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If you were going to try to explain, say to a fourth, fifth, or sixth grader, the differences in Democratic and Republican ideologies -- not to persuade them to see one or the other of these as superior to the other, but merely to educate as to what the differences are, how would you go about doing so? In other words, if you were to say, "Republicans believe..." or "Democrats think...", how would you complete those sentences? If you want to include Libertarians in your answer, that would be fine, too. I'm looking for the most objective (and least sarcastic and biased) responses people can come up with. Thanks!
Republicans believe in war, banker bailouts, and corporate/political cronyism. They say they are for freedom and less government even though it's not true. They believe in as big a government as possible but deny it in front of a camera. They use class warfare to win debates.
Democrats believe in war, banker bailouts, and corporate/political cronyism. They say they are for freedom, even though it's not true, and they believe in as big a government as possible and are unabashed of their view. They use class warfare and racism to win debates.
Both parties' politicians also vote the way of their campaign contributors and the big banks especially and they bribe them in return with a nice cushy well paying job after they get out of office. This is called the Revolving Door
That's about what kids need to know about the two-party system
Location: Currently I physically reside on the 3rd planet from the sun
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katzpur
If you were going to try to explain, say to a fourth, fifth, or sixth grader, the differences in Democratic and Republican ideologies -- not to persuade them to see one or the other of these as superior to the other, but merely to educate as to what the differences are, how would you go about doing so? In other words, if you were to say, "Republicans believe..." or "Democrats think...", how would you complete those sentences? If you want to include Libertarians in your answer, that would be fine, too. I'm looking for the most objective (and least sarcastic and biased) responses people can come up with. Thanks!
Republicans believe in bankrupting the american people by transferring wealth from the common man to corporations by engaging in foreign wars and rewarding the companies who profit from them.
Democrats say they don't like this but do it anyway . . .
If you were going to try to explain, say to a fourth, fifth, or sixth grader, the differences in Democratic and Republican ideologies -- not to persuade them to see one or the other of these as superior to the other, but merely to educate as to what the differences are, how would you go about doing so? In other words, if you were to say, "Republicans believe..." or "Democrats think...", how would you complete those sentences? If you want to include Libertarians in your answer, that would be fine, too. I'm looking for the most objective (and least sarcastic and biased) responses people can come up with. Thanks!
Hey-
When I was a kid in that age group, I had no idea about what a democrat or republican was. I knew that we said the Pledge and a prayer before school, that America was great, and that our fathers kicked ass in WW2. That was about it regarding politics.
I guess elementary school should focus on fundamentals of education and skip the political education bit until high school, when kids MIGHT have the capability of forming opinions on their own.
If you were going to try to explain, say to a fourth, fifth, or sixth grader, the differences in Democratic and Republican ideologies -- not to persuade them to see one or the other of these as superior to the other, but merely to educate as to what the differences are, how would you go about doing so? In other words, if you were to say, "Republicans believe..." or "Democrats think...", how would you complete those sentences? If you want to include Libertarians in your answer, that would be fine, too. I'm looking for the most objective (and least sarcastic and biased) responses people can come up with. Thanks!
I have to agree with hawkeye for the most part...... they don't need to be bothered with this part of life just yet.
But if you have to do something of the sort, why not do so via a real world example ? Make it a field trip one day. Tell all the kids that they are going to go out in the field and dig for rocks of a certain size and quality. And that you will pay them $1 for each rock produced for the first 50 turned in.
Then just after settling up with all the kids at the end of the trip and they are counting their money..... tell all the ones that got paid over a certain amount or the most that they have to turn in a large portion of their money to a general fund for the kids that didn't get paid for as many rocks or no rocks.
And when the questions start from both ends of this spectrum you can answer them and tell them how they relate to one party or the other.....
[EDIT] Almost forgot..... and when the whole Q&A session is over with you can give them a real world history lesson on how the Gov did a gold grab back in the day and confiscate ALL the money you handed out in the name of The Government made up of BOTH parties and get your $50 back......
I'd simply teach them real life economics which would allow them to come to the conclusion about what party makes sense and what one lies to them daily.
If you were going to try to explain, say to a fourth, fifth, or sixth grader, the differences in Democratic and Republican ideologies -- not to persuade them to see one or the other of these as superior to the other, but merely to educate as to what the differences are, how would you go about doing so? In other words, if you were to say, "Republicans believe..." or "Democrats think...", how would you complete those sentences? If you want to include Libertarians in your answer, that would be fine, too. I'm looking for the most objective (and least sarcastic and biased) responses people can come up with. Thanks!
I think I would take an entirely different approach than to attempt to explain parties to youngsters as the OP has lain out.
I would sit down, read, and explain the US Consitution to the young girl or boy. Take episodes from the History Channel that put the Constitution and the Amendments into perspectives they can easily understand.
Next I would pull up copies of my state and the federal oaths taken at the swearing in of office and point out the oath that each elected official takes, be it at the federal or state level, and that in each one the elected official swears to uphold the Constitution.
The next time allowance is distributed I would lay it out on the kitchen table in cold hard dollar bills and change. Show each child how much he or she has the potential to receive in the form of a pile of money.
Explain that allowance given for the child just to have some money without chores done to earn it is called an entitlement, or a handout and they recieve it from the government who has taken it from people (in this case parents) who have worked to earn it.
Then, nickle by nickle, quarter by quarter, dollar by dollar remove federal and state taxes from each allowance pile. Explain which tax you are taking and why.
Explain to the child that a portion of their money is going to pay for food, housing, doctors office visits, medications, cable tv, and cell phones for those with low incomes who may or may not be able to work and may or may not try to work. Explain that a portion goes for military, for homeland security, for wars, for veterans healthcare and retirement, some goes to grants so that individuals can study something they think is of interest courtesy of your child's allowance, explain that some of it goes to pay for roads and bridges in states other than yours.
Finally, explain that there are two major parties, one called Democrats and one called Republicans and a less popular party that they may not have heard as much about called Liberatarians.
Explain to them that Democrats believe strongly in entitlements without the condition of chores, want to provide more services to more people and that will have to be paid out of their allowance pile. Explain to them that the bigger their allowance pile the greater the percentage of it Democrats want to take to then give to others. Explain to the kids that the Democrats believe in a "safety net" funded by their allowance pile that bails out people and corporations who vote for them but fail to tend their own entitlement allowance wisely. Explain to them that Democrats think that the dederal government knows best how to run most aspects of society and believe, contrary to the Constitution, that individuals and states have very limited power, liberties, and rights. every aspect of society and believe that it is ok to limit the personal freedoms listed in the Constitution.
Explain that Republicans too believe in entitlements but think that the children should have responsibility in the form of chores in order to earn some of that allowance. Explain that Republicans too want to provide services but keep them more limited so that the children keep as much of their allowance money pile as possible. Explain that Republicans believe in a "safety net" too but a smaller one and think people should be proactive in saving for a rainy day rather then depending upon the entitlement allowance alone. Explain that the Republicans too sometimes give that allowance money to their friends and companies who vote for them. Explain that Republicans believe that the centeral government has some power but that the states and individuals have nearly as much power as the centralized government.
Explain that Libertarians think that there shouldn't be an entitlement allowance pile or any taxes aside from those listed in the US Constitution (have the kids participate and identify the public debts acceptable from the US Constitution), taken from any money that they may have. That Liberatarians believe the kids should provide for their own spending money by working and be free to do with the money they earn whatever they please without the government telling them how it must be spent. That the kids are free to blow that money completely or to save and invest it how they see fit. But, that if they are irresponsible with their money and lose it, that the Liberatarians will not give them more to tide them over until the next payday. Tell them that Libertarians believe in a voluntary "safety net" created and handled by individuals, families, and charitable organizations rather than by the government. Tell them that Libertarians believe that the Constitution is the ultimate authority on how power is destributed (not the party or government) and that it believes for the healthiest nation that power not be centralized with the federal government but with the states and the individual (maximum freedom, limited government).
Finally take up the comparison of class elections and fellow students who belong to certain cliques and their making promises that they cannot possibly fulfill to get elected (longer recess, cell phones in the classroom, field trip to (x), etc... .). Explain that politicians are much the same way in telling people what they want to hear to get elected. That no matter what they may believe that their actions before they ran for class president is the best indicator of what they will do once they are elected (not what they promise to do). The clique represents the political party but they may or may not stay consitent with the clique once they are elected. Explain that power changes people.
But if you have to do something of the sort, why not do so via a real world example ? Make it a field trip one day. Tell all the kids that they are going to go out in the field and dig for rocks of a certain size and quality. And that you will pay them $1 for each rock produced for the first 50 turned in.
Then just after settling up with all the kids at the end of the trip and they are counting their money..... tell all the ones that got paid over a certain amount or the most that they have to turn in a large portion of their money to a general fund for the kids that didn't get paid for as many rocks or no rocks.
And when the questions start from both ends of this spectrum you can answer them and tell them how they relate to one party or the other.....
We learned that in kindergarten. It's called "sharing" .
I remember there were always a couple spoiled selfish brats who threw hissy fits when they had to share. I guess they grew up to be Republicans!
Republicans believe in war, banker bailouts, and corporate/political cronyism. They say they are for freedom and less government even though it's not true. They believe in as big a government as possible but deny it in front of a camera. They use class warfare to win debates.
Democrats believe in war, banker bailouts, and corporate/political cronyism. They say they are for freedom, even though it's not true, and they believe in as big a government as possible and are unabashed of their view. They use class warfare and racism to win debates.
Both parties' politicians also vote the way of their campaign contributors and the big banks especially and they bribe them in return with a nice cushy well paying job after they get out of office. This is called the Revolving Door
That's about what kids need to know about the two-party system
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwm1964
Republicans believe in bankrupting the american people by transferring wealth from the common man to corporations by engaging in foreign wars and rewarding the companies who profit from them.
Democrats say they don't like this but do it anyway . . .
Well, those answers were as helpful as hell.
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