A conservative's view of compassion

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

This is what I and most conservatives that I know hold as the most important statement that Martin Luther King made in his speech. Why do we remember this one line? We remember because it is what see when we envision a color blind equal society. We remember in hope that we will someday live in a nation where we will one day be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. The only problem is that conservatives feel the statement should apply equally to all.

The democrats have said because of past injustices, some should be "segregated" and be judged more equal than others. The "more equal than others" tent seems to contain many goodies taken by force from the productive. Of course outside the tent is a Carney drawing in marks "Get your equal share here, come one come all. Get your government assistance, get your hate crime legislation, get your welfare checks, universal health care, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment, stay out of the bushes, come on inside. Come on in, vote for us and get your meal ticket punched at the same time. We'll make you "more equal than others" from your first breath to your last, all you got to do is vote democratic."

We conservatives agree that past injustices have occurred in American society. The conservatives ask "is there a definition or a judge that will determine when the injustice dues have been repaid"? 200 years from now will white American males still be flogged for slavery that hasn't occurred for 15 generations?

If democrats believe that some are held more equal than others, is it Republicans that are thwarting MLK's dream?

Republicans have had the race issue thrust into their face with the recent resignation of Trent Lott. While the resignation achieved the objective of some to be rid of an ineffective leader, it did nothing to stop the painting of the rest of the Republicans and southerners as racists. How does one answer the question "have you stopped beating your wife"? It has left the Republicans sputtering or speechless in their response. They have been unable to articulate a coherent response to the democrats charges.

Republicans are hard pressed for an answer because they have drifted from their belief that a limited, smaller, less intrusive government does more for freedom and prosperity than any government hand out could ever achieve. Regulations and tax laws that Republicans have allowed to metastasize over the years stifle the entrepreneurs and innovators that would create jobs if only they were allowed to.

Republicans are hard pressed for an answer because they have allowed our public schools and colleges watered down curriculum to churn out graduates barely fit to be workers, instead of leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs.

We all have a pretty good idea how we have gotten into the mess that we are in now. The mess that has started a third generation that seeks sustenance only from government. These dependents should not be held in contempt for this. It is what they have been taught. This is how you survive in a world gone crazy. These are the things you say to get more money. Mothers teach their young how to acquire food and survive by leading them to the social services offices. What a "Great Society" we have created.

How do we fix it?
1) We must break the cycle of dependence through education.

How? School vouchers to start with. There is no hope for many of our public schools until they have to compete in the free market for customers (Students).

Our schools seem to have forgotten that in order to learn, students must MASTER the English language. One has to wonder about the tremendous number of college students that must enroll in English and writing classes just to continue with their education. How did they graduate unable to write coherently?

Students must be taught mathematics until they "get it". Without a firm foundation of reading and writing and mathematics, there is really no point in continuing their education. The foundation must be there to continue to build.

Once the foundation is built the rest of the house can be finished. History balanced with different world wide perspectives starting from the beginning (contentious as THAT may be) up to present day. How does one design a history course without slant or propaganda? I can't answer that other than covering as many perspectives as possible including much study of the "dead white guys" that wrote our constitution and founded our nation.

Government should be studied intensively. How it impacts our lives, how much it costs, who pays the taxes and where the money goes. Local, State and Federal roles in government and their evolution. It should cover other types of government that exist in the world today. How free and prosperous are the people with various types of government? What is the definition of the various types of governments? What is a republic, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship, theocracy, where do they exist today?.

Economics must be taught. For some reason our educators seem to think this is "adult" material that only should be taught in college. Economics should be taught as early as possible in my opinion. Starting with budgeting, managing money, importance of savings, how to balance a checkbook, credit, pitfalls of credit, basic accounting.

I guess Home Economics was eliminated as being too sexist of a course. Too bad that no one knows much about buying food, preparing food, getting the most out of your food dollar.

Economic studies should also cover businesses. Looking at businesses that have thrived and prospered and those that have failed. With much attention to why they prospered and why they failed. Studies should cover the basics of starting a small business, growing a business and basics of managing a small business. If we want unthinking workers, continue on the present course. If we want entrepreneurs, start training them young.

We must teach them that
Profit is not evil
Providing for oneself and family is necessary for their survival and happiness
Actions have consequences
A = A and nothing else
If it sounds too good to be true, let someone else be the sucker & see what happens

This is by no means a comprehensive listing of courses or issues. Only those that I personally feel are essential to change the course of our failing educational system and failing social systems.

Starting a small business or engaging in commerce should not require several years of college instruction to navigate the rules and regulations and tax laws that currently stifle much innovation and potential commerce.

Taxes for all businesses should be able to be filled out on a postcard. Here is my profit, here is the 5% of the profit. Now leave me alone. Permits, licenses fees paid to conduct commerce should be done away with. A private company should accredit businesses or individuals to show that what they are selling is legitimate and that they indeed have the expertise that they claim. If harm comes from a transaction, customers or businesses can seek redress for their grievance through legal means. If the courts are a mess, private arbitration should be used.

In closing Republicans must come to terms with the dependants created by the failed Great Society experiment. They won't just disappear if we close our eyes long enough. We must break the dependency cycle of the current generation with education and encouragement. The older generations can be offered education, but we can not force them. It may be an expensive transition, but Republicans have only themselves to blame for tolerating and voting for the great society and affirmative action programs in the past to gain favor with voters.

We can't out spend the Democrats with new entitlements to buy votes from the dependants. We can't accept the "more equal than others" status quo that has settled into the consciousness of liberals and media today.

More freedom will equal more prosperity for more Americans, even those that were destined to be dependants.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

There are successful Americans and those that are not. What separates the successful from the unsuccessful? For the most part, motivated parents and the amount of education they have acquired.

Black Americans are reported to be largely in favor of school vouchers. Why? Because it is their children they see going down the drain in the current government schools.

If Republicans want to break the stranglehold that Democrats have on minority voting, they had better have something to offer other than handouts. If Dems are able to paint Republicans as cold hearted scrooges that only want to balance the budget on the backs of minorities, the Democrats will be wildly successful. They will continue to paint Republicans as racists.

One could argue that there is nothing in the constitution about providing education to any citizen. We should have thought of that before we went along with LBJ's great society. Which is the major cause of where we are today.

Republicans helped create the mess. Passing legislation allowing school vouchers or a full tax write off for educating our children will move us in the right direction, weaken Dems lock on minority voting, make our public schools either sink or swim.

Private education could allow minorities see that one path leads to $600 a month and medical care and the other path leads to whatever they can imagine.

I get the impression that many conservatives think that it will all just go away.

Maybe I have chased a rabbit down the wrong path. It wouldn't be the first time. I hate attempts by the government to "socially engineer" anything. Whatever it touches it seems to make things worse.

>>amount of education they have acquired.

Unquestionably true. For certain.

But the education they acquire, they acquire because they have adequate IQ and sufficient diligence to make use of it.

There is no evidence-none-that an educational "program", or schooling of a certain type, or requiring schooling, can remediate low IQ or repair insufficient diligence.

Let those who can acquire education, do so (they will, anyway). Leave the others alone.

I seem to remember reports of low income students taken out of failing traditional government schools and placed in privatly run schools. The students thrived.

All too often the students achieve only what is expected of them.

I'll have to look around more to find the success stories that I know are out there.

Of course there are success stories, as I well know-don't bother to look.

In every school where the average IQ is 85 there are a few trapped normals, and a rare genius. They would unquestionably benefit from being rescued and placed in an environment where they could learn .

But anecdotal reports of rare phenomena are no basis for public policy. What concerns me is the widespread faith that "education" is a commodity like "milk" or "vitamins", that all you have to do is feed it to those deficient in it and presto-the problems associated with low IQ in a technological society go away.

For this, there is no evidence. None whatsoever.

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