My Case for Conservatism

To those of you who will indulge in the following, please know that I am not an advocate of John McCain, but you will soon see that I am conservative and have written this in an effort to further the merits of conservatism. I recognize that somehow conservatism has become an unpopular message, and I’d like to do my part to revitalize it. The following thoughts were retrieved from the deep, dark recesses of the pink matter between my own two ears, so if you disagree, please feel free to discuss your point of view with me. I will listen and be respectful as long as you assert your opinions without any of the trite rhetoric from the campaign trail. Let me know what you believe is right or wrong.

If anyone out there can convince me that Obama is not purveying a socialistic agenda, then I will gladly vote for him. If you cannot convince me otherwise, and you still support his proposals that are designed to empower the government to redistribute wealth, then please give me three specific examples of successful socialist governments, and I will easily rebut with three embarrassingly clear examples of such states that failed: Stalin's Russia, Hitler's Third Reich, and Castro's communist Cuba (the list goes on). Would any of you who proudly wave the flag of support for Obama trade your current life style for a domicile in one of those nations? Would you trade the current health care system for a socialized one where patients are forced to wait patiently for necessary medical procedures with wait times that can surpass a year? I proudly declare that it is the very capitalist, small government system, decried and besmirched by left leaning ideologues, that has given the citizens of this nation the freedoms they currently enjoy but are, in some measure, in danger of losing. Please, show me one example of any other government entity that can take responsibility and credit for lifting its citizens to the heights of individual fiscal prosperity and happiness. Show me one that at least permits its people the hope and possibility of true financial independence. Show me one that created numerous, prosperous jobs for its people.

The time has indeed come for the poor and lower classes of this nation to be reclaimed from the crutches and clutches of the big government advocates currently and previously in power. But the problem is that leftist politicians need the poor to stay poor, for a significant portion of their voting base is comprised of such. It is the system of big government and bleeding heart liberalism that engenders and furthers the dependence of the lower classes of this nation on the government. Their message does more, in the name of equality and fairness, to cripple the human spirit than it does to elicit its best. Their message of “tax credits” and stimulus packages is designed to deceive and buy those lower income votes. What would these politicians, Democratic or otherwise, do in the absence of those currently waiting on their hollow assistance? With their craft destroyed and their dependent base depleted, they would have nothing to do. They would lose the power they crave, the power for which they lust, and certainly they are loath to permit such an outcome. The framers of our nation designed its constitution to empower the people, not the government, but it is Obama’s explicitly stated desire to switch things around.

However, it is conservatism that invites everyone everywhere to shed the shackles of financial and moral poverty. It pushes the poor to be poor no more by extolling the virtues and merits of personal accountability and responsibility. It would not spare us from the consequences of personal failure and mishap nor would it deny us the crucial life lessons to be learned thereby. It urges us to look inward and to each other for the help we need to surmount life’s hardships, not to a government program. Conservatism still champions the American dream, the same dream by which Barack Obama went from humble beginnings to a successful life autonomous of any government organization. Unfortunately it is not Barack Obama but rather the principles of conservatism and capitalism that guarantee the possibility of a similar outcome for you and me. Sure, he can do it on his own, but his message is that you and I need him in order to have a “fighting chance.”

And it is conservatism that pushes us to rid ourselves of the chains associated with victimization. It inspires us to let go of circumstances beyond our control and to exercise dominion over the things we can control. It does not seek to pin the blame of personal failure on anyone else but the person who has failed; however, it still offers the promise of future triumphs that are independent of past follies.

When it comes to the sharing of wealth, conservatism abhors a system where charity is coerced by legislatively mandated taxation, but it inspires, encourages, and entices the individual to give selflessly. It wouldn’t rob us of the benefits of freely choosing to be charitable. It counsels those who have profited from charitable assistance to in turn give charitably to those still in need.

Furthermore, it is conservatism that begs us to live within our means and to stay out of debt, thus avoiding the pitfalls that produce nationwide recession and depression. It discourages the kind of pride that teaches us to hate those with more than us. Is it right to take points from the valedictorian’s hard earned 4.0 and give those points to the student who chose not to work as hard? No. But it is right to lift this nation’s lower wage earners by encouraging them to work and to strive for more, to aspire to improve their own situations, to help lift those around them. I do not deny the fact that many in this nation have enjoyed greater privilege than many others; however, the choice is equally shared by everyone to work hard, and the promise and opportunity of success are also equally shared by all. Conservatism asks us not to pray for rescue from difficulty but for the courage and strength to overcome it.

Conservatism would allow us all opportunities to make more on our own; it would not coerce parity through the exorbitant taxation of the corporations and higher bracket earners who already shoulder the vast majority of this nation’s tax burden.

This election cycle, though I will vote for John McCain, my vote is more against Barack Obama than it is for John McCain. I am voting to at least keep the opportunity for these conservative principles to stay alive. I only wish I had a candidate that truly espoused them.