Republicans : The Party of WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!

 

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

  - John Kenneth Galbraith  

 I think it goes deeper than this - there is a deep-seated impulse to find intellectual and moral justification for whatever it is we are doing or not doing, so that we don't have to engage in the sometimes painful process of change and growth.
If we can convince ourselves and others that our extremely disproportionate share of wealth is necessary because we are "job creators" and without that extreme wealth would simply sit on our rear ends, then by god, it's everyone's duty to help us get richer AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!
If fighting wars with other people's children is morally justifiable because we heap praise on our brave soldiers in uniform at every opportunity and can support our troops simply by saying we do (or buying a car magnet that says we do) then WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!
If the free market is always right and government intervention, regulation, or policy always bumbling, inefficient, and ultimately counter-productive, then WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!
If taxes are always too high and tax cuts always stimulate the economy and pay for themselves, then WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!
If we are heterosexual and harbor superstitious dread of homosexuality, we can deny marriage equality by couching our fears and selfishness (We are enjoying rights We don't want to grant to Them) then WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!
If our theoretical models say that the free markets should cover everyone's healthcare needs efficiently and that 64,000 Americans should not be dying every year for want of health insurance, then WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!
If we can convince ourselves that morality is simply a function of preventing other people, especially women, from having access to science-based sexual education, contraception, and pregnancy termination services, then (especially if we are male) WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!