Wednesday, 05 September 2012 00:00
Question: 2012 presidential elections, Vote Democrats or Republicans? A letter from Mars transmitted by the Rover to Abdul.
Dear Earthling called Abdul:
What am I?
I am a Martian libertarian. This means, I am a fiscal conservative and a social liberal and I cannot vote in the American elections. If I could, here are my thoughts.
Fiscal Conservatism: To put it in simplistic terms, as a fiscal conservative, the Martian belief is that rail, air, road, sea transport, most medical services and so on should be left to private enterprise as primary source of funding, with a little government support. Why is fiscal conservatism important? Its doctrine essentially is that government should have less to spend on and thus incur less debt on our behalf as a nation.
Social Liberalism: As a social liberal, it means whether a woman should have the right to abort or not, whether homosexuality is ‘allowed’ in the main stream or not, whether people choose to worship a deity or not is of little concern to me. Why is social liberalism important? This Martian believes people should live as they please within boundaries agreed upon by most which do not infringe on the rights of any. It will be inappropriate to think my Martian beliefs should be foisted on others nor should theirs be imposed on me. You don’t want to begin even to contemplate, what being Martian will mean to an earthling as yourself were my views to be enforced on you.
Dear Abdul, my position means I can decide to vote either democrat or republican depending on which matters are of immediate concern to me. This is theoretical though because, besides the fact that if I were travelling at the speed of light, it will take me at least 3 minutes to get to the earth when Mars and the earth are closest in their respective orbits relative to each other, it will also mean another 7 years to be eligible to vote if Congress modifies the Citizenship act to include Martians in their definition of persons that can aspire to American citizenship. So I guess what I am saying is, I am NOT a card carrying member of either party and will vote on a need basis as an American- if I were one.
So what is the need in 2012?
The ECONOMY, Democratic ideals, and Defence. Chatter received from our earth-listening stations has confirmed these to be the top three issues Americans are concerned with.
How will a Martian vote?
To answer that, there is a need to examine the facts about both party’s proposals on the main topical issues.
Economy
Democrats: They base their argument on raising taxes for the wealthy, keeping current tax levels for the middle-class (where if the definition were stretched to include middle-income, most Americans will fit) and reducing spending a little bit. To put this in perspective, the top 1% of wealthy Americans is reported to own 40% of America’s wealth and less than 5% of its personal debt. In their calculation, this ought to reduce the nation’s debt and budget deficit.
Republicans: They base their argument on tax freezes or modest increases for the middle-class whilst maintaining cuts for the wealthiest. Their argument is that with less tax burden, the wealthiest will create jobs for the vast majority with the excess amounts they have to spend. This is the so-called “trickledown effect”. They make the argument that raising taxes on what are termed small businesses will kill job creation and hurt the economy further leading it into recession.
Winner of the argument: Republicans
The republicans don’t win this on account of superior logic, but for two reasons;
- Efficiency: Having looked at human systems, it has become apparent that the government cannot be more efficient than private enterprise in bringing about the much needed economic stimulus. This is largely because private enterprise taps on a very powerful human emotion – GREED. So it is the belief of Martians that the plan of allowing multiple businesses have more tax to create jobs will be inherently more efficient than the government collecting the taxes on behalf of Americans and spending it to stimulate the economy back into growth-- which both parties hope will reduce the deficit. Sure the Republican Party needs some help in their plan. For example, to ensure proper behaviour from these businesses that will benefit from the tax cuts, they can tie the tax breaks to policies such as more tax cuts for companies that employ mostly in the US as opposed to outsourcing. The intention here is to incentivize these companies to employ locally by reducing the financial gain obtainable through outsourcing jobs to lower wage economies.
- True to values: There is coterminuity between the professed values and actions of the Republicans. The fact is that since the recession began, the democrats have given the wealthiest Americans the greatest pay-out in history through the bailout of Wall Street. Details of this can be found in the documentary “The inside job”. Sure Mr Obama made the right decision to bailout GM-credit to him for that, but bailing out wall street the way he did was a travesty of the supposed principles of the Democratic party which proudly flaunts it’s middle-class protection credentials. If they’ll be a government from which the middle-class expects a tax beating, then let it be one that doesn’t hide its intentions to do so and that party is not the democrats. I think it is duplicitous to be in bed with Wall Street and also claim to be protecting the middle-class. The culture in Wall Street in the Martian opinion represents an industry whose net value to society is dwarfed astronomically by the rewards it has managed to eke out from society. It has become a self-important, self-perpetuating rent-seeker and cannot be compared to companies that provide tangible value like GM. In approving the Wall Street bailout package the way they did, the Democrats betrayed the very middle class they claim to protect.
Democrats: The democrats took a lot of controversial positions in the past 4 years ranging from allowing LGBT to serve openly in the US Military, to protecting the rights of Muslims to have a prayer centre close to the 911 site. They make the argument that democratic ideals are sacrosanct and should not pander to the current whim of the majority.
Republicans: Republicans have made many representations about democratic freedoms especially the freedom to bear arms and freedom of Catholics right not to support a healthcare initiative that will mean spending their cash on providing contraceptive advice- something Catholics rightly or wrongly do not believe in. They have also attempted to interpret democratic ideals to mean religious ideals held by the founding fathers of this great nation.
Winner of the argument: Democrats
The democrats and President Obama have shown a lot of courage in standing up for democratic ideals even when it seemed politically costly to do so. From protecting the rights of Muslims to have a prayer place close to the 911 site as emotive as it was, to protecting the rights of women to choose whether they’ll use their bodies to create another human, to protecting the rights of LGBT, they have displayed stoicism. The Republicans, especially represented by their vociferous arm – the so-called tea party, have taken democratic ideals to mean the opinion of many in the right wing that choose a specific definition of Americanism, attribute it to the founding fathers and attempt to make it unquestionable. Democracy in my little Martian mind is about giving freedom and voice to all, catering to the majority whilst protecting the minority. If the minority is crossed out in the preceding sentence, what obtains is a dictatorship of the majority.
Defence
Democrats: Close down two wars, cut defence spending. Avoid a war in Iran. Refocus troops on Asia.
Republicans: Not much of a policy statement given, even though it is thought they’d be more willing to be involved in a war with Iran.
Winner of the argument: None
Given the economic situation, the palatability of war seems to be very low in the prevailing emotion in America. Whichever party wins, it seems unlikely that America will be involved in a major way in any conflict in the Middle East that doesn’t threaten the economy further.
Given the foregoing, as a Martian who relies on logic as a pedestal upon which decisions are made, more weight would be applied to the economy, hence the Martian vote will be for the Republicans.As for democratic ideals, given that Governor Romney is himself a minority, Martians will expect him to make choices that protect minorities. And if he doesn’t, the beauty of American politics is, Congress will hold him accountable. Besides, it costs money to protect democratic ideals; the economy needs to be fixed to guarantee an easier path to assuring protection for all. There is little to choose between the parties in defence spending cuts- it is inevitable that it will occur regardless of who wins power.
Signed:
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