. This is why Republicans lean toward financial liberty. The impulse to make everyone live the "right" way their god wants them to is also why they lean away from social liberty.
Now, I'll propose an hypothesis about Democrats. A Democrat is someone who knows that he should not need a god figure in his life but still does. He has lost the battle with his mind and is desperately searching for a replacement god. After a short scan of what he thinks he knows, he finds an entity large enough and complex enough that he can ascribe magical powers to it without the burden of critical thinking getting in the way: government.
The Democratic god of government then has the same job as the Republican god with only a difference of "when." That is, while the Republican god grants happiness or punishment, thereby making everything fair in the hereafter, the Democratic one must do it in the here and now. For this reason, social liberty is promoted (as a form of heaven on earth) and financial liberty is restricted.
Democrats and Republicans aren't just similar. They are the same broken model for the world: There is a giant, intangible, benevolent entity that will make everything right if you only allow it to do so. Near as I can tell, they differ only by the stipulations fed into those broken thoughts.
So what's my conclusion? I don't know. I just discovered this and wanted to share it with the rest of the world so that you can call me crazy and ignore it like you always do when I'm right.
