1. After my parents' generation fought to extend the reach of the American ideal of freedom and opportunity, how in the world would I not shake my head in disgust at the recent direction of our society?
2. Why would I not grow impatient with the promotion of a society that defines individual excellence down to the lowest common denominator? That rejects individual responsibility and accountability in favor of claims of victimhood at the hands of some "ism"?
3. Why wouldn't I reject out of hand government interference in my personal life or public policy that punishes hard work and creativity?
4. How could I not fight, and resist tooth and nail, against the increasing hosstility toward religious belief that seeks to break down the moral foundation laid in me as a child in order to forcefully transfer some relativist or amoral culture into my children?
a. It occurs to me that I may actually not be a conservative....more like an abandoned liberal who came home to find that his family moved and left no forwarding address.
5. Well, I wasn't an ideological orphan for long. I was in college during the Reagan years, In 1980, I voted for John Anderson, and Walter Mondale later. I told 'Ray Gun Ronnie' jokes, and railed against the 'doddering old man in the White House.'
6. But Reagan's vision struck a nerve: the dynamic conservatism that advocated American virtue and strength, and the belief that lower taxes and smaller government would unleash the productivity and creativity of the American people!
a. And more! Reagan communicated a unifying vision of what it means to be an American. And, the difference between conservatism and liberalism.
7. And what clinched it for me was the vitriol from the left, what had been my party for the eight years of the Reagan administration. The difference was clear.
8. Today's liberals believe that in the interest of fairness, it is government's duty to take from those who have more and give it to those who have less. Wealth, wisdom, and even righteousness, have been doled out unequally, and even though God did not make life fair, liberals believe that with a little tinkering on their part, they can create equality where none exists.
a. Conservatives understand, and accept that there is inherent inequality in life. Equality in our nation was only meant to be in how we are treated by the law. "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits." Seems Plutarch was a conservative.
9. Recently, Donna Brazile, former Al Gore campaign manager, explained here major difference with Republicans..."Government has a duty to take care of the least of these (the poor and the downtrodden)," she asserted. Does she believe that Republicans don't care about the poor and the afflicted? Yes. For liberals, conservatives aren't wrong...they are evil. The truth is we believe that government is inefficient for addressing the problems of the suffering. It is not through an expanding federal bureaucracy , but by limiting government, decreasing obstacles, and securing the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, thereby freeing citizens to reach whatever heights their talent and drive can carry them to.
10. My liberal friend, Karen, disagreed. "I think people have to be made to share more equitably. If we rely on the goodness of men's hearts to share wealth, wisdom, and bread, we will starve."
From "He Talk Like A White Boy," Joseph C. Phillips.
Didn't this experiment fail miserably in the Soviet Union?
2. Why would I not grow impatient with the promotion of a society that defines individual excellence down to the lowest common denominator? That rejects individual responsibility and accountability in favor of claims of victimhood at the hands of some "ism"?
3. Why wouldn't I reject out of hand government interference in my personal life or public policy that punishes hard work and creativity?
4. How could I not fight, and resist tooth and nail, against the increasing hosstility toward religious belief that seeks to break down the moral foundation laid in me as a child in order to forcefully transfer some relativist or amoral culture into my children?
a. It occurs to me that I may actually not be a conservative....more like an abandoned liberal who came home to find that his family moved and left no forwarding address.
5. Well, I wasn't an ideological orphan for long. I was in college during the Reagan years, In 1980, I voted for John Anderson, and Walter Mondale later. I told 'Ray Gun Ronnie' jokes, and railed against the 'doddering old man in the White House.'
6. But Reagan's vision struck a nerve: the dynamic conservatism that advocated American virtue and strength, and the belief that lower taxes and smaller government would unleash the productivity and creativity of the American people!
a. And more! Reagan communicated a unifying vision of what it means to be an American. And, the difference between conservatism and liberalism.
7. And what clinched it for me was the vitriol from the left, what had been my party for the eight years of the Reagan administration. The difference was clear.
8. Today's liberals believe that in the interest of fairness, it is government's duty to take from those who have more and give it to those who have less. Wealth, wisdom, and even righteousness, have been doled out unequally, and even though God did not make life fair, liberals believe that with a little tinkering on their part, they can create equality where none exists.
a. Conservatives understand, and accept that there is inherent inequality in life. Equality in our nation was only meant to be in how we are treated by the law. "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits." Seems Plutarch was a conservative.
9. Recently, Donna Brazile, former Al Gore campaign manager, explained here major difference with Republicans..."Government has a duty to take care of the least of these (the poor and the downtrodden)," she asserted. Does she believe that Republicans don't care about the poor and the afflicted? Yes. For liberals, conservatives aren't wrong...they are evil. The truth is we believe that government is inefficient for addressing the problems of the suffering. It is not through an expanding federal bureaucracy , but by limiting government, decreasing obstacles, and securing the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, thereby freeing citizens to reach whatever heights their talent and drive can carry them to.
10. My liberal friend, Karen, disagreed. "I think people have to be made to share more equitably. If we rely on the goodness of men's hearts to share wealth, wisdom, and bread, we will starve."
From "He Talk Like A White Boy," Joseph C. Phillips.
Didn't this experiment fail miserably in the Soviet Union?
