3 ms·

There is a consistency in Republican attitudes towards government: they trust the parts of government they feel they control and wish to destroy the parts they

There is a consistency in Republican attitudes towards government: they trust the parts of government they feel they control and wish to destroy the parts they fear they do not control. Lionize the police and the military. Kill the EPA , NOAA, HUD, the IRS, and the FDA. The only time they hate law enforcement is when it is used to enforce a law against them, see Waco, Ruby Ridge, the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, etc. And then boy do they hate it, because they see this as disloyalty, as treason. This attitude goes way back. It is characterological. See the Fugitive Slave Act versus states' rights.

concordDance 4y ago
Note that the Democrat views mirror the Republican ones, trusting those institutions they control and distrusting the others.
- DFHippie 4y ago
  There I think you need to distinguish Democrat from liberals/leftists/progressives. There are differences of opinions among the latter group. I would say the majority distrust the police and the military but see them as necessary institutions that should be reformed. The Democrats, which is to say the people who have some claim to speak for the party, profess their love for law enforcement and the military, whatever their private reservations. This is not how Republicans, the politicians, behave towards the EPA and the rest. Also, the Democrats have never had a politician of any stature, let alone a president of their party, say "Government is not the solution to the problem. Government is the problem." That was Ronald Reagan. In other words, you are right, the left does distrust those portions of the government it does not control, but there is an enormous difference of degree in how the two sides behave towards these portions of the government.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  That's a gross mischaracterization. Democrats trust government as an institution but that does not mean democrats trust all government, it just means they think government can solve problems, as opposed to the republican projected view (though not actual view of their voters IMO) that government is inherently broken as a concept and should be reduced to absolute minimal size. There's no inconsistency in trusting a democratic process to do mostly democratic things but thinking the lack of accountability in policing has had negative outcomes. The vast majority of democratic voters in america do not support "abolish the police' in entirety, but rather that reforms are needed.

concordDance 4y ago

Note that the Democrat views mirror the Republican ones, trusting those institutions they control and distrusting the others.

DFHippie 4y ago
There I think you need to distinguish Democrat from liberals/leftists/progressives. There are differences of opinions among the latter group. I would say the majority distrust the police and the military but see them as necessary institutions that should be reformed. The Democrats, which is to say the people who have some claim to speak for the party, profess their love for law enforcement and the military, whatever their private reservations. This is not how Republicans, the politicians, behave towards the EPA and the rest. Also, the Democrats have never had a politician of any stature, let alone a president of their party, say "Government is not the solution to the problem. Government is the problem." That was Ronald Reagan. In other words, you are right, the left does distrust those portions of the government it does not control, but there is an enormous difference of degree in how the two sides behave towards these portions of the government.
mrguyorama 4y ago
That's a gross mischaracterization. Democrats trust government as an institution but that does not mean democrats trust all government, it just means they think government can solve problems, as opposed to the republican projected view (though not actual view of their voters IMO) that government is inherently broken as a concept and should be reduced to absolute minimal size. There's no inconsistency in trusting a democratic process to do mostly democratic things but thinking the lack of accountability in policing has had negative outcomes. The vast majority of democratic voters in america do not support "abolish the police' in entirety, but rather that reforms are needed.