What Disappoints Me About the Republican Party... and the US in general

First of all, if you consider yourself a Republican, please do not consider this a personal attack.  I am not thinking of individual people when I write about the Republican party.  Rather, I am addressing what I think I have seen the party as a whole doing during my lifetime because this is how I can take part in our democracy!

Let's start with some common ground.  The Republican party stands against abortion.  I prefer to think that the party is genuinely interested in the mothers health and well-being and the potential life of the unborn.  I absolutely agree that it is sad that our society has become so casual about human life, and with about 0.8 million abortions each year in the US (according to Wikipedia), we must realize that it certainly has gone beyond cases of rape, incest, and medical emergency.

So, well done Republican party for taking a stand for the health and well-being of humankind and for the value of life.

Except I'm not buying it.  Why?  Because it appears that once that infant is born the mercy, compassion, and fight for justice within our government is gone.  Where is the mercy when bullying to make sure that tax breaks for the rich continue while programs for the poor and for the environment are forced to be cut?  Where is the compassion when the Republican party refuses to cut our defense budget and in fact increases it while our nation is in desperate need of progress in education, workers' rights reform, environmental and energy reform, increase food safety, better availability of health care to the poor, and a ream of other problems?  Where is the fight for justice as the Republican party deregulates and fights laws that protect workers, help unions, aid the poor, protect the land, and limits the crushing hand of corporations?

I don't see it.  I don't see mercy, compassion or a fight for justice, and it makes the Republican party's fight against abortion seem weak.  I think it is weak because this party doesn't seem to mind making laws and budget cuts... as long as it doesn't limit themselves or cause themselves to make a sacrifice.  Despite being the party that is supposed to be standing for God and morality, I don't see this because I do not see compassion, mercy, a passion for justice, or humility.

This is not just the Republican party's issue though.  It is our country's issue.  Why do we throw away about 14% of our food instead of taking the time to plan properly and store leftovers in the fridge or freezer properly so that we can give that money to the hungry?  Why do we demand increasingly larger homes that we fill with more and more stuff?  Why do we ignore the fact that the "Made in China" sticker often means that people in unsafe factories are working long hours, possibly with dangerous chemicals, to provide us with our "new toys"?  Why do we only have vague understandings about where our products come from, what they are made out of, where they go after we finish using them, and the total cost to the environment and humanity when we are living in a consumerist culture where these products are a huge part of our lives?

This is why I'm disappointed.

It's not that I can't see a good Republican party that fights for mercy, justice, and compassion for the unborn... and the already born.  I can.  I can see it fighting for the rights of all people.  I can see it working with the free market while admitting that the free market alone has its problems that need to be addressed.

It's not that I can't see more American people becoming concerned with the world around them.  I can.  I can see people using the Internet to become more aware about the products that they buy.  I can see people buying less and using fewer of the resources that we should be sharing with the rest of the world.  I can see people valuing time over money, others' needs over their "rights", and giving up an irresponsible amount of convenience.

I believe in this change that will lead to more fulfilling, less guilt-ridden, morally responsible lifestyles, but I think that we have to be honest with ourselves to get it.  I think that a lot of you readers may have read this and thought, "I'm on the good side!  I'm doing my part!  I'm doing the best I can!"  But are you?  As I grew into an adult, I became aware of the issues that my lifestyle came with, and at first I said the same thing.  Now I know that I wasn't doing my part.  I still wanted all the stuff that the shelves of the store offered.  I wanted to be able to drive wherever I felt like going.  I wanted to enjoy the conveniences of our plastic-wrapped world. I wasn't able to do my part until I realized that I wasn't doing my best.  Only then was I able to choose to daily do better.