Jesus expels the money changers, who prey upon the poor, from His Father’s temple. painting by Giotto di Bondone

Democrats pretend to care about the poor.

Often, it is asked of me what the difference is between the Democratic and Republican parties in US.  The answer is simple:  The Democrats pretend to care about the poor.  Moral and thinking men are Republicans because they realize that ignoring the poor, as Republicans do, is marginally less sanctimonious than using the poor to get votes.  Beyond this pretense to care about God’s poor on the part of the Democrats, there is functionally little difference between the two parties.  But this, perhaps to many obscure, difference is very important because the poor are especially precious and special to God and He has made this very clear to us.

The American political system is, at this present juncture, so thoroughly corrupt that there is no way to change it short of permanently riding ourselves of both parties. Or, to be more precise, getting rid of the one party that rules us and masquerades as two.  American politics is a one-party juggernaut controlled by corporate interests that occasionally whips the public into frenzy by having elections that are supposed to give the impression to the citizen that the citizen has his choice of rulers.

As a young man, Americans of my age were very smug respecting the many differences between America and the Soviet Union—for most of my life the only issue of importance was who would win the war that was sure to come between the two then transcendent super powers.  American smugness was of a general sort—America was richer, better armed, more free and better prepared than the Russians.

Much to the surprise of all men in my generation, the Soviets simply threw in the towel on the Cold War and quit the contest.  That development has had many ripple effects not the least of which is that, as American has a volunteer military of great size, we are, and must remain, always at war largely to justify the size and power of our war making machinery.  Soldiers are meant to fight and so to war we must always go.  In fact, since the end of the Second War, America has been perpetually at war.

People have become more convinced in recent years that, as George Wallace liked to say “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the two parties.”  Today, the overwhelming majority of American adults would subscribe to this notion.  And yet, what way out of the woods?  The Democrats and Republicans are very fearful that they are ceasing rapidly to have any significance whatsoever to the American voter.  Every year or so a fantasy election occurs designed to perpetuate the myth that the people have a choice in elections when they have none at all.

The only constant is that the poor are never helped or cared for.  Republicans ought be mindful that ignoring the poor is a grave affront to God.  Likewise, Democrats should attend closely that using the poor to get votes and then doing nothing at all to help them is to anger God greatly as the poor are his special ones.

Some will say “elect a third-party candidate for President” revealing just how little the citizens know of how Washington works.  Had Ross Perot won election in 1992 himself, instead of simply handing the White House to Clinton, Perot would have found out quickly that the President is powerless without the Congress.  He can make pretty speeches but that is all.

And, so, the sanctimony continues unabated and Americans are given what the media is paid to call a very serious choice of Presidents every four years.  The Republican Party is little different from its Democratic rival, except on the issue of the poor.  Increasingly, it appears that everybody either hates or ignores the great number of poor ones who do exist in America.  Their presence spoils the party.

So, we come back to God–as we always ought.  He was an adamant protector and spokesman for the poor when He was with us.  To ignore them as my Party does is surely evil and Un-Godly.  To pretend to care for the poor as do Democrats, to steal the votes of the poor in order to get elected, is manifestly worse.  But neither position would please God.

At present, we have this small, yet morally very consequential difference, in elections—to be a Republican as I am, knowing full well that my Party ignores the poor, or to be a Democrat and pretend to care for the poor in order to use them to get votes.  This is a very, very sad and dismal choice.