Christian Thomas

Sarah Hughes

Composition 101

3-28-17

Writing to Explore

Introduction

When it comes to opinions, people in America tend to have many different ones. We have

people who lobby for and against guns, abortion, Religion, music, movies. Every thing that you can

have an opinion on, there are people who disagree with you in America about. I find is quite jarring that

Americans live this way, constantly in an ideological war with one another.(1) We can even take it a

step further and involve sports, dividing state by state, school by school, Americans seem to be

obsessed with competing against one another. One thing many rational people think however, is how

often people tend to contradict themselves.

Context

Taking a look at how ideologies tend to contradict themselves, is think is a good way of finding

out where the logical fallacies lie. If you look at history, the biggest lies are often gotten away with,

when people stop paying attention. When the nobody is looking, everyone can get away with lying. Its

important to remain vigilant when it comes to groups, as they tend to have dozens of viewpoints and

ideas, some of which tend to cause friction within the overall goals. You can commonly see this when it

comes to Republicans and Democrats, two of the biggest groups in the country. One preaches for less

government, while also trying to have the government regulate, drugs, women's bodies, and the rights

of minority groups. On the other hand, you have Democrats who promote freedom, and expression of

ideals, while actively trying to silence Western Religion and Republicans. Its already very strange how

these are the only two parties we can align with, and out the gate they're going against their plan.

Democrats
 When it comes to Democrats, they have quite a short history of fighting for the little guy. It

wasn't really until the 1900s that they cared about the underdog.(3) Funnily enough that was what

Republicans did. But now we've reached a state where Democrats like to preach about always being

that party, or at least acting like they've done no wrong. The truth is a lot more muddy than we'd like,

and the history books aren't always clear when talking about this stuff. A scary truth is that we actually

don't even live in a Democratic Society(4), that makes this facade even more ridiculous. People are

demanding change within the Democratic party, we want reform, and we still just get the corporate

stooge who does not listen to, the people, but instead of special interest group. Its important to learn

from these mistakes however, in order to become a better party. The issue here is when people act as if

no mistake has been made, then no progress can be made.(5) That is why it is important, to be very

critical of our own ideologues and make sure to pay attention to our history.

Republicans:

As far as Republicans are concerned, they don't really like to stick to any principle.(2)

Apparently, to Republicans, the government is evil, except when they're in power. Government

shouldn't be handing out money to people, unless its them.(6) People should be able to do what they

want, without the government interfering, except when that thing offends them. Pro-life definitely, but

pro-war, guns, and the death penalty?(7) When it comes to just about any principle, there is evidence to

show that Republicans don't abide by them. Take the controlling of pornography, and content that can

be deemed inappropriate. Republicans are quick to ban such things, but guns however, are a completely

different story. Guns have caused countless deaths, children's deaths in fact, and yet there is radio

silence on the issue of gun control from the Republicans. Why is it that a party, acting completely

concerned with the safety of a child, suddenly goes mute when it comes to their liberties.

Overlap:

No matter the name, Democrat or Republican, the end result is still the same. The American

people lose, not whoever came second in the presidential race. That's the worst part about all of these
issues our parties face, the little guy gets left out, while these two moguls duke it out for who wears the

crown. We live in a Nation that champions freedom of religion while looking twice at every Muslim.

Our parties, formed by the people, for the people, are no longer fighting for the people, but for

corporations, which try to be defined as people.(8) So what should we do? Should we even continue

fighting? Protesting doesn't result in much these days, neither does voting, and we already know we

live in a literal Oligarchy. The question remains, with no answer.

Conclusion

In the end, its important to point these contradictions out, in order to find a better place for each

individual to align themselves with. If we avoided being critical of such groups, in order to spare the

feelings of individuals, we'd have much more sinister coalitions. People shouldn't be allowed to hide

behind the guise of feelings, in order to make sure they are free to critique. Every public figure should

be under scrutiny at some point, especially groups. Groups are the places where people tend to form

echo chambers, and its a lot harder to see the inconsistencies in a group of people agreeing with you,

then when you see the other side doing it. Its very simple for people to point to the other team and find

problems, its a lot harder for people to look at their own friends and tell them, they are the problem.

The path to progress is not covering our ears and shutting down conversation, its to promote such an

exchange of idea and thought.

Sources:

1. http://www.wnd.com/2017/01/pew-divide-in-america-deeper-than-ever-before/

2. http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/26/conservatives-frequently-contradict-

regulations.html

3. http://www.livescience.com/34241-democratic-republican-parties-switch-platforms.html

4. https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-

testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkDcUO6gBhM

6. https://secure.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2009/12/anti-socialist-bachmann-got-

250k-in-federal-farm-subsidies-023679

7. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerry-myers/the-republicans-are-for-s_b_7446042.html

8. http://www.npr.org/2014/07/28/335288388/when-did-companies-become-people-

excavating-the-legal-evolution