What do I mean by ethics? From Wikipedia:
Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.
Here is my core argument. If a person has (a) the capability to be informed and (b) the ability to use critical thinking but (c) does not actively inform themselves and think critically, they are acting unethically, because (d) they are allowing their minds to be corrupted by (e) opportunistic forces.
A majority of Republican (R) voters fit the above. They have enough means and education to consume sensible news sources and think critically. Yet they do not. They have fallen into lazy, sometimes actively hateful, thinking. As a result of their action and inaction, such people have allowed Republican Party (RP) rhetoric to dominate their thinking. Instead of reason and compassion, R voters are filled with convenient fictions.
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities" ~ Voltaire
And uninformed, uncritical people still vote.
Unfortunately, when it comes to public policy, it doesn't matter very much if R voters are good people in many other ways. Why? Voting has ethical implications. Uninformed, uncritical R voters, taken as a whole, elect R leaders. R leaders have amassed considerable power, but their principles are flawed. Flawed ideas have consequences; as a result, R leaders inflict great damage on our country. For example, the R agenda has long sought to deprive non-Rs of their civil rights and voting rights.
I'll try to summarize the RP over the last four years (if not longer), in one word. Evil.
I am quite serious. The recent RP is marked by insurrection, violence, treason, authoritarianism, corruption, self-dealing, duplicity, manipulation, hypocrisy, incompetence, faux-religiousity, fear-mongering, and (the nicest I can say) fiscal irresponsibility.
The RP rarely offers anything approaching a substantive policy proposal. When they do, their ideas (most barely even qualify as 'plans') tend to make most R voters worse off, not to mention the country as a whole.
For decades, the RP has damaged our public health, our civil rights, our economic security, and our education systems. Yes, the RP has their 'reasons' and their rhetoric, but they are liars and/or fools. Elected Rs have eroded the foundations of our representative democracy. Just to name a small subset, Rs have (a) rolled back voting rights, (b) gerrymandered voting districts, (c) denied climate change, (d) denied science, (e) opposed substantive healthcare improvements, and (f) attempted to curtail freedom of the press.
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Some people think most Republican voters are well-meaning but ignorant. Perhaps, but this is no excuse.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions is a proverb or aphorism. An alternative form is "Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works". ~ Wikipedia
Ignorance is no defense against unethical behavior.
But it gets more complicated, doesn’t it? For the last four years, the RP has undermined truth itself. This behavior is borrowed from authoritarian playbooks. Study the techniques of disinformation; you’ll see they are alive and well with the RP.
Am I saying the propaganda machine of the RP is simply too powerful for R-leaning voters to escape? Not completely. People have agency. People can adapt. Unfortunately, perhaps, psychology suggests that awareness (and thus free will) comes in irregular bursts. Many people live their lives on autopilot. But we know that change can happen. I have found change tends to work best when it comes from within. Yet, the most effective way to prompt the change is often a stressful external event. It is not easy to wake up when you live in the Matrix.
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When I look at how America voted in 2020, I'm still disturbed. A vast majority of Republican (R) voters still supported Trump despite overwhelming evidence that he is ineffective, self-serving, corrupt, and loathsome.
I am reluctant to say this, but a vast majority of R voters are unethical about their civic responsibilities. Where is their duty to country? Many instead pledge allegiance to one shell of a man. These R’s are not patriots; they have failed in their basic duty as citizens: to cast an informed vote to select qualified and decent elected representatives.
Perhaps R voters can regain their moral direction over time? Four years ago, I held out hope that most R voters were only temporarily fooled. Now, to me, it seems more likely that most are permanently disconnected from reality. Some can regain their senses, but most are likely forever lost in a fog of misinformation.
Worse, evidence suggests the RP will simply try to deprive minority voters of voting rights in a horrifying attempt to hold onto power.
In my view, R voters probably haven't changed that much: they have long been uninformed, uncritical, tribal voters. It just so happens that a wretched man named Trump told them what they wanted to hear and encouraged their baser instincts.
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I have three unfortunate metaphors for R voters right now. First, they are zombies. Second, they have joined a massively popular cult. Third, they have sold their souls to the devil.
Unfortunately for all of us on this Ship of Fools, we suffer from the Republican Party's actions. Who is to blame? The voters that enable them.
Unlike many R voters, I have a basic, critical understanding of the Constitution, and I am open-eyed about our history. And still, I value the United States and what it stands for. Notice I do not simply say ‘what it was’ or ‘who we are’. The USA has done a mix of awesome and awful things. The USA has a significant number of ignorant and extremely racist people. We cannot go backwards and restore some mythical past. Deluding ourselves is not a good way forward. Amanda Gorman touches on some of these themes:
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into
and how we repair it
My conclusion is simple: people who stay informed and think critically must actively work to protect the United States from the current Republican Party. If we don't, it seems to me that our country as we know it only has ~5 to 15 more years before falling apart.
We must organize politically. We must protect our republic from unsound Republican ideas.
All while living alongside R voters. I pity them, but I can’t dwell on this, because they are the enablers. If they can’t listen to reason, even in their own self-interest, their ideas and candidates must be beaten politically. Civil rights must be reaffirmed. The rule of law must be upheld. No person is above the law.