Ask three conservatives and you'll get four different answers.
Jesus Christ: You can’t impeach Him and He ain’t gonna resign.
Posted on 05/28/2015 10:02:10 AM PDT by Kaslin
The problem is that to most self defined “conservative” politicians the word “conservative” is nothing more than an obligatory campaign slogan.
Webster’s definition is the correct definition of conservative as applicable world-wide. American conservatism is peculiar in that much of what we wish to conserve is actually classical liberalism — the American Founding being the quintessentially classical liberal event in all of history — free markets, free speech, freedom of religion,... all being seen by the Founders as part of a natural (and humanly beneficial) whole. European conservatism, by contrast, is often monarchist and supportive of a paternalistic state.
Incidentally this is the reason the American left hijacked the word “liberal” when the populace rejected anything labeled “socialist” or “progressive” — they want to seem (or even claim to themselves) to uphold the American Founding, which the American people as a conservative people, wish to conserve. In Australia the party that upholds the same ideals as American conservatism is called the Liberal Party (while the left-wing party is the Labor Party — yes, the Aussies also dropped the u from labour).
Incidentally, I want the word “liberal” back. The left can have “fascist” as a descriptor, since they actually have no regard for liberty and since history has proven communism to be a non-viable expression of the left’s totalitarian impulses, the left, world-wide, has a program essentially identical to that of Italian fascism — the state should control everything broadly, some aspects of life minutely, while enough of a semblance of a market economy remains that the rich can be coopted rather than looted or killed.
Good read, Calvin Coolidge a true conservative. I’ve bookmarked this thread.
Clearly, America needs now a visionary Constitutional statesman as its leader if ordered liberty is to be "conserved" for future generations.
Such a leader is not likely to come from the so-called "progressives" of the Left, nor from those currently labeled as "conservatives," who see no problem with using the coercive powers of government to legalize "taking" the hard-earned wages of the citizens' labor from some in order to fulfill their own version of "doing good."
Such a Constitutional leader would vow to hold fast to the principles of liberty stated so eloquently by the Author of our Declaration of Independence and President of the U. S., Thomas Jefferson, in his 1801 Inaugural Address--wherein Jefferson laid out what might be considered to be "qualifications" for the American presidency:
(Excerpt, "Our Ageless Constitution," p. xiv, reformatted)
"Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation;- entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them;
= enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man;
- acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter
—with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people?
- Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.
- This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
"About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you,
- it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations.
- Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political;
- peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none;
- the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies;
- the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad;
- a jealous care of the right of election by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided;
- absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism;
- a well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them;
- the supremacy of the civil over the military authority;
- economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened;
- the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith;
- encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid;
- the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason;
- freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected.
These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."
“The root of conservatism is not laissez-faire economic policies that create personal financial profit and power, but principles that value life-giving activities that improve societal welfare. “
That sounds to me like a big government, big enough to spread lots of welfare all around.
Not “personal,” but rather “societal.”
I submit loveliberty2’s post as best post of the month
Put another way, they do not define Conservatism for all peoples; put yet another, they do not define Conservatism for all who consider themselves Conservative even in the American context--there being many who simply abhor the alternative in our politics, even though they do not necessarily even understand the philosophy of the Founding Fathers.
And while I certainly consider Coolidge largely a Conservative; the writer has cluttered his analysis with an effort to define the concept too subjectively.
Why is this important? The point is not merely academic. It leads to misunderstanding of what motivates people in other lands who would be our natural allies, if we understood that what is Conservative to them may not be the same thing as that which we desire to preserve for America. Failing to appreciate this--or deliberately ignoring this, if you are a militant internationalist--has led our State Department on many a fallacious path over the past two generations.
Not according to the author, but you are entitled to your opinion and so so is she. :)
Sorry, after looking into that silly smirk, it was impossible to resist a bit of rhetoric.
Prager admired JFK for his stand on taxes and economics, and he also admired him for being a “Cold Warrior.” I once heard Prager call himself a “JFK liberal.” I like Dennis a lot and I consider him to be a conservative, but when he said that, it made me want to puke.
BTW, all too many folks on the Right believe that if JFK were alive today, he would be a Republican. Give me a break!
Doesn't it?
Ask three conservatives and you'll get four different answers.
Jesus Christ: You can’t impeach Him and He ain’t gonna resign.
I would suggest, however, that you substitute Nazi for Fascist as a better description of the modern faux "Liberal." While the Fascists were certainly totalitarian; they did not apply it as ruthlessly as did the German National Socialists--the latter being very close to the Bolsheviks in their extreme attack on individualism & the centralization of all power.
I don’t know about Hannity, O’Reilly, et al, but I know locally (in politics and talk radio) that those who are pro-dope, pro-abort, pro-same sex marriage, pro-amnesty were all Democrats in the Reagan era.
I ponder what was it that made them switch to Republicanism. Was it the presidency of GHW Bush? The Clinton presidency? Newt Gingrich? The GW Bush presidency? The Obama presidency?
They were fine with Carter and Teddy Kennedy. Just curious why they rebranded and and didn’t run the far left wing element out of their party?
That is not to say that one cannot argue among those who have similar priorities what is most consistent to their priorities--that is what they also should subjectively support. But the writer goes way beyond that and seeks to redefine the word itself.
We are all subjective in our opinions. That does not make us reasonable in seeking to arbitrarily impose that subjectivity on others.
The boss is right though
If you truly believe in, defend and support God, family and country you are conservative.
I’ve always described conservationism as a trinity:
A conservative is one who consistently and constantly strive to conserve The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. These three when kept safe, protected from harm, decay, loss or destruction will continually result in a Free Republic.
All of which are dependent upon “We The People” and frankly we the people are failing to conserve, we point fingers of blame towards individual political officials, towards political institutions and the press, but the bottom line is they are what they are because WE ALLOW THEM.
Sounds like also the making of a good wife...
I don’t think JFK would be a Republican if he were alive today, but if he were alive, and advocated the same policies, he wouldn’t be electable as a Democrat, that is for sure.
“BTW, all too many folks on the Right believe that if JFK were alive today, he would be a Republican. Give me a break!”
I think Rush and Hannity promote that idea. Another way to look at it is that people who think this would have been enthusiastic JFK Democrats.
Dennis is a conservative-friendly liberal. But he believes in the defining issue of 1960s liberalism, the civil rights legislation that ultimately has led to multiculturalism, mass third world immigration, minority preferences, the power of the government to compel businesses to hire according to race and gender, and at this point to force Americans to embrace gay marriage.
He can’t have it both ways. Americans used to have the freedom to act in ways that liberals hate. When you pass laws giving politicians the power to force Americans to obey the liberal paradigm you’re a liberal, if not a leftist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.