What is a Republican III: Pragmatism vs. Idealism

“Man is not a thing -- not something to be used merely as a means: he must always in all his actions be regarded as an end in himself.” -- Immanuel Kant

Republicans are skeptics. They are often students of history, and have often learned hard lessons from history. Republicans believe in common sense. They are pragmatic. They mostly care about what works. If you are into Myers-Briggs personality types, Republicans are detail oriented S’s while Democrats are idea oriented N’s. Many engineers and business people -- and a lot of just down to Earth people! -- become Republicans.

There is nothing more attractive to Liberal Democrats on the other hand than an elaborate theory such as Marxism or Global Warming. Many intellectuals therefore become Liberal Democrats. Moreover, and I think this is related, Democrats will often embrace policies that “feel right” even if they don’t work. Having one’s “heart in the right place” is, in practice, a defense for anything in Democrat thinking. Often people who are very emotional but not very rigorous -- many celebrities are in this camp -- become Democrats. Democrats are heady, and often they’re emotional, but they are not as practical as Republicans.

Examples:
i. Democrats are inclined to create large-scale, complex solutions to problems. These solutions usually involve creating a large new government program and supporting agency. Republicans on the other hand want to solve problems incrementally, one improvement at a time, without overinvesting in a huge infrastructure. Democrats can spin up a vision for a large, complex governmental system in no time. It’s literally what they like to do. Lamar Alexander's recent article on healthcare captures this distinction perfectly.

ii. In foreign policy, Republicans want to be strong first, and then be nice. Democrats want to be nice to everyone and “make friends.” Historically, being strong gets better results than being nice. Carter tried making friends with Russia and it didn’t work. Obama has tried to befriend Russia and Iran and it hasn’t worked. He projected an image that was interpreted as weakness by Iran. This represents the triumph of an emotional approach instead of a time tested, practical approach.

iii. In evaluating thinkers and politicians, Democrats are very forgiving to people who make huge mistakes but whose hearts were in theory in the right place. Ted Kennedy and his Congressional colleagues Howard Metzenbaum and Tip O’Neill in the 70’s were horrible predictors of policies that would move America forward, throwing their lot in with an economic vision of American defeat and economic doom. Paul Ehrlich and the Club of Rome made absurd predictions in the late 60’s about the global economy. Economist Lester Thurow made useless predictions about Japan and the global economy in the 80s. All are lionized today and all are very securely part of the democratic pantheon.

iv. The pragmatism/idealism difference can perhaps be observed most starkly in the very different reactions of American thinkers to Marxism. Liberals love -- well, they loved -- Marxism. It is an elaborate, complex theory that has its heart in the right place. Does it work well? No. Does it deprive people of freedoms and impoverish nations? Well, yes, but its heart is in the right place and it has a certain intellectual appeal. That was for many years enough for many Democrats.

Skepticism is good. We should be skeptical about giving any individual too much power. We should be skeptical about trying to solve problems with huge, complex solutions rather than practical detailed improvements. We should be skeptical about elaborate new theories that do not seem to fit with common sense -- because the reality is that they come and go. Marxism didn’t work. Idealism is dangerous. Nazis were idealists. Stalin was an idealist. We should never turn away from a common sense, pragmatic style in devising policy. Republican skepticism, because it was skeptical about Marxism, saved America. It will save America again.