The GOP hypocrisy

After I started following Aaron Sorkin's magnum opus ' The West Wing' I became extremely interested in knowing more about the way policies are shaped in Washington. I must admit that I really had no idea about the ideologies of the Republicans and the Democrats. I was apolitical during the 2012 elections, though I leaned towards Romney in the end. 

That's because the conservative ideologies of the Republican Party appealed to me - less debt, less taxes, more growth, better family values, affinity towards religion and so on. That changed when I started watching West Wing, which in turn led me to read a lot of books/ watch documentaries about various issues plaguing the world. That's when I realized the hypocrisy of the conservative values preached by the Republicans. 

I never considered myself to be an environmentally conscious person. Moving to the US four years ago made me conscious about the way I spent my money. I was on a student's budget and I had to optimize the limited resources. So I tried to eat as many meals at home as possible, minimize food wastage, stop spending on stuff that was considered a luxury (more shoes, clothes, junk like cookies, chocolate) and use public transport. Not buying stuff that I would rarely use/ make me unhealthy had its benefits - I was healthy and fit thanks to home cooked healthy meals and I saved money. I used this money to pursue things that gave me a lot of happiness as opposed to the instant gratification I would get by buying shoes, accessories, clothes etc. 

Traveling in the US has been the greatest experience of my life. It broadened my horizons of thinking by leaps and bounds. Coming from India I was not accustomed to seeing such vast and empty lands with forests! This made me appreciate nature in its virgin form and I became interested in nature conservatism. This interest made me a convert and I adopted a minimalistic lifestyle, even though I am earning and can afford luxuries. I haven't bought clothes in over a year because my wardrobe is already bursting in its seams and I wont replenish the stock until my clothes wear out. I haven't bought other accessories like handbags, shoes, bedspreads etc because I barely use the ones I have. I don't buy packaged food, bottled juices, pasta sauces so that I cut down on the amount of plastic and glass waste. To what ever extent possible I cook and eat at home and I haven't wasted food in over two years now. I try to limit my showers to less than five minutes

I digress. Coming back to the topic, I really don't understand the ideologies of the Republicans where they preach solutions without realizing that they are the root cause of the problems.

1. They are staunch advocators of the 'American Dream' which encourages over consumption and living beyond means. They call this overconsumption and destruction of environment as growth. They trash the environmental lobby for advocating green reforms in industries by calling them anti- growth and communist. However common sense dictates that the more you consume beyond your means the more debt you will be in. This debt cycle is designed such that the money is transferred from the lower/ middle class to the upper class and without debt there will be no super rich CEO's and executives on Wall Street who fund the Republicans. Yet they claim that they are ' Fiscal conservative' meaning that they want lesser debt and balanced budget. How is that even possible when they are responsible for encouraging people to get into the debt cycle?
2. They are pro-choice, try to marginalize the effectiveness of contraceptives,cry fowl over universal health care which enables woman to get birth control for free and educational benefits given to the lower class immigrants. Yet they show utmost contempt and fear towards the growing numbers of the immigrant population knowing very well that this problem can be solved with universal health care and better education. 
3. They are anti-immigration and take measures and spend billions to curb the mexican population crossing the border. They blame the illegal immigrants of stealing the american jobs. Since the Reagan administration the population control administration in Mexico is getting lesser funds from the US to fight population explosion. Even the funds they get come with a clause- Abortion was made illegal, echoing the conservative policies (read appeasing the church) of the Republicans. They stall programs aimed at curtailing the number of children per woman in Mexico and Latin America and yet blame overpopulation as the cause of illegal immigration.

Thanks West Wing for making me realize the hypocrisy of the Republican Party.