Conservative's Conscience

Urban Legends and the Harm They Do

Everything you always wanted to know about the Constitution but were afraid to ask

Mikhail Gorbachev, a dedicated communist, once said (paraphrased): We both seek freedom.  You (the U.S.A.) provide freedom to choose; we provide freedom from want. 

There, in a nutshell, you have the lure of communism: It comforts those who doubt their ability to survive in a free market economy; it offers instead the warm and comfortable teat of a "caring" government.     

Until 1916, America chose liberty; ever since, it has been tilting toward security; in the 1960s, the tilt became a sharp slope.   

Urban Legend #1 - Regarding the Constitution as a "living document" has had beneficial results.

The Constitution was regarded, until 1912, as the best exposition of the road to freedom ever composed.  So unique and hope-filled was it that some felt it was inspired by a higher power who guided a unique group of motivated men to agree that, whatever their differences and preferences, freedom was the highest value -- and, come what may, they would have it and pass it on.  They succeeded -- for a time.

Then came progressivism, which today we call liberalism, represented first by Theodore Roosevelt (a Republican who became progressivism's first champion when he failed to win the nomination of his party), and was then lifted to the status of a dominant ideology in 1916 under Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat who warmly embraced its central tenets).

It was during those dark days that the Constitution became a "living document," gleefully interpreted as such by a line of liberal presidents, especially Wilson, FDR and Johnson, and the judges that they and others appointed. 

"Freedomism" and progressivism have one thing in common: They both see before them the consequences of an imperfect system of government.  Their distinct difference is this:

• The former seeks solutions through the states and the people, and it fundamentally believes that federal power to act has been properly and specifically limited by the language of the Constitution.  It seeks constant improvement, not perfection.
• The latter seeks solutions through government action, and it fundamentally believes the restrictive language in the Constitution needs to be interpreted in the light of modern needs, as determined by those who have executive and judicial responsibilities.  It seeks the perfect society.       

Some believe these differences to be legalistic and of no consequence to the average man.  Not true.  Walking away from the form of government established by the Founders, and its realistic objectives -- the trend for almost a century -- has had dire consequences with universal impact. 

Government is bigger and more intrusive; taxes are higher, debt is unbelievably large and, most important, freedom is less.  As the caring government has grown, poverty has persisted, education is inferior, national unity has disappeared and national defense is weaker. 

America in 2009, after a half-century of government intrusion, faces a fragmented society, an unstable economy, a Godless future and devaluation of the dollar, which could destroy the buying power of the accumulated savings of those it said it would assist. 

The Founders provided a Constitution grounded in cement, that could be changed only after a laborious process of state and national review was completed.  Their successors, who have avoided that process, turned it into legalistic mush subject to interpretation by the next imaginative politician, lawyer or judge with a "worthy" cause.   

Urban Legend #2 - The Federal Government Can Efficiently Manage A Nationalized Health Care System

 FDR and Truman opened the constitutional door for the creation of the Welfare State.  Lyndon Johnson drove a truck through it.

John Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson took office in 1961 -- this was the beginning of the new Welfare State.  Federal revenue in 1960 was $92 billion; in 2008, $2.5 trillion -- twenty-seven times higher.  The cost of Human Resources (the Welfare State) in 1960 was $26 billion; in 2008, $1.8 trillion -- 69 times higher.    

There, in a nutshell, you have the primary reason for the choking level of national debt and the threat to the value of the dollar, and your savings. 

Your government did that to you.  It knowingly collected and spent your money in this way.  The debt is not a mistake.  It was created by elected officials who are doing more of the same today.  It was not primarily caused by the costs of wars and recessions; it was primarily caused by selfish politicians who bought your votes with federal gifts, and by voters who returned the same people to office, and are still doing so.

Every major program that currently sustains many Americans is in jeopardy because of excessive spending. 

Based on its own record, the federal government cannot manage a national health care system efficiently and, beyond that, it should remove itself and its corrosive influence from other social programs with all possible speed.

Urban Myth #3 - Conservative and Republican are Synonymous Terms

 Republicans are political activists who seek power because they share a common view of how the nation should be governed.  Some, not all, republicans are conservatives. 

Conservatives band together because they share a world view about man, who he is, where he came from and how he should be treated by government and everybody else.

Most, not all, conservatives are, politically, republicans because that party, of the two major parties, comes closest to sharing their views.  Many conservatives are moderates; some are democrats.

According to a recent Gallup poll (Oct. 27, 2009), Americans view themselves as follows: conservative - forty percent; moderate - thirty-eight percent; liberal - twenty percent  (Washington and the communications industries are dominated by the minority group --  liberals).     

As a general statement, conservatives are constitutional originalists -- they respect the creation of the Founders.  Some, not all, Republicans share that view.

Republicans seldom criticize a Republican president -- mavericks like John McCain, are the exception.  Conservatives criticize any president, dependent on his actions.  It was conservatives, for example, who turned the tide on President Bush's attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens.

"Ideas Have Consequences," said Richard Weaver in 1948, and his comment has the same eternal verity as the language of the Constitution. 

You will and you have acted as you've believed.  Verify carefully the truths you embrace and the labels you use, for they will define you over time.