Tikkun Magazine, January/February 2008

The Presidential Primaries: The Contrarian

Dear Fellow Republicans

Reimagining Republicanism

by George Vradenburg

I am the Co-Publisher of Tikkun, and a longtime Republican who often disagrees with the editorial position of this magazine (my column is styled "The Contrarian"), but who believes strongly that Tikkun's distinctive voice should be heard and supported. Likewise, Tikkun itself encourages unusual, provocative, and intellectually exciting perspectives on politics, culture, social theory, and religion. So I was not surprised, when the editors decided to publish letters challenging presidential candidates from a Tikkun perspective, that they sought Republicans to challenge Republican candidates.

Fellow Republicans, it is time to refresh the Republican ideal. We Republicans believe that the "self-evident" values of individual freedom, opportunity, and responsibility are derived from a Supreme Being, not the State. The divine, individual spark in each human is a sacred principle that should guide all of our policies. Too often, however, we have allowed our advocacy of limited government, lower taxes, and family values to be hijacked by those with a cramped, exclusionary view of America.

It is time to articulate a new Republican vision for the twenty-first century.

America is not just a place, but also an idea. It is the idea of individual freedom, striving, and dignity; it is the idea that every person should have the opportunity to find and pursue his or her special dream, purpose, and life potential; it is the idea that the individual is responsible for his or her own path in life; it is the idea that the family is where the capacity for human development is best nurtured. This vision is broadly inclusive, generous, and extends to all people.

We Republicans are rightly the champions of limited government and capitalism, since private enterprise has proven to be the most powerful engine in history to foster individual freedom and economic opportunity, here and abroad. Yet, capitalism correctly pursued requires respect for the individual customer, worker, or investor whose trade or labor is being sought, and pursuit of competitive market position through products and service that best serve individual consumers. To honor these values, we Republicans should insist on strict enforcement of market-making regulations, such as truth-in-advertising, product safety, investor and labor protection, and anti-trust laws.

Some Republican candidates view immigration as a threat to our identity. But immigration reflects just that hunger for freedom, dignity, and opportunity that refreshes the American identity. The money that immigrants send home is a sign of individual responsibility and family loyalty, values we revere. Recent immigrants are us, not them. We should embrace the immigrant dream of American citizenship even as we seek to more effectively police our borders.

Gays and lesbians who want to marry and start a family through adoption are not challenging family values, they are expressing family values. We Republicans should endorse gay marriage.

Individual ability to pursue opportunity and freedom is built on education. We should be the party of education. No Child Left Behind is exactly the right mantra. And we should financially support stronger performance in our K-12 school system and the teachers who are the frontline fighters in that effort.

Our belief in individual responsibility should not blind us to the needs of lower income families for the basic social safety net that permits individuals to focus on how best to pursue a better life, not just daily survival. We Republicans oppose the condescending culture of dependency that welfare systems can create, but we should not oppose a fiscally-sound system of universal health insurance, earned income tax credits, housing supports, and other basic benefits that provide the opportunity platform for individuals to pursue the economic, educational, and social advancement necessary to become productive members of American society.

We Republicans cannot be blind to the social and racial barriers to individual opportunity in our country. These barriers need to be confronted through anti-discrimination laws, and toughly enforced. It is a charade to trumpet individual responsibility if we do not affirmatively reach out and knock down the systemic barriers standing in the way of women, racial minorities, and gays and lesbians to the pursuit of their individual life goals.

As for foreign policy, we Republicans believe in the strong national defense needed to protect our special American idea from enemies foreign and domestic. We are rightly pursuing with vigor and vigilance the terrorists and rogue states seeking WMD's for aggressive ends. We must finish our interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq with respect for the dignity of those we have freed from tyranny.

Perhaps the greatest national defense challenge is our dependence on the imported fossil fuels causing global climate change. Relying on our innovative private sector, we Republicans should be challenging America not just to conserve energy, but also to develop alternative sources of renewable energy and nuclear power that will preserve our independence, our planet, and the human race.

Fellow Republicans, we must inspire our fellow citizens with a new vision of Republicanism in the 21st century. We Republicans will earn the trust of Americans only if we commit to steward their government with principles that honor the divinity of the individual.

George Vradenburg is co-publisher of Tikkun.

Source Citation

Vradenberg, George. 2008. Dear fellow Republicans: Reimagining Republicanism. Tikkun 23(1):41.