Republicans, Democrats, What?

"What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Shakespeare is considered to be one of the greatest writers throughout history, but while his writing ability may have been epic, his(or perhaps his character's) logic was not. In this quote, he is observing the arbitrary meaning of words. While words are arbitrary, the connotations and meanings behind each one is often over-powering. For example, take "snow day." If you come from the upper Midwest like I do, those words probably meant overbearing joy back in grade school.
Here in the real world we have words like "Democrat", "Republican" and "Stimulus".

The ironic thing about the names of the two major parties is that over time they have basically become the opposite of that which their name implies.

A democrat sounds like an advocate of democracy- ultimately meaning power to the people. Based on my understanding of politics throughout American history, I would believe that this is the party that would advocate states rights, focus on the little guy (Joe the Plumber anyone?), and try to hold the system intact.

A republican sounds pretty opposite. A republican would be someone who wants to strengthen the republic as a whole, national, federal; big words with big meanings. These people would probably want the power of the federal government to grow, for the states to be nothing but shadows underneath a large central government. Big wigs come to mind.

Trying to find a modern definition of what either of those parties actually stands for is difficult.

According to democrats.org, the official website of the Democratic Party, "The Democratic Party is committed to keeping our nation safe and expanding opportunity for every American. That commitment is reflected in an agenda that emphasizes the strong economic growth, affordable health care for all Americans, retirement security, open, honest and accountable government, and securing our nation while protecting our civil rights and liberties."
Reading this definition, I can't help but agree with the statement. Personally, I want safety, I want opportunity, I want economic growth. I wouldn't mind affordable health care. I definitely am interested in open, honest and accountable government, and civil rights and liberties are of course important to me.
Based on this definition, I am 100% a democrat.

Neither gop.org, rnc.org, nor mnrnc.com provide any sort of definition for what they stand for. However, based on whats going on within their party at the present, I'm not sure any of them are clear on what exactly they stand for. Cagop.org does, however.
Maybe the navigability of their websites reflects their ability to get elected?

Anyway, according to cagop.org, "The California Republican Party is working for all Californians by promoting limited government, lower taxes, personal responsibility and a strong national defense. We're proud to be the majority party in many parts of California, including many of our largest counties. Thousands of Republican elected leaders are working hard every day to put Republican ideas into action to benefit all Californians."
I am personally a huge advocate of limited government, I like low taxes, I support personal responsibility, and I would like to be nationally defended.
Based on this definition, I am 100% Republican.

Its not a wonder that America has no idea what is going on in the world today. The biased media aside, it is because of things like this that, on election day, I heard people say, "I won't vote, I just don't care."
Even if a random American were to wake up and try to figure out what exactly they believed, they would be nothing but confused. No strong connotations come up with these words, these vague definitions which are supposed to lead us to a huge decision- voting on who is going to lead what is supposed to be the greatest nation in the world. Civil rights and liberties? That sounds like a history book. What exactly is "personal responsibility"? And why is it so hard for the GOP to give a short run down of their beliefs, even if the politicians behind the Republican shield don't follow them?

Words are arbitrary, this is true. But in today's world, the words Democrat and Republican only hold (in my own mind, anyway) long lists of people who hide behind that shield. Red shield, blue shield, at this point, they all look a little purple to me.


Jackie Silseth
President, SCSU Libertarians Club