the pros and cons of the democratic party and why i’ve decided to go to the left.
If you haven’t heard, politics have gone haywire.
The news is in constant disarray, and no one knows what’s going to happen each day.
As many have seen in my previous writings, I was a fairly conservative writer as of just a few years ago.
So what changed?
Quite a bit, mainly with the Republican Party. I could write an entire essay on how radical most of the Republican Party has become, but this post isn’t about that. (But if you want to learn more about the state of the Republican Party, here’s an amazing article about it.)
The Democratic Party has marched more to the left in recent years, as well. This, however, doesn’t scare me as much as the march right.
The Dems, according to their online platform, are the party of healthcare, financial inequality, climate change, social justice and much more.
Pros
Just based on that analysis, the Left seems like the party for the diverse nature of the United States.
America is a diverse, multiracial, multireligious nation.
The United States is a vast nation of 329 million people. The party in charge should be a party that includes everyone, from every walk of life. The party leading the country should accept everyone in the country, not just a handful of people.
According to the Williams Institute, 4.5% of all Americans are LGBTQ. That is just over 14 million Americans. The Republican Party Platform states, “It is the foundation of civil society, and the cornerstone of the family is natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman.”
Whether someone is for or against Same-Sex Marriage, one should agree that the LGBTQ community should still be spoken for in Congress. When a party walks away from citizens of America, they no longer remain the party of the people.
Healthcare is also something every Democratic candidate for President has argued over, but it’s pretty simple — healthcare shouldn’t be simply for those who can afford it.
According to the Democratic Platform, “Democrats believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and our health care system should put people before profits.”
I don’t have an argument for Universal Health Care, and neither do most of the candidates running; however, there are ways to implement a Universal system, which is the most logical healthcare plan.
Lisa Beutler wrote in Crooked Media, “Even if Congress never touches the health care issue again, almost everyone who is satisfied with their current health insurance plans will lose them at some point,” wrote Beutler. “They will change employers, get promotions, lose jobs, or they will do nothing at all and their carriers will simply stop offering the plans they like. Inevitably, thousands if not millions of those people will find themselves in bureaucratic nightmares like the one I’m dealing with when their new insurers try to exploit the churn in the market for profit.”
I’m a Christian. I’m actually a new Christian, just being re-baptized earlier this year.
We are not a Christian nation. That doesn’t mean I won’t actively attempt to spread the message of Christ, but in the political realm, we are not a Christian-only nation.
According to the Pew Research Center, Christians make up roughly 70% of the American population. But that also means 30% of the population identifies with another religion or none at all. The GOP is known for being a Christian-party, but as stated previously, when a party walks away from citizens of America — or belittles part of America — they no longer remain the party of the people.
The elections of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are necessary feats in the country. The Muslim population deserves a seat in Congress because they are citizens of the United States.
Any American citizen, whether a citizen through birthright or a naturalized citizen who has come here from another country has a constitutional right to run for a seat in Congress, no matter one’s race, gender or religion.
The Immigration Policies enforced by this administration have been nothing but sickening. “The Trump Administration has enacted the harshest immigration policies in a century, but it has also reached the outer limits of what any government can legally do to stem immigration,” writes The New Yorker. “The courts have blocked a number of the President’s signature initiatives, from his family-separation policy to a Presidential proclamation banning asylum.” The Democratic party has attempted to change the immigration system for the people seeking a better life.
(Don’t forget, unless your family came across from Europe in the Mayflower, you have benefitted from the United States’ Immigration System.)
The bans on Abortion are just as sickening. A study was done by Dr. Diana Foster of the University of California San Francisco which concluded that “95% of women report that the abortion was the right decision for them,” and “women who must carry unwanted pregnancies to term are more likely to live in poverty three years later than women who were able to receive an abortion,” and “ less likely to have aspirational life plans,” and finally “For these children, we see measurable reductions in achievement of child developmental milestones and an increasing chance of living in poverty.”
Its clear abortions don’t always happen simply because the mother doesn’t want the child. There are multiple reasons behind an abortion, and it’s one of the hardest choices a woman can make. No one truly wants an abortion, but sometimes it is the best option in a situation, whether someone agrees or not.
To make things clear, I’m not advocating for abortions. I’m not immediately for an abortion, because there are steps that can be taken before that happens. Planned Parenthood helps educate on safe-sex. It provides access to safe-sex measures such as birth control and condoms. But I am advocating for safe conditions for those women who ultimately choose an abortion.
One of the biggest and most pressing issues we face in the world today is Climate Change. It’s pretty clear climate change is a major issue in the world, yet one side of the aisle doesn’t believe in its existence, even though the multitude of evidence is right in front of them. Again, this article is not meant to be a critique on the GOP, but when they are one of the only political parties on the planet who doesn’t accept climate facts, that’s an issue. According to the Pew Research Center, most of the world believes climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed, just not the GOP.
According to a study done by Yale University, around 70% of Americans believe climate change is an issue and it will affect either them or their children.
Cons
The party is divided.
One of the major cons of the Democratic Party is how large it truly is. The people it represents span from moderately liberal to Democratic Socialists.
That’s a pretty wide range.
It’s hard to find a singular and collective message when the party is divided in itself.
One of the leading Democrats, Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is a strong advocate for taking the party further left. In an article published by Politico, it says, “Ocasio-Cortez won — but they’ve been undeniably disruptive, and unafraid to go after people on their own side of the aisle.”
I’m not a Democratic Socialist, and that stance should be okay within the Democratic Party.
Pro-Life Democrats are still Democrats. They are still a giant part of the Party and the problem arises when Democrats such as Ms. Ocasio-Cortez questions that notion or attempt to push those Democrats out of the party.
When one side of the aisle ignores basic facts and believes the entirety of the media is against them, that’s when problems start to emerge. And that’s been happening for more than two years.
There.
I said it.
I’m a Democrat. Unapologetically. Some might view that as crazy or misguided. Maybe I’ll explain more soon.
Much love.
(This article was written prior to President Trump’s racist twitter fight over the “Squad.” More will be said on that soon.)
