I think it's funny when Americans refer to right and left wing politics when really it's a right-wing party and a further right-wing party.
The only difference is the democrats sign up to identity politics by giving lip service to minority groups.
They are both in agreement when it comes to the major issues.
It's because they are both owned by the same corporations.
That's both the politicians and the media.
Sorry about the brevity of my last post. I think there are fundamental differences between the two parties. This won't be an all inclusive post but I hope it will give you a bit more clarity on the rifts (some vast, some not as much) on the differences between the two parties.
Overall Role of Federal Govt:
Democrats: generally believe it is the government's role to regulate the free market. Without regulation greed and poverty rule the day.
Republicans: generally believe government regulation hinders the free market. Regulation prohibits market growth which in turn prohibits growth for everyone.
I am painting with a broad brush here but I think fundamentally that is one of the biggest core differences between the Left and the Right in this country and I think it dictates the stances on many individual policy issues.
TAXES:
Left: as income increases, taxation increases on a percentage basis.
Right: taxation should be the same percentage for everyone.
HEALTH CARE:
Left: universal health care for all. Programs like Medicare and Medicaid for the elderly, disabled, and poor.
Right: the private sector is a better because the govt wouldn't be able to effectively run health care.
IMMIGRATION:
Left: generally support making immigration easier.
Right: generally believe in strict immigration.
Both do believe it should be regulated.
ENVIRONMENT
Left: strong belief in protecting the environment. Beyond retaining natural beauty the belief is that protection is necessary to avoid destroying the environment.
Right: government protections hinder the country's ability to use it's natural resources. This creates reliance on others and prohibits growth.
RELIGION
Left: generally believe religious beliefs should not play a role in policy. The nation was founded on religious freedom and policies shouldn't infringe on other people's religious beliefs.
Right: generally favor Christian beliefs playing a role in govt policy.
DEATH PENALTY
Left: generally favor life sentence vs death penalty.
Right: generally favor death penalty.
Definitely not as clear on this one. Both sides have a lot of crossover.
GUN CONTROL:
Left: favors varying levels of gun control.
Right: favors less gun control.
Both believe in the 2nd Amendment...just disagree about it's application.
ABORTION:
Left: generally believe it's the woman's right to choose.
Right: generally believe abortion should only be legal in extreme cases.
This is getting way into TL;DR length. This is not all inclusive just a few of the issues off the top of my head.
