Political Worldviews on Authority
When determining what is knowable, true or moral, an authority is necessary to define & establish them. And an authority is necessary when working through the problems of humanity.
Democratic View: With morality being driven by citizens being able to live out their desires (rights) & bringing about the greater good of society as opposed to the presumed outdated framework of any traditional or historical moral institution, morality must be established & enforced by the government. The government is obligated to use the law & whatever means possible to strive for a utopia. When state-sponsored morality is in conflict with traditional morality, state-sponsored morality must prevail. Because no linkage is recognized between behavior & societal problems, they are used as opportunities to implement government programs & expand control (i.e. instead of abstinence, there’s health care to cover STD’s & abortions to mitigate population growth particularly of the poor).
With a duty to engineer both individuals & institutions of society to bring about a utopia, laws, regulations & government programs are primary tools to reach the political objective of maximizing control (i.e. federal health care & environmental laws, etc). Any resistive individual or organization will be coerced or penalized accordingly – freedoms & rights of conscience are given little to no consideration. Efforts are made to instigate or perpetuate hysteria around an issue to further government control & promote the need for it (i.e. pandemics, climate change, shootings, Black Lives Matter, domestic terrorism, etc.). To centralize control & maximize power, the federal government is expanded while ever encroaching on the jurisdiction of states’ rights (i.e. increase in states filing suits against federal government – borders, bathrooms, etc). And now the push is for world governing authorities to encroach upon sovereign nations (i.e. expand UN powers, leverage global environmental regulations, WHO influence regarding "epidemics", etc.). Those in government view laws as only applicable towards society as a social engineering project & can therefore justify living above the law.
Republican View: Morality & rights cannot come from humanity which perpetually causes & suffers from common moral failings – otherwise it would necessarily elevate some above others. Morality & rights must come from a higher power, God (Creator) – “…all [people] are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence).
As America’s founding fathers well understood, whenever government tries to take the place of God, you end up with tyranny & oppression rather than freedom. In fact, they founded this nation in protest to the abuse of unaccountable government elitists who over-extended their power. Consequently, they recognized that rights & morality must come from God rather than be mandated or legislated by a centralized government - because if the government issues rights, then it can take them away or otherwise charge you for them. This is the same limited government stance Republicans hold today which maximizes individual freedom & state sovereignty in opposition to a heavily centralized federal & economically unsustainable government.
Democratic View: With morality being driven by citizens being able to live out their desires (rights) & bringing about the greater good of society as opposed to the presumed outdated framework of any traditional or historical moral institution, morality must be established & enforced by the government. The government is obligated to use the law & whatever means possible to strive for a utopia. When state-sponsored morality is in conflict with traditional morality, state-sponsored morality must prevail. Because no linkage is recognized between behavior & societal problems, they are used as opportunities to implement government programs & expand control (i.e. instead of abstinence, there’s health care to cover STD’s & abortions to mitigate population growth particularly of the poor).
With a duty to engineer both individuals & institutions of society to bring about a utopia, laws, regulations & government programs are primary tools to reach the political objective of maximizing control (i.e. federal health care & environmental laws, etc). Any resistive individual or organization will be coerced or penalized accordingly – freedoms & rights of conscience are given little to no consideration. Efforts are made to instigate or perpetuate hysteria around an issue to further government control & promote the need for it (i.e. pandemics, climate change, shootings, Black Lives Matter, domestic terrorism, etc.). To centralize control & maximize power, the federal government is expanded while ever encroaching on the jurisdiction of states’ rights (i.e. increase in states filing suits against federal government – borders, bathrooms, etc). And now the push is for world governing authorities to encroach upon sovereign nations (i.e. expand UN powers, leverage global environmental regulations, WHO influence regarding "epidemics", etc.). Those in government view laws as only applicable towards society as a social engineering project & can therefore justify living above the law.
Republican View: Morality & rights cannot come from humanity which perpetually causes & suffers from common moral failings – otherwise it would necessarily elevate some above others. Morality & rights must come from a higher power, God (Creator) – “…all [people] are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence).
As America’s founding fathers well understood, whenever government tries to take the place of God, you end up with tyranny & oppression rather than freedom. In fact, they founded this nation in protest to the abuse of unaccountable government elitists who over-extended their power. Consequently, they recognized that rights & morality must come from God rather than be mandated or legislated by a centralized government - because if the government issues rights, then it can take them away or otherwise charge you for them. This is the same limited government stance Republicans hold today which maximizes individual freedom & state sovereignty in opposition to a heavily centralized federal & economically unsustainable government.