When you see a man wearing a flight suit with wings on his chest, you can safely assume he is a highly trained pilot. When you see paramedics sitting in an ambulance, again you can conclude that they have the skills and the right mind set to respond to anything an accident or emergency can throw at them. This is not surprising of course, people use these outward symbols and signs to identify different groups for what they are and what they represent. But in politics, it seems that people expect others to accept then for what they claim to be, just because they wear a name tag or badge, even though their behaviour and attitudes do not reflect the attributes of the banner they cling too. The worst offenders on this front are conservatives, or at least conservatives by name. How many times have we seen people run for office and yes even get elected under the blue ensign, without actually holding the core beliefs and principles of the conservatism they claim to adhere too? The answer is far far too often. What these people do, is to use the political flag of conservatism to get elected, then once in office, begin to behave just like the people they railed against while running for office, or while in opposition. This is opportunism of the worst kind. Speaking only for myself, I am getting tired of trying to excuse and yes even defend the indefensible. In my world, you are either a conservative or you are not. You cant be fiscally conservative, and socially progressive. That is like a baseball player wearing skates, or a curler using a goalie stick instead of a broom. To paraphrase a line from the move Oh brother where art thou You either is or you aint conservative. So that begs the question. How do you define what that means, and what makes you [ meaning me ] the arbiter of that definition? Second answer first. I lay no claim to that title. I have merely looked back over our history and studied the attitudes and beliefs of those who went before us and use that as my yardstick. Now to the point of contention. If I had to distill conservatism down to just three points, they would be these: a) Pro life. Conservatism respects all life, but places human life above all others. Any other arrangement leads to dysfunction. b) Pro traditional family. This is arguably the most contentious but important of the three points. Any society that is worth the name understands that the nuclear family is the single best model for raising a family and producing good solid well rounded young people to carry the torch of liberty forward. This is not to say that there is no room for other arrangements involving families, but it simply must be the standard to which we all aspire. c) Pro free market and capitalism. A conservative understands that the best way to safe guard the consumer/taxpayer/ family, is to let the free market operate with as few restrictions as possible. This is the bedrock of our economic system and the more interference by the state in the affairs of the private sector, the more in both financial and social costs get added to the backs of the citizens. There are other items one could add to this list, tax rates, smaller government and so on, but if a party or government keep these three things as the focal point for how they govern, then the rest of the issues will take care of themselves. So to come full circle, I am tired of those wanna be conservatives claiming to speak for me, using their podium to try and be just like the guy across the isle. To want to be seen as progressive as if that is supposed to be some kind of badge of honour. When in reality it is the source of a long list of ailments that afflict us on a daily basis. In short, I am sick to death of putting up with wolves in sheeps clothing. It is time to proclaim what conservatism is, what it takes to become one, and why those of us who live these principles daily are proud to do so.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 23:32:49 +0000
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