Four Issues to Unify the GOP and Realign America. By Edward Ring.
Sentiments on a few fundamental policy issues are coalescing into a consensus greater than the political parties that supposedly speak for them. Embracing these unifying issues and emphasizing them would hand Republicans a populist bloc of voters that will include almost all grassroots Republicans, along with many independents and even millions of Democrats. …
Education:
Republicans should stand for school choice, where parents receive annual payment vouchers they can redeem at public or private schools. And even more to the point, traditional public schools should be completely restructured, with curricula based on classical education methods that emphasize developing fundamental skills in math, reading, and writing, as well as character development and a firm grounding in the virtues of Western Civilization. …
Immigration:
It isn’t enough to regain control of America’s borders, although that must happen before anything else. It is necessary to completely revamp America’s immigration policies to prioritize the admission of people who bring skills that our nation actually needs. Most immigration into America should be based on merit. It is not possible for America to absorb the world’s poor. If altruism is a value Americans want to incorporate into foreign policy, then aid and investment in poverty-stricken nations can help hundreds of millions of people far more cost-effectively than mass immigration. …
Replace affirmative action with meritocracy:
Rejecting the false premise that America is still an inherently racist nation is the moral justification for eliminating affirmative action and other supposedly antiracist and antisexist policies that persist in American society. At the same time, however, Republicans must explain that meritocracy is the only possible way for a society to provide equal opportunities to everyone. It is the only way to ensure that individuals will recognize hard work and learned competence as the path to success in life.
Without meritocracy, the character of individuals and society is corrupted. Meritocracy is tough, but there is no alternative. …
Climate change:
The climate agenda, pushed by nearly every politician in America, reduces the standard of living of all but the wealthiest Americans. Along with extremist environmentalism in general, it concentrates wealth in the hands of multinational corporations and billionaires and all but wipes out the middle class. Misguided, extreme environmentalist policies have already taken away the ability of ordinary Americans to purchase homes and build generational wealth. The regressive impact of environmentalist laws and regulations is an attack not so much on private property, as it is an attack focused on property that is not owned by corporations or billionaires. Denying ordinary Americans ownership opportunities takes away the incentive to work hard and achieve. It is another way to undermine meritocracy.
And don’t get distracted by unpopular policies!
