The Democrats and the Republicans

	"Politics is too serious a matter to be left to politicians" once said Charles de Gualle, a military general who was later elected as the President of France. It is a sad truth that unfortunately, a lot of the current age voters are uninformed or their only source of news are populist media. This results in a lot of misguided beliefes and fake information which leave people vulnerable to the manipulation by our aforementioned politicians. This is why, in this day and age, developing an understanding of modern politics and the rivarly between the two major political parties in the US is more important than ever. Truth is, a lot has changed since 1854, when the Republican Party first formed. Ideologies have shifted, attitudes have changed and most importantly, the society has transformed. What used to be a liberal view is no longer a liberal view and what conservatives used to fight for, they no longer support. This may be one of the reasons for the country-wide confusion that we can currently observe. To understand the ever-lasting struggle between the parties, one must understand their core beliefs and despite many presidential candidates expressing worldviews contradictory to those of their party, there are some characteristic, long-running and established values that have been polarizing Demoracts and Republicans for years.
	First and foremost, the Republican Party is generally conservative, meaning they believe in upholding the long-established tradition and customs along with sharing a harsher attitude towards the disadvantaged. Because of that, they are in favor of upkeeping of what they believe to be core American values like the right to bear arms. They argue that everyone has a fundamental right to protect themselves and that the goverment should never try to take it away. Their stance on immigration is also quite strict; they strongly oppose foreign cultures overflowing and therefore dominating their own. Many believe that when someone comes to their country, it is better for everyone if he leaves his culture behind and fully assimilates. Another important issue is their attitude to same-sex marriages and various LGBT communities. Since they represent a progressive change and in their view fundamentally undermine the Christian tradition, many strongly oppose it. It is argued that since a marriage is focused around children, being raised in a homosexual family faces them with major psychological threats. However, it is worth noting that there are also some more moderate conservatives inside the party and a substantial fraction of the Republican base does not see an issue in same-sex marriage. Economically speaking, the Republican party has lately been about limiting the government action, including reduction of protectionist measures such as tariffs and quotas. They believe that an authoritarian influcence on the market hinders capitalism. Moreover, they more often than not believe in flat taxation, decreasing taxes and firmly support privatisation, especially in the area of healthcare. Finally, when it comes to the foreign policy, the Republican party shares military spending and "America first" philosophy. All in all, one could characterise an average Republican as someone with a deeply-rooted sense of tradition, firmly capitalistic opinions and patriotic tendencies.
	On the other hand there are the Democrats, which in contrast exhibit more liberal, left-leaning characteristics; they believe in progress and overcoming the tradition in order to strive towards a social, economic and civil equality that in their eyes is currently unsatisfactory and unfair towards the disadvantaged minorities. This egalitarian stance also extends to other issues, such as gun regulation, immigration and LGBT rights. It is believed by the Democrats that a loose gun control leads to increased violence and mass shootings. While the majority of the Democratic party is in favor of stricter laws that deal with firearms, some have even proposed a complete ban. Moreover, they express more of a humanitarian stance on the issue of the immigration. They see no real negative consequences of taking a refugee in, and therefore argue that such an action is a moral responsibility of their country. Certain more radical liberal supporters have also been very vocal about how inhumane it is to deport illegal immigrants. When it comes to the same-sex marriage debate, they vary from the Republicans in that they believe the government should not inervene into what is not their business. They argue that matters such as private sexual life are something that should remain separate from the politics. As long as an individual does not harm anyone, what he does should be of no concern to anyone. Moving over to the economics, altough both of the parties support the free market, the Democrats tend to generally lean in favor of progressive taxation. They believe that taxing people from the higher income brackets more is necessary in order to maintain and encourage economic equality and that some form of wealth redistribution should take place sooner or later. They also defend the idea of the universal healthcare and are against any sort of privatisation, as in their view, it provides an opportunity for exploitation. The Democratic Party's humanitarian ideas also manifest themselves when it comes to the foreign policy. More often than not, the Democrats are also globalists. They view organisations as the European Union or the United Nations as noble and good for its members and are in favor of decreasing millitary spending along with abandoning nationalistic tendencies of the US. All taken into consideration, one could describe an average Democrat as someone with deeply-rooted humanitarian values, pity for the disadvantaged and a firm stance against toxic patriotism.
	All in all, the Democrats and the Republicans, although somewhat similar on the broader political spectrum, differ drastically in the more nuanced areas. The immigration, economic attitudes and approach to tradition and religion have separated both of these parties for years. Despite the fact that many of these views have shifted over the centuries, it is important to maintain and to contuinue building more of an in-depth knowledge about these issues and stay up to date. So, the next time the election comes, consider all the polarizing factors and only then make an informed decision about who to vote for. If you value tradition, religion, patriotism and free market along with flat taxation, research the Republican nominees; if you prefer diversity, measures aimed at increasing equality and tend to have globalist and progressive ideas about the world, consider voting Democrat.