[EastCoastAmerican]

Due to its emphasis on states' rights and the free market, the Republican Party is often associated with individualism. The Democrats, conversely, are seen as a more collectivist party due to its emphasis on using government programs and high taxes on the rich to help all Americans in a "we're all in this together" mentality.

I've often noticed strains of collectivism within the Republican Party, especially the social conservatives. Many evangelical Christians insist on encouraging the government to promote their specific set of family and religious values as the American standard; Neoconservatives during the Bush Administration insisted that US citizens should rally behind the President in the interests of national security. These two examples strongly lean in favor of unifying Americans behind a common cause, and often resort to criticism and chastisement towards group that refuse to go along ("you can't criticize the President in times of war!").

I wouldn't say that Republicans are mostly collectivist or individualist so much their party is a melding of collectivism and individualism. Free market Republicans with Libertarian sympathies, as well as ones against most forms of government aid, are individualist in the fact that they want Americans to stand on their own two feet without federal assistance. Conversely, many of these same Republicans are in favor of policies which would give increased federal control over many important functions (the PATRIOT Act for national security, the Defense of Marriage Act regarding same-sex marriage, etc.). Sometimes these two things can come into conflict and form deep rifts between Republican groups. Many Republicans now want to pull out of Iraq and are in favor of gay rights. In the latter case, such Republicans say that the government has no right to interfere in the bedrooms of consenting adults.

What are your thoughts on this?

[hip hop bunny hop]

Eh, it'd be accurate to say that there are three major ideologies within the Republican party; the Libertarians & the NeoCons whom you've identified, but there are also the Paleoconservatives. Pat Buchanan is a well known example of this breed, and Mike Huckabee represented it to a degree as well:

He’ll be missed because he embodied a political persuasion that’s common in American life but rare in America’s political class. This worldview mixes cultural conservatism with economic populism: it’s tax-sensitive without being stridently antigovernment, skeptical of Wall Street as well as Washington, and as concerned about immigration, family breakdown and public morals as it is about the debt ceiling.

This combination of views represents one of the plausible middle grounds in American politics. You can find it in the Republican Party, among the evangelicals and Catholics whose votes made the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush possible. You can find it among independent voters, particularly in what a recent Pew report calls the “disaffected” demographic, whose hostility to big government coexists with anxieties about corporate power and support for redistribution of wealth. And you find it in the Democratic Party as well — from the dwindling ranks of pro-life Catholic liberals to the “Bill Cosby conservatives” in the African-American middle class.

But few of these people are members of the American elite. Call someone a “centrist” or a “moderate” in the salons of Washington or New York, and everyone will assume that you’re talking about a deficit hawk who supports open borders, or a Republican C.E.O. who writes checks to Planned Parenthood. Among our leadership class, centrism invariably means some combination of big-business conservatism and social progressivism — the politics of pro-choice Republicans, hedge fund Democrats and Michael Bloomberg independents.

This is why Huckabee’s 2008 campaign seemed to come out of nowhere. The press was baffled, and often delighted: here was a right-wing politician who talked easily about health care and admitted that the Bush economy had been lousy for working families. (There would have been less delight, of course, if he had actually won the Republican nomination: then all the talk would have turned to his supposedly “scary” views on issues like abortion.)

"A Requiem for Huckabee", by Ross Douthat (Link)

Anyways, there is debate amongst these three major ideologies within the Republican Party, and there are major areas of contention. This means that whatever policy does come out of the party will likely be a compromise piece and will likely have another, different and somewhat contradictory piece of legislation follow it in the not-too-distant future. As long as our political scene is dominated by two major parties, this is relatively inevitable, as these parties must represent portions of the country with slightly different economies, cultures, and values.

[Jeliza-Rose]

Here's what a real conservative thinks...
http://mises.org/daily/1766

"Most contemporary conservatives, then, especially among the media darlings, are not conservatives but socialists—either of the internationalist sort (the new and neoconservative welfare-warfare statists and global social democrats) or of the nationalist variety (the Buchananite populists). Genuine conservatives must be opposed to both. In order to restore social and cultural norms, true conservatives can only be radical libertarians, and they must demand the demolition—as a moral and economic distortion—of the entire structure of the interventionist state."

Hans-Hermann Hoppe is the only libertarian who doesn't mince words. He reveals libertarianism/conservatism for what it really is - a radical, twisted, misanthropic veiw of the world.

[mikema63]

^how nice, well theres your answer, anyone who isn't on the left is either stupid, evil, or have mental problems.

i would say generally republicans are collectivistic. every one must obey the moral code, share a culture, language, and they are generally opposed to immigration. it seems more of a different brand of collectivism from liberalism than individualism.

[Dr House]

The GOP represents the conservative wing of the US, which in addition to not representing a single ideology (mainstream parties in the US are big-tent and cover multiple ideologies within their sphere of influence), is a tad schizophrenic due to the juxtaposition of being a reactionary party whose reaction to modern liberalism is based on a philosophy which is itself liberal. It is individualist to a large extent because liberalism of all stripes is fundamentally atomistic, but in a sense it is less so than the DNC; as it promotes standards enforced by the community at the grassroots level. Democrats, likewise, are individualist in that they champion civil liberties and discard in-group morality (which in society's collective psyche is the very basis for social living), yet collectivist in that they champion social programs and a (relatively) regulated society.

So it's not that simple. A better statement would be to say (American) conservatives are decentralist.

[Jeliza-Rose]

^how nice, well theres your answer, anyone who isn't on the left is either stupid, evil, or have mental problems.

Wait, you think Hans-Hermann Hoppe is on the left?

i would say generally republicans are collectivistic. every one must obey the moral code, share a culture, language, and they are generally opposed to immigration. it seems more of a different brand of collectivism from liberalism than individualism.

A. every one must obey the moral code

B. share a (common) culture, language

C. opposed to immigration

This is verging on National Socialism...

[xsited1]

The US: Is the GOP collectivist or individualist?

They are mostly collectivists today. The GOP's commitment to individual liberty has been crumbling for decades.

David Brooks of the New York Times is a good example of a misguided conservative. He believes the individualist description of human nature seems to be wrong since "science" has proven that we are intensely social creatures, deeply interconnected with one another. The idea of the lone individual rationally and willfully steering his own life course is often an illusion, according to Brooks.

Brooks is wrong, of course. Real freedom IS individual freedom. Individualistic societies tend to be wealthier than collectivist ones. When a society emphasizes choice and personal fulfillment, it tends to produce happier people. By almost any measure individualism is a success.

It used to be that the GOP was the last line of defense against the collectivists, but no more. I haven't trusted the GOP to make a sound decision in 35 years. At least with the Democrat Party you pretty much know most members are collectivists. With the GOP, who knows?

[mikema63]

Wait, you think Hans-Hermann Hoppe is on the left?

i have no idea what you meant by this if we can only use the old left right paradigm he is on the right i was responding to this statement you made.

Hans-Hermann Hoppe is the only libertarian who doesn't mince words. He reveals libertarianism/conservatism for what it really is - a radical, twisted, misanthropic veiw of the world.

99.9% of people who are conservative or libertarian are sincere, name calling is uncalled for. the only reasonable thing is open debate not mudslinging.

[p0nder]

Eh, it'd be accurate to say that there are three major ideologies within the Republican party; the Libertarians & the NeoCons whom you've identified, but there are also the Paleoconservatives.

I would definitely be inclined to agree with you here. Thus, some in the GOP stray toward collectivism and some stray toward individualism. Within the party, there is a war between these two opposing sides.

[AlwaysOnDuty]

Ive been with the GOP for sometime... We are collectivist when it comes to defeating the office babysitters the liberals. We come together on a moral code because God and Country is what matters most. Infact the majority of folks I have done groundwork with have strong beliefs in the ol Manifest Destiny. Since God or Lord Jesus Christ wants America to be the light bearer and that is why our Statue of Liberty is Lucifer and that aint the evil satan its just the light bearer and a fallen Angel. See that torch she holds high?

If no one delivers the world from darkness than people all over the globe will never have freedom and peace. Thats why we GOP come together in a collective matter to beat out them liberals who want a welfare state and socialism.

Still at the individual level conservatives tout the good preaching of family values and getting our rest every Sunday. We make sure all our members walk the straight and narrow and to an outersider that may look collective but its just guided by our strong faith.

Neocon is some liberal who haw that they invented for a new label in which they are fond of doing. It makes the freedom loving and peace protecting conservatives look like imperialists. When all we are doing is securing our manifest destiny to bring the high standard of living the United States enjoys (and takes for granted) to the rest of the planet.

Old conservatives are like neocons but are stuck in the age of isolation and dont understand that the call to duty has come and past. When Japs hit Pearl Harbor that was the last time we ever would sit idle and watch evil crawl around creeping in the dark and taking little babies from their crib while they snooze. Again on 911 showed the old conservatives that the threat continues to our way of life. Its all a crock of yankee dun dee gone mad to call neocons wrong for protecting their country over seas.

Lastly we got the the phony Limbaughs who get all geeked up on pills and make our party look like a bunch of yaw whos out of their seats. I don't know how he got to be such a prominent radio goon but it might as well be a liberal plot to ruin the GOP

[Texas_Secession]

It used to be that the GOP was the last line of defense against the collectivists, but no more. I haven't trusted the GOP to make a sound decision in 35 years. At least with the Democrat Party you pretty much know most members are collectivists. With the GOP, who knows?

We got our ass handed to us. The Kennedy-wing of the Republican Party wanted Romney, got him and tried to sell him as some kind of folksy, hes-just-like-you conservative. Your rich Uncle that won the lotto. The conservative faithful knew he was a fraud and stayed home.

Hope Gov. Ventura runs in 2016.

[hip hop bunny hop]

What? Ventura? He didn't accomplish anything of note in Minne while Governor.

[Joe Liberty]

I wouldn't say that Republicans are mostly collectivist or individualist so much their party is a melding of collectivism and individualism.

I'd say they're primarily collectivist, but they use individualist rhetoric to get votes. That's the only explanation for why they use the rhetoric inconsistently, and then abandon it when they're elected.

[nucklepunche]

The GOP is socially collectivist, economically individualist, but primarily collectivist overall since the economic issues even if they appear individualist on the front are in some ways cultural. A lot of the anti-welfare stance is not so much about tax cuts as it is white middle class people fearing the government will redistribute their money to minorities.