During the primary season Bernie Sanders was asked during a Democratic Town Hall on MSNBC how big he wanted to make the government. The answer he gave was something to the extent of “I want to mix in socialist values in with our current capitalist economy” (I’m paraphrasing, of course), which looking back is a pretty decent answer. The issue I have with his answer is that it doesn’t really address the myth that is currently going around when people talk about politics. It is often believed that Republicans believe in a small government while Democrats believe in a large government. But is that really true? The answer is obviously ‘no’. To the completely honest, both political parties believe in about the same size of government. Where they differ is what department they want to increase and/or decrease.

On the right side of the spectrum, it is often believed that Republicans are for the little man and they typically don’t believe in “sticking their noses in other people’s lives”…except, of course, for people of the LGBTQ community, people of different races, people of different religions, and women. They don’t believe in getting involved in the lives of others unless you want to have an abortion. They don’t want to get involved in your life, yet seem to have an unhealthy obsession what you do in the bedroom of your own home. They don’t want to get involved in your life unless you have a different belief as them. Then they think it is okay to violate the fourth amendment rights and spy on you (but if you dare stand up for gun regulation you are “un-American”). The truth is, Republicans do believe in a massive government. They like being able to control the lives of others who don’t believe the same way they do. They are very concerned about what you do in your own bedroom. They think that our military is not bloated and they advocate for us in intervene in many different countries. If they were truly pro-small government they would not feel the need to interfere in the lives of others and would probably advocate for a smaller military.

On the left side of the spectrum, Democrats are believed to want a large booming government. They advocate for assistance for poor families who cannot afford it. They tend to stand up for Muslim Americans and African Americans alike. While those are not at all bad things, the flaws in the thinking of so many regressive Democrats should not be overshadowed. A lot of mainstream Democrats support Black Lives Matter and will rage towards anyone (such as myself) who says “all lives matter”. While I understand that some people say “all lives matter” just to oppose Black Lives Matter, I am not one of those. I do believe that black lives matter, but at the same time, I am not blinded by my position. For example, advocates for Black Lives Matter are currently tearing Charlotte to pieces because an armed black guy moved towards a police officer in a threatening manner and got shot.

Whether they actually believe that the Black Lives Matter activists in Charlotte actually have a case or not or if they just fear being called racist I’m not entirely sure of. But there seems to be a lot of that going around when it comes to the left. If you oppose Black Lives Matter but actually do believe that all lives matter, you are racist by default. If you are an atheist and call out the religion of Islam because you think it is ridiculous child’s play and that it is not a religion of peace, you are racist (even though Islam isn’t a race). You are refuse to call yourself a feminist because third wave feminism has given the movement a bad name, but you identify yourself as an egalitarian, you are still sexist.

My point here is that each side has their own agenda and while Democrats are better than Republicans overall, they are still shitty yes-men who want nothing more than to push their agendas forward. We live in a savage world that is an “us vs. them” mentality and if you don’t fully agree with one side or the other, you tossed aside like a wild dog as both packs of wolves devour you from both sides. Republicans, Democrats, they’re just two sides of the same coin, which is why I left the party and now identify myself as a Liberal independent. I’ve had enough of the child’s play bullshit. When you (Democrats and Republicans) are ready to join me at the “big kid’s table” and stop fighting about pointless shit that doesn’t really matter, I will be waiting. Come join me. Regain your common sense.