A Day in the Life of Joe Democrat

Perhaps some of you have seen this clever little piece, called "A Day in the Life of Joe Republican". The gist is that as the Republican goes through his day, enjoying his safe coffee, safe breakfast, clean air, cheap public transportation, union-created job benefits, safe car, affordable house and so on (all the while belittling Democrats and proclaiming his status as a self-made man), there's a deep irony at play. All of these benefits, according to the author, were brought about by Democrats and resisted by Republicans.

Three comments:

(1) There's an unargued assumption in the article, that the good outcomes could only have arisen by the means chosen by Democrats. But is this true in every case? In the case of unsafe products, there's nothing like lawsuits and competition to get businesses in line. And it's not clear that government-subsidized public transportation really is cheap. It might not cost much to cross the turnstile at the subway or to get aboard the bus, but the costs buried in the tax system are considerable.

(2) It may be true that these benefits were brought to us by Democrats and resisted by Republicans. But did they need to be? Unless there's a deep link between the each party's philosophy and their actions on these past matters, it's not a good argument that Joe Republican and his friends should change their party affiliation.

(3)  Note the parasitic relationship between most of the Democrat goods and the Republican ones. It is the free market that generates the primary goods: that we have access to coffee, diverse foodstuffs, a wide variety of attractive employment possibilities, attractive homes and cars, etc., are what happen in the sort of free market economy Republicans promote and those on the left don't. The more a government tilts to the left, the lower the quality and variety of goods.

Thus for Joe Democrat, busy sneering at the ignorant Republicans who don't realize all the ways in which Democrats have made their life better, is himself a rather ignorant character. Without the contributions made by pro-free marketeers like Joe Republican, the Dems might enjoy a safe life, but one lacking in the comforts of 21st century living. At best, the story of Joe Republican might show a role for both parties to play, but it's a long way from showing that we should prefer the left wing of American politics.