Bill Snowden's Blog

You don't have to be Conservative to have a conscience or to be a good American

You don't have to be Conservative to have a conscience or to be a good American: Common sense American's: liberal or conservative and even those in the middle, have access to the same moral conscience, to the same facts; we may reach very different but honest conclusions.  I reach mine ( Liberal) based on the principle of the "Social Contract" and the Magna Carta- History has lessons for those who don't need labels... i.e.: socialism,tea baggers etc.

 What are History's Lessons?  

 We just need a cosmic-big picture-sense of humor and an understanding of the basic social contract to see them. Simply: the peasants agreed to not rise and kill the kings, if the kings agreed to the end of feudalism and to allow ownership of land ( the Magna Carta- remember that document?). Translated to 2009 and t0 20th/21st century terms, that means: we ( those who have more) agree to give to those that have less, a certain safety net of social services,i.e.:unemployment, welfare,medicare, The VA, etc; they ( those who have less) agree to live with their economic lives subject to the whim of large business shipping their jobs overseas or robbing their life savings( enron),the new serfs- those that just live their lives, raise their families and depend on the larger economic fabric to treat them fairly; They Agree to not rise up and revolt and kill everyone who has more than them. Thats the social contract..

America is  a republic based on certain balances.

If we don't get that, then we are a poor students of history and the socialogical lessons of the industrial revolution up to todays economies. Our social net or socialism as the birthers/teabaggers like to call it- communism, as the more ignorant call it- this balancing act of haves and have nots has been going on since the 1200's...Conservatives mix capitalism and free markets and usually understand neither. Free markets are not free, not when the haves can control it or manipulate it -remember the railroad monopolies of the 1800's, child labor, slavery, etc?  All of those  greed based motives affected the so called free market- what morality is inherient in that kind of capitalism? None- There's nothing democratic about that form of thug capitalism and free markets aren't free when those conditions exist- The social contract as exercised in our constitutional government causes the peoples representatives to make laws that prohibit those motives from conrtolling the free market.  

Morality must govern our treatment of others economically-

 It goes way beyond providing just opportunity. as for myself, I've started and run businesses for 30 years, developed real estate for over 25 years, I've experienced the best and the worst of our markets and capitalism, I've been elected to and served on over a dozen boards and committees in my community. The admonition by conservatives that liberals don't realize what an immigrant trying to get into America does, falls flat. I realize this; there are no easy glenn beck/rush/hannity cliches that honestly describe our social safety net and what they call 'socialism' is nothing more than the amount of balance it takes to keep the have nots from tearing your throats out. AIG, Enron, oil traders last year($150bl oil), they all appreciated republuican Senator phil gramms removal of decades long controls on how much oil could be traded, then Gramm( with the help of democrats as well) removed regulations on banks and mortgages- opportunity? yes, for the greedy. When I state that morality is the basis of our democracy, I mean it- it's about what's right. Not what can we get away with, it's about not ignoring the consequences of our economic actions( Enron, ect) on working families,consumers and investors. Does America provide Opportunity? Yes, the opportunity to do the fair, the reasonable and the morally right thing? It takes a conscience to be a good American, not a conservative.