Blinded by Party Affiliation

The real battle is civilization vs chaos.

Officially sanctioned homeless camp near San Francisco City Hall in 2020, with tents social distanced 6 feet apart.

To any thinking person it should be clear by now that neither major political party in the United States is interested in the wellbeing of the citizenry. Both parties are beholden to big financial interests and directed by the lobbyists who represent these interests. Of all industries, the pharmaceutical maintains the largest, best-funded lobby on Capitol Hill. According to a 2016 study in the Blood medical journal:

From 1998 to 2013, pharmaceutical lobbying interests were 42% larger than the second highest-paying industry (health insurance). The $2.7 billion effort … almost equaled the combined contributions of Big Oil ($1.3 billion) and the defense industry ($1.5 billion)

Unfortunately, because humans are so given to tribalism (of which political partisanship is the most potent modern expression) they derive their identity, self-image, and social cachet from their party affiliation. Recognizing the catastrophic failures of their preferred party would threaten their identity and sense of belonging, so they remain blind to these failures.

Because I have never identified myself with either political party, I am able to see the shortcomings of both. For my entire adult life, I have preferred candidates not for their party affiliation, but for their dedication to preserving our civilization. For me, it’s not about Republicans vs. Democrats, but about civilization vs chaos.

In recent years the Democratic Party has become increasingly ideological, mendacious, and divorced from reality. Many of its dysfunctional policies would be inconceivable without limitless debt financing. While the Republican Party has steered fairly clear of unhinged leftist kooks, it has shown itself to be generally feckless and beholden to the same lobbies that have captured the Democrats. Nevertheless, at the individual level, the three politicians who are now demonstrating the greatest dedication to preserving our civilization are Republicans—namely, Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin, and governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Governor Gregg Abbott of Texas.

Why do I believe this? In the case of Senator Johnson, I have met and conversed with him and carefully studied his actions during the pandemic. My assessment of Governors DeSantis and Abbott is not informed by direct acquaintance, but derives from my experience of living in Texas and spending a great deal of time in Florida. Both states are obviously better managed than states administered by Democrats, which explains why droves of Americans are moving to Texas and Florida.

I thought of this a couple of months ago on a surfing trip to Punta Mita, Mexico. One day on the surf lineup I met a San Francisco native who lives in the North Beach neighborhood. Covered from head to toe with tattoos, he did not conform to the straitlaced, Young Republican stereotype. I was therefore surprised when he expressed his horror at what has happened to his beloved City by the Bay. As he described it, much of the city now resembles a Zombie Apocalypse of drug-addicted homeless people. Many take powerful stimulants such as crystal meth that makes them dangerously aggressive, and many have zero respect for the personal space and property of others.

Most notable is the flouting of public sanitation laws and practices. While San Francisco’s municipal government imposed some of the most draconian lockdowns during the pandemic, it tolerates large numbers of people defecating and discarding used hypodermic syringes on the streets and sidewalks. Once beautiful squares and parks have become places of shocking filth and squalor. Similar conditions prevail in the Hollywood and Downtown neighborhoods of Los Angeles, where a flea-born typhus outbreak occurred in November of 2021. In other words, the administrators of San Francisco and Los Angeles have chosen NOT to maintain basic standards of civilization.

All eleven members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors are members of the Democratic Party. At the national level, the city has long been represented by Democratic Party veterans, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Nancy Pelosi. While both politicians have become wealthy during their time in office (with net worths estimated at $96 million and $46 million respectively) it’s not clear what they have done for their home city and the people they represent. AsVictor Davis Hanson noted of California in 2019:

Almost a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. Another fifth is categorized as near the poverty level — facts not true during the latter 20th century. A third of the nation’s welfare recipients now live in California. The state has the highest homeless population in the nation (135,000). About 22 percent of the nation’s total homeless population reside in the state.

The harsh reality of these conditions raises a pressing question: Why would any sane person who cares about our civilization continue to vote for the same people who have, year after year, so maladministered their state?

Because many leading Democratic politicians in California are themselves members of the super wealthy, asset-owning class, they seem to have positioned themselves as representatives this stratum of society. Nevertheless, one wonders: Do the denizens of Pacific Heights approve of what has happened to their once beautiful city? Are they okay with being accosted by drug-addled homeless people and having to dodge feces and syringes on the sidewalk?

And what about the middle and working classes in California? Why would they vote for Feinstein and Pelosi?

It seems to me that the only plausible explanation is blind party affiliation. People identify themselves as Democrats and derive their self-image and self-esteem from this group identity. And so they keep voting for candidates simply because these candidates are affiliated with the Democratic Party.