How I View Republicans

I have friends who are Republican, personally and on Facebook; I know other people, some professionally and some casually, who are Republican.  I’m just turning 66 myself and so am in the thick of the age group that makes up a lot of Republicans.   I’m a white guy, too.

 

I was downsized, personally and professionally, and have had to compromise on whatever it was I thought life was going to give me.  What I felt I ought to have.  What was supposed to be mine. When I get angry and really start thinking just about myself, I can justify any injustice in my life as the fault of, well, somebody.  I didn’t screw up; I got screwed.  The Government is always a good one to blame.  It’s always the Governments fault.   This seems to be a central premise in the make-up of a person who is Republican.  It’s because of the Government they’re not rich or maybe they got their share of the pie in spite of the Government, who is keeping them from getting more.  If it wasn’t for the government, my life would be better.  I should be able to have what I want, from and out of life.

Republicans seem to me to have, to a greater or lesser extent, an undercurrent of anger, arrogance and self-centeredness about them.  Well meaning, but with a twist of control to it, and narrow in their thinking, with a little bit of an “I’m owed” chip on their shoulder.   The kind of person who is thinking - What’s in it for me? What do I get out of it that’s for me?

Republicans seem to be of two types of people, that is, folks who are of the mind that nobody gives you anything and you have to get it for yourself and others who believe it is the will of God.  But what they both share, it seems to me, is that they have this underlying sense of anger. 

Republican people with a religious bent seem to have, just under the surface, an attitude to some degree that they expect you to recognize their effort that came to them from God to give to you.  It may come across as patronizing, to a greater or lesser extent, but the attitude that comes across is like “Hey, I’m out here doing work and you should appreciate this because it is by God’s grace that I come to you,” or something along those lines.  You know what I mean.

 

The folks who believe you have to get your chips when they hit the table, scrambling for what is considered to be their share makes up what seems to me to be the other type of Republican.   They were raised to understand that every fellow is in it for himself.  If you want something, you just have to work hard at it.  It is the concept of Rugged Individualism.  They play by the rules, play to win, and may or may not weigh the costs of deviating from the norm in order to succeed.  If it wasn’t for the Government they wouldn’t have to cheat on their taxes.  

I guess it could be argued that most people, regardless of their political affiliations, possess many of these traits, or at least a little bit of them.  But, I would argue, people who tend to be Republican share a lot of these characteristics.

I continue to wonder why the basic Republican platform of being against  gay marriage, women remaining secondary to men, white men ruling, guys getting paid more than girls, going back to the 50’s or 70’s when times were good and everyone knew their place, continues to try to be brought back.