Guy Ciarrocchi: Two vastly different visions of what America is and should be
A large part of the reason for the anger in America stemming from political battles is because the actual great divide is not merely over policy differences.
The true divide in American politics is deeper: over how one sees America, American society, and even the American people. The two parties hold conflicting values, very different priorities, and different goals for what America should be. And the battle is between the parties only because many voters are passionately aligned with their party, and therefore devoted to its platform.
Their outlooks and motivations are radically different.
Republican voters believe America is good — government is the problem. And they demand that politicians re-focus on what’s actually happening in their lives, families, and communities.
Democratic politicians believe American society is broken and they need the government to fix it and correct Americans. They collaborate with their allies in academia and legacy media to reinforce that message.
Republican politicians and activists see America as great, American society as good, and Americans generally doing the right thing. Most people voting for Republicans want them to use the government to stop the harms being inflicted by actual “elites” — government officials, bureaucrats, out of control judges and the left’s allies from Harvard to the New York Times, from CBS to the teachers’ unions.
Democratic politicians, activists and legacy media see America, American society and many Americans as flawed. America needs to apologize or American interests need to take a back seat to higher values. To many of them, American society is “misguided” and too many Americans have character and behavior flaws: being racist, bigoted, misogynistic or jingoistic. Seeing all these flaws, sins and biases among Americans, Democrats must control the government — from the school board to the White House, from the courts to the Department of Justice. They actively work with the legacy media, higher education and K-12 administrators and teachers, and Hollywood both to re-educate Americans and use the government to fix all that is broken in society.
They also see existential crises across society — and the world — and are focused on aspirational goals: “defending democracy,” “saving the planet,” “defunding the police,” and “fighting for” a never ending alphabet soup of sexual identities and behaviors.
The values and priorities divide can be shown in a few highlights.
Today’s GOP is often focused on three things. First, the GOP is the party representing those standing up and shouting: “stop!” From men in women’s sports to drag shows at schools, from wide-open borders to defund the police, from illegal immigrant criminals needing to be deported to ending the backwardness of DEI, their voters are tired of watching American society turned upside down and inside out and they want them to stop it. Second, GOP voters want politicians to fix problems and for them to care about the things they talk about at their kitchen tables — inflation, crime, their kids’ futures and questions like: why are taxes so high? Why are criminals’ rights more important than victims? Third, these voters responded to “Make America Great Again” because they do think both that America was great (albeit flawed) and that it should again be great.
In short, they want tangible results: stop the harm, restore common sense, and focus on Americans.
Democratic politicians and activists see so much that is so wrong — injustices and crises that they need power, and alliances in media and academia. They are motivated by crises and causes, focusing on “big issues” discussed in the New York Times, at Ivy League universities, or on PBS. They see a society that is broken and unwilling to change as they see necessary. They are purposeful in seeking to end, radically change or tear down traditions and institutions that they see at the heart of what broke America or are preventing it from being “fixed.”
Being less enamored with America and our traditions, they are not concerned about open borders and endless asylum seekers, nor are they the least bit apprehensive about brushing aside America’s independence for a worldwide governing body or compacts. It’s planet first, not America first.
The differences between our two parties are not over different opinions on policy. Far more dramatic, far more different, the two parties have very different priorities. The real battle is between two groups of Americans. They have a fundamentally different outlook on where America is and what it should be.
The minority of Americans who don’t see themselves as aligned with either vision is forced to choose election by election to either embrace one vision or tolerate it, because they are put off by — or have been failed by — the other party.
Because the parties are more ideologically aligned than ever before, cooperation, collaboration and compromise are almost impossible. This is especially true of elected Democrats who rarely, if ever, break ranks. Just ask Senator Fetterman.
For much of America’s history, voters held views on issues and priorities in their hearts and heads, and that led them to join a party. Today for many voters, being a loyal member of a party dictates what you believe on all issues, and your priorities. The tail is wagging the dog — vigorously. It’s like becoming a new member of a religious faith. You’re confronted with an issue and you check what your “bible” or “pastor” has to say so that you may chant it.
This divide is based on different values and is, therefore, not only conflicting but very different priorities of what’s important; and what needs to be protected, improved, or replaced. Failing to see this — or pretending it’s 1995 — is why many observers are misguidedly looking to break the gridlock or mute the shouting, be it in Washington or Harrisburg.
Perhaps if one vision clearly succeeds or clearly fails, voters may decisively empower one side and potentially force the other to refocus on what the majority is looking for.
Otherwise, this divide will not be bridged any time soon.
Guy Ciarrocchi is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation. He writes for Broad + Liberty and RealClear Pennsylvania. Follow Guy at @PaSuburbsGuy.
“Most people voting for Republicans want them to use the government to stop the harms being inflicted by actual “elites”” – This include billionaires like Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg, the Koch Brothers and Bezos to name a few. They and others are billionaires, which makes them actual elites.
“out of control judges” – How about Supreme Court Justices Alito and Thomas who are bought and paid for by billionaires?
“You’re confronted with an issue and you check what your “bible” or “pastor” has to say so that you may chant it.” – When I am not unsure of an issue I talk to other people and I check reliable media sources before I make a decision. Instead of blindly following a cult of personality politicians.
“Failing to see this — or pretending it’s 1995 — is why many observers are misguidedly looking to break the gridlock or mute the shouting, be it in Washington or Harrisburg.” – People like you want to go back to 1950.
“Second, GOP voters want politicians to fix problems and for them to care about the things they talk about at their kitchen tables” – Does this include Trump’s $1 billion cut to food assistance programs including school lunch and Food Banks? Which includes $420 million to a program that helps Food Banks purchase locally made produce and dairy, which directly benefits American farmers.
Good article. Perhaps it can be reduced and simplified – one group believes in God, the Creator. That group is human and flawed. They make decisions that are tradeoffs without perfect solutions and they make mistakes. They outlawed slavery simply because they decided everyone is made in the “image and likeness” of God. They believe human sanctity isn’t a measure of usefulness whatsoever; rather, human sanctity exists because of God, the Creator.
The other group wants to prove there is no god, and they insist on demanding others behave how they dictate, no matter the costs, lack of reason, and despite outcomes… solely because they hate the idea of God and that trumps, supersedes, and blinds them.
God help us.
“They outlawed slavery simply because they decided everyone is made in the “image and likeness” of God.” – Lincoln belonged to the National Unity Party. Today the same people who opposed Lincoln and the Civil Rights Movement are Republicans.
“The other group wants to prove there is no god, – I like many of my friends have a faith and believe in a God. What we don’t want is laws passed in this country that favor one religion over all others.
“and they insist on demanding others behave how they dictate,” – That includes treating everyone equally under the law and without discrimination.
Judah,
Part 1: “Lincoln belonged to the National Unity Party.”
Nope, that’s not true. Abraham Lincoln was part of the Republican Party. Back in 1860, when he became president, the Republican Party was new and wanted to stop slavery from spreading. There wasn’t really a National Unity Party. There was something called the National Union Party for a short time in 1864, but it was just a name the Republicans used to team up with some other folks to help Lincoln win again. So, Lincoln was a Republican, plain and simple.
Part 2: “The people who opposed Lincoln and the Civil Rights Movement are Republicans today.”
This one’s tricky, but it’s not quite right either. When Lincoln was president, the people who fought against him were mostly Democrats, especially from the South. They wanted to keep slavery and even started the Civil War. After the war, those Southern Democrats also fought against giving the former slaves any rights.
Now, fast-forward to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, when people worked to make sure Black Americans had equal rights, like voting and going to the same schools. Some Democrats in the South, called Dixiecrats, were against this. But some Republicans and other Democrats helped pass laws to make things fairer. Over time, things changed. A lot of people in the South who used to vote Democrat started voting Republican, for all sorts of reasons. But that doesn’t mean today’s Republicans are the same people who opposed Lincoln or civil rights. Parties change, kind of like how your favorite games or shows change over time. Today, most Republicans and Democrats agree that civil rights are important, even if they disagree on other stuff.
So, your statements (as usual) are not correct. Lincoln was a Republican, not National Unity, and it is not correct to just say today’s Republicans are the same as the people who opposed Lincoln or civil rights. (All of them are probably dead, actually.) History’s like a big, twisty story, not a straight line. I don’t think you are stupid; you seem insincere and often you are misleading. It probably means you lie to yourself and thus you might be totally lost… I’ll pray for you.
Do you know why I can’t take you seriously. Early on you claimed I was one person, multiple people, and a bot because of some typos. Let me know when you figure out who I am.
“But that doesn’t mean today’s Republicans are the same people who opposed Lincoln or civil rights.” – Really? So why are Republicans trying to limit the rights of women to vote, get rid of the Voting Rights Act, and recently in Alabama caught got trying to redistrict a Black majority district?
“History’s like a big, twisty story, not a straight line. I don’t think you are stupid; you seem insincere and often you are misleading. It probably means you lie to yourself and thus you might be totally lost… I’ll pray for you.” – You tend to distort history and are insincere when it comes to faith. You want to inflict your faith on all Americans, whether they want it or not. Pray the God lifts the cloud that covers your eyes.
“out of control judges”
Guy, if you’re a Senior Fellow at the Commonwealth Foundation, “Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank”, as it is called elsewhere, surely you know a strong, independent judiciary is a necessary condition for free markets to thrive. Just because it is the anti- liberty desire of this administration to run the country by Executive Orders of questionable legality, and just because this administration is ostensibly from your party, doesn’t mean you should forget that. Subordinating hour principles to your party is the practice of the political hack. Don’t be a hack.