Government can’t
do anything for you except in proportion as it can do something to you.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
As
a teacher and one who comes from a predominantly Democratically-controlled
state, the descendent of Jewish immigrants and union workers, it might seem odd
that I call myself a conservative. Some
might go so far as to say it is down-right miraculous. However, as I grew up, perhaps as a condition
of my contrarianism, I saw the things around me and grew suspect of their
validity and effectiveness. I heard the
rhetoric but did not see the results. I
heard the passion but missed the certainty and self-assuredness. It was once said that religious faith does
not come from wisdom but from personal experience. For me, political awareness and conviction
materialized in much the same way.
For
me, conservatism is a belief that does not belittle others but believes in the
inherent worth and ability of the individual.
For example, fiscal conservatism suggests that every person has the
chance to rise as high, economically, as they want and the U.S. created a
system that allows people to do just that.
For nearly 300 years, people have flocked to what was to be and what is
the United States in search for a better life.
It does not matter a man’s race, country of origin or previous
experiences, in the U.S. a man has the chance to stand on his own merit. Liberals, in order to maintain their own
power structure, assumes a perpetual disadvantage of racial, economic or religious
proportions. The policies with which liberals
do not agree are framed as a slight or as particularly injurious to minorities
(the recent voter identification requirements an example).
The
belief in the individual also discounts the notion of the conservative as a
racist, as often suggested by liberals – usually mentioned in arguments over
entitlements. A true conservative feels
that it is better to teach a person to take of themselves than to use the
government as a means of filling that role.
Many liberals see the extent of their concern as directly proportional
to how much they are willing to take care of others. Within their arguments, they use terms like “the
disadvantaged” or “the unfortunate” and in the process, they adopt a
paternalistic attitude that, to a conservative, is demeaning and strips them of
their humanity. Over the last eighty
years, liberals have suggested that their policies and attitudes are designed
to help but poverty has not receded. In
fact, in the last forty or fifty years, it seems to have worsened. However, there is no reflection upon these
policies and liberal calls for endless government spending that has nothing to
show for the expense. If one assumes
that a person is in need of government help because of a minority status, is
that not the real racist?
Therefore,
my belief in the individual also negates the need for an overpowering and
all-encompassing government. Our
Founding Fathers had an inherent distrust of government and the ability of
someone to rule from afar. President Ronald
Reagan said, “The ten most dangerous words in the English language are “Hi, I’m
from the government and I’m here to help.”
As a conservative (and a historian), I realize that the government has
never managed or operated anything that private hands could not do better and
more efficiently. When the government
makes the assumption of its own legitimacy and superiority over its own people,
where does that leave the average American?
The overwhelming trust that some have in the government has an inverse
relationship with the lack of trust they have in people.
In
“cool” circles, there are no advantages to being a conservative. Conservatives are roundly described as
racists, hayseeds, uneducated and cruel.
Democrats declare that our policies are out to kill grandmothers and
that we hate or cannot stand minorities, little children, down-on-their-luck
single mothers and we probably kick puppies too. Yet, in the condemnation, they show the
madness of their declarations of tolerance and caring. William F. Buckley, noted conservative
thinker, once said, “Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing
other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other
points of view.” As a conservative, I
see the individual capable of more and I have greater belief in the
individual. At its core, that is why I’m
a conservative.
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