All too often people assume that to be a conservative is to be Republican. Republicans were just whooped in the national election, at every level. Conservatives were not. There was not a conservative choice. John McCain is no conservative (and for those of you who love to equate the two, neither is the degenerate deficit spending W.). While the senator from Arizona tried to appeal to conservatives, most of us saw him for what he was all along, a liberal masquerading as a conservative in an attempt to "galvanize" the GOP base. Conservatives do not fight for open borders, amnesty for criminal aliens, and taxpayer funded bailouts. Nor do they fight against free speech, fair taxation, or the rights of individual states. McCain has, does, and will.
To me, true conservatism is simply "Constitutionalism". Unlike many on the left, I believe that the founders of the United States laid a path for what has become not only the greatest nation of today, but the greatest nation of all time. A leftist might like to expound on the shortcomings of the Constitution, such as not abolishing slavery or extending voting rights to women. However, the fact that these issues were corrected, through an amendment process intrinsic to it's survival, shows us that our patriotic forefathers knew that there was work yet to be done in the name of liberty. Conservatism is believing in the United States Constitution. It is believing that we are all free to govern ourselves. I believe in the rights of the individual states, and in the collective strength of the nation. I believe that a state should be free to govern itself, without the fear of the federal government withholding monies paid into by that state's residents.
My brand of conservatism is this; The federal government owes us very little, and as such we owe it very little. It owes us liberty by ensuring no states make laws that violate the Constitution. It owes us interstate transportation systems such as highways, railroads, and airports. It owes us protection in the form of a military. It owes us peace of mind in the form of reasonable regulation of financial markets and interstate/global commerce. It owes us a sense of our heritage and culture through national parks, museums, libraries, monuments, etc. While one could make a case for a few things that currently elude me, there is not a whole lot more that the federal government was intended to do.
Uncle Sam does not owe you a job, a house, an income, a clean needle, a marriage, or a sandwich. He simply owes you the right to attain these things yourself.
This is conservatism, this is freedom, this is liberty.
2 comments:
this is a great post. very eloquently said. love you!!
but how do we get back there...?
Ultimately, at the end of the day, all I want is to be free. Free to make my own choices about who I want to love, where i want to work, how much money i want to make (and keep), what i want to do with my body, what i want to smoke or drink, etc etc etc... and I want everyone else to be free to make their own decisions as well.
Im all for less government interference in our lives, but when its gotten to the point that the goverment has stepped in and started telling us as citizens what we are allowed to do, who we are allowed to love and marry, what we can and can't do with our bodies, what type of scientific research is allowed, what's humane or not humane etc etc etc.. I feel like its my responsibility to try and do something or support someone who supports those rights.. I don't feel like ANY of those things I just listed off should be determined by any branch of government or anybody in general.. but at this point in time, they are. So what do you do?
Im asking in a sincere and honest way.. im not trying to be antagonistic or playing the devils advocate or anything.. your post and a lot of the things you say make perfect sense to me, a country with less government control sounds great to me, I just don't know how to even start trying to get back to the original vision the founding fathers of this country had for this country, which was an amazing vision... so I guess thats what Im asking.. is it even possible? I feel like these invasions on our liberty and freedom are just going to continue no matter what.. :(
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