There seems to be a lot of misconceptions over the differences between Conservative and Republican. They are not the same thing. Republicans can be Conservative or not. Democrats can be Conservative or not. Conservatives can be pro choice or not. Conservatives can be for gun control, or not. Conservatives can be for or against gay marriage. These are social issues and much debate can and will be had about them. So then, what IS “Conservative?”
Conservative means wanting smaller less intrusive government: keep more of the money YOU earn; maximum freedom over your personal behavior.
Conservative means you take personal responsibility for your life so that you can pursue happiness as you see it. Just harm no one in your path. Therefore a person does not need to be legislated into wearing a motorcycle helmet or seatbelt. Conservative means that the government is removed from the role as parental figure Conservatives believe that individuals are capable of assessing risks and making decisions based on what they know, all the while taking responsibility for the outcomes of those decisions. Government leaves you alone to be a free thinker and to freely live!
Conservative means you understand that private sector businesses runs things more efficiently because they are accountable to shareholders and agencies run by the government are wasteful and inefficient because they are accountable to no one. After all, they can just steal more of your earnings to pay up for their shortcomings. Therefore, charity (read "entitlements) should be privately run and based on true need. We can take care of the less fortunate without government intervention. It means less government (agencies, regulatory bodies), tax-payer funded jobs because if everyone worked for the government then no one is left steal/suck money from to pay for itself. This would devalue the dollar further because the entire economy would be fabricated
Continuing along that path, conservative means allowing the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive, making it easier to start and maintain a business. It means keeping rules and regulations realistic and minimal. Free enterprise is a key to success. It means there is an understanding that private business enterprises are necessary to fund the government and grow the economy and prosperity of both individuals and the country. Businesses are free to operate at maximum efficiency to produce maximum return on investment dollars. Profits turn into more jobs and more prosperity for all involved. It is a self perpetuating win-win scenario. The desire to run efficiently and turn a profit is the fuel that fires innovation. Finding new creative, sometimes more highly technological ways to do things is the outcome.
Conservative means welcoming peoples from all over the world to come here and live and seek the American Dream. It means maintaining and securing our borders. It means upholding standards and making persons accountable for the nature by which they got here. So if someone is here illegally, they must go back to whatever country they came from and start over to do it the right way. It is unfortunate that other countries are so undesirable that their citizenry feel the need to escape. America America
The Tea (taxed enough already) Party movement is a Conservative one, not a Republican one. It is an organization that flushes out true Conservative candidates from all parties and holds them up into the light so that we can vote for them. That’s it.
For the record:
- I am pro choice. It is not the government’s, religion’s or anyone else’s business what a woman decides about whether or not to carry a pregnancy. It is the most intimately personal decision a woman can make. Let’s leave her alone with her thoughts, partner, conscience, God if she has one, and doctor to choose what is best for herself.
- I am pro 2nd Amendment. I believe in the right to keep and bear arms. Gun control does not and will never work. It keeps the guns in the hands of the criminals who don’t care about such laws and takes them away of citizens who abide by laws. The bad guys will ALWAYS have guns. Think about this: If there were 10 gun-related crimes in each state on any given day, that is 500 criminals breaking the law with a gun in hand. On that same day, there were over 400,000,000 guns held by law abiding American citizens that did no harm. So what’s the problem?
- I am for marriage equality for all. Please refer to my previous entry for a more comprehensive look at my stance on this matter.
- I am against helmet and adult seatbelt laws and all similar laws that attempt to protect me from myself. I can assess my own risks, make my own decisions and deal with the consequences of same.
- I am for profiling. If we have information about what terrorists look like, we should use it.
- I am against being treated like a criminal when I have committed no crime. Being searched to enter an amusement park or concert is an invasion of my privacy. Being searched, having my body scanned and/or patted down is an invasion of my privacy and is humiliating and demoralizing. Being video taped at a store, parking lot or traffic stop is wrong and invasive. I stand with Benjamin Franklin on this one, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of
- I am an atheist. There is absolutely no proof of the existence of any G-d. When there is, then I will revisit this issue. Until then, I will support to the death the right for all individuals to believe as they so choose. (I will also go to church when I wish because I DO believe in the goodness of people and in the power of love. I still love the community that is my church. I simply no longer hold the same beliefs.)
Being Conservative is neither immoral nor amoral. My political and social beliefs and ideals align most closely with the Libertarian Party. The more I learn about history and the historical, social and economic impact of more Liberal, Socialist and Communist policies, the more firmly I stand in my own convictions. I am a proud, enlightened, knowledgeable, moral Conservative.
I love you too, but there are to many blanket statements that you are not qualified to pnotificate about. "Democracy doesn't work" Many people feel differnetly including the French who invented it. the tea party is not a conservitive movement or a republican movement it is an igniorant moevment. The majoraty of people who call themselves Tea Partiers have less than 30% of their facts correct. Gun control does work, you clearly haven't read stats from other countries. ( and I hold a FOID card) Helmets improve a motorcycles abilty to drive by also protecting ears and adding to the ability to hear more clearly, meaning not running into a group of children etc. Seat bealts are NOT just for the driver...again the secure the driver giving them better ability to control a ton of steel. Since nearly anyone 16 and older can drive I want them to do their best. And although we share most views God is about faith not proof. you're missing the point on that one as well. You're very intelligent but like most of us...have a lot to learn. :-)
ReplyDeleteHow are u for profiling and against being treated like a criminal when u have committed no crime? Lucky u were born white and not terribly poor!!!
ReplyDeletewow
Response to "Anonymous:
ReplyDelete1) The French didn't invent democracy. It is of Greek origin at around 508 BC in Athens. That being said, whether or not direct democracy works is not a "feeling." Please provide historical evidence that one has survived. I can find none.
2) Please site your references for "the majority of people who call themselves Tea Partiers have less than 30% of their facts correct." It sounds completely fabricated and I have been unable to substantiate it.
3) My point about helmets and seatbelts had nothing to with their efficacy. My point is that personal behaviors should not be legislated. One who takes personal responsibility for their own safety would make the appropriate choices. But is up to the individual to choose NOT the government.
4) I have done extensive research on gun control and where it works to deter gun-related crime is under a tyrannical regimes that only allow police and the military to have weapons. There are many European countries with liberal gun laws that have low violent crime. Case in point is Switzerland where every adult is ISSUED an assault weapon and expected to know how to use it. The citizens are the army. Their politicians use significantly less security than our own. Also, I live in the USA and it has been shown over and over again, that tougher gun control laws result in a spike in violent and gun-related crimes. I will provide ATF figures if you would like. And liberal, especially conceal carry states have lower incidences of the same crimes.
5) Faith does not require believing in God. As I said in my post, I believe in the goodness of people and in the power of love. That is what I have faith in. I prefer to have faith in things that are real and not an imaginary friend.
6) I absolutely have a lot to learn and I do so every day. The more I know the more I know I don't know! :)
To Bryan Knight:
ReplyDeleteIf I was unlucky enough to be a member of a group that was perpetrating terror on another group or country, I would understand the need to use appropriate "intelligence" and would rationally know that this may occasionally affect me or others in my group. White has NOTHING to do with it.
Many good points here. Some of which I take a slightly different stance, but overall agree with.
ReplyDeletePro-Choice - I am very conflicted with this issue. As a man it is difficult for me to say or legislate what a woman can or should be able to do with her own body. But throw an entirely innocent human being into the mix and it becomes much more difficult. When weighing what a woman can do with her body against the right of another human being to exist, things get complicated.
Helmet/Seatbelt Laws - I'm generally for freedom to make ones own choices on what risks to assume here, but being in the insurance business I can tell you about the huge impact seatbelts and helmets have in mitigating injury. The additional injury inflicted to a victim not wearing a seatbelt or helmet unfortunately are not only borne by the victim. The person who may have been at least partially responsible for the accident may have to pay several thousand more than they would have if these safety devices were used. And if there is insufficient insurance to rehabilitate or take care of the victim, the rest of society in most cases bear that burden, not the one who made the personal choice not to protect themselves. If our system made the person who made the unfortunate choice not to be more responsible, I would have a different opinion, but personal responsibility in this country is greatly lacking.
I point out these minor differences in part to provoke thought and debate and to further Lori's remarks that not all conservatives think alike, but still maybe conservatives.