I am a Republican.
Now that is not an easy thing for me to say because kinda, sorta, really I hate the contemporary Republican party. But the Republicans control Capitol Hill and so I think it is time for me to take stock of what I actually believe but before we get too deep into that mess let's get into some historical context.
The party of Lincoln was founded as a "Conservative, Anti-Slavery party" which makes a lot of sense when you look at early American conservatism. To be a conservative in the eyes of original Republicans meant you had to believe "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but if it is broke fix it with relentless efficiency." If something has worked well in the past: we should keep doing it. If something has not worked well in the past: we should stop doing it. Slavery as a system in America was broken, so Lincoln and his men set out to fix it.
It was this simple philosophy that led to the rise of the Republicans reputation as the "Party of Reason" it was the philosophy of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. I fancy myself a logician, so when I was reading about this "Party of Reason" in school it became clear that that was the party for me.
Now the unfortunate thing is that the GOP of today is not a party of reason but of irrationality. During the Republican National Convention, the most common phrase was "The American people feel."
The American people feel unsafe. Crime, is in fact, Down.
The American people feel like the economy has passed them by. The economy has actually improved dramatically for both city and rural households.
Today feelings dominate the GOP and this is reflective of in the doomsday rhetoric and cheap personal attacks of its standard bearer. The party has lost its pragmatist edge and has been hijacked by people who "feel" that an America that has never belonged to them is being taken away.
The party, as a collective group, has no ideology, philosophy or policies, only feelings; vague feelings that things were somehow better 50 years ago, that if only we could go back to when we were a Christian nation.
King Solomon said "Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this." (Ecclesiastes 7:10). So, with that verse in mind it's kinda stupid to appeal to a great Christian past and not fall into some kind of logical fallacy.
Put simply, I have nothing in common with the party of Trump, so why am I still a Republican? Political parties are tools we can use to accomplish policy and personal goals. So if a tool is no longer useful you through it away, right?
Well, honestly I have hope in individuals. A recent poll of Republicans my age (19-26) has shown that we tend to believe immigration is good for the economy, that environmental regulations can be worth the cost and a slew of other ideas that are barely compatible with the Party of Gut Feelings. It is looking like my generation is going to have more than a few conservative pragmatists and more than a few opportunities to make ours a party of reason again.
And in the meantime there are a good number of Republicans who (though I may disagree with them) remind me that despite what it can look like sometimes: not all of them are idiots.
So, I am still a Republican. Will I be still be one four years from now? Probably. Will I be one eight years from now? Maybe.
All I know is that long as there are people who believe in the old idea "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but if it is broke fix it with relentless efficiency." Then I think there is at least a bit of hope for the Party of Reason.
