What Color is the Conservative Flag?

We thought this to be an interesting post with some interesting comments, and thank those who have written for their participation. We are leaving it on top for a couple of more days, so please not only read and respond, but keep scrolling for new material!

Truth-Pain:

Lately, we have been talking about certain tenets or beliefs dealing with government and civics that all factions and wings of conservatives can rally around. So what are those things? What are these pillars of conservatism that we all agree upon, regardless of where we are in the ideology spectrum?

I took this question to the esteemed members of this Blog. Each of us have our own Blogs, our own life-experiences that have influenced how we view conservatism; I can safely say we each have a particular view within the conservative tent that appeals to us more than others.

I chose four as the number. Four is an architectural commoner for me, as it implies symmetry, cohesion and basic support; pillars of foundation for lack of a better visual. I think we as believers of a conservative philosophies can express at least four items to imprint into a universal conservative platform. At the very least, its a good start.

I volunteer to step on the Elephant dung first. My choices, not in any way prioritized, are as follows:

* Smaller Government: Can there be a bigger Elephant (pardon the pun) in the room? If this is not the one banner to unite us, then we cannot be united. But what is small? Size of bureaucracy or size of budget? I will keep it simple just to get to my next one. I will pick budget. I recommend a Constitutional amendment that will limit federal spending to no more than 15% of GDP (excepting bona fide national emergencies). That's a full 5% more than God himself demands from his flock. I'm being generous.

* Non-foreign intervention: This is a sticky one, but I am not saying cutting the military unnecessarily. I am saying, eliminate wasteful weapons systems that will NEVER come to production, stop being the world cops for every little event that happens and calling for an end to being protectors of the European Union. We send the Marines abroad only when there is indisputable proof and blatant evidence that by not conducting pre-emptive action that it would cause grave and imminent harm to the United States. Liberating countries and spreading freedom through military means is a liberal bastion of thought. Where the hell it got into the conservative platform is beyond me.

* Free-but-equal trade: This is not a sexy choice, but I think there is no larger item that directly affects the economic model of a conservative country. We tear up every single NAFTA, CAFTA, CRAP-TA agreement we have and make new agreements with everybody. You subsidize your industry? so do we. You have cheap labor, sorry, our consumer goods have to rise a bit but we don't bleed our jobs overseas for the sake of 10% savings on our I-pods. I am simplifying of course, but you clearly see where my sails are blowing here. This goes somewhat cross-grain to my open market belief, but like all things, none can live in a vacuum.

* We celebrate conservation of the land: What? you say... are you talking environment? Isn't that a liberal stronghold? Yes it is! and I don't know why! Look, I am not for taking over large swaths of land by Fiat the way Teddy Roosevelt did, but the Genie is out of the bottle on that. Conservatives let liberals steal this prime item by using the land when convenient (oil, gas, lumber and coal industries) but looking the other way at clean water issues, air quality, and keeping our lips shut when the Exxon Valdez went "ooops" up in Alaska. Conservatives should conserve! Conservatism moves slowly and methodically towards change. That is natural to us. Who says we have to be business developers 100% of the time? Can we at least get a dialogue here?

OK, who is next?

JENNIFER:

Okay, I guess it's my turn. I'll stick with the theme and do my four most important conservative principles. Not in any particular order I will now type who is safe.......oh sorry, I've been watching too much Dancing With The Stars.....

* Small Government - I agree 100% with T-P on this subject, although I will take it a step further and say both bureaucracy and budget. I want the government involved in social issues, health care, education, etc. as little as humanly possible. Let me decide what is right for me and my family, not some out of touch with reality politician. When we put politicians in charge we are basically saying that they are more honest and capable of making decisions and nothing could be further from the truth. Stop the irresponsible spending, especially on bailouts that they have no business interfering with, in the first place.

*Preserving the Constitution - The Constitution of the United States is the cornerstone of our American government. Our forefathers developed the Constitution to set limitations on what government is allowed to do and establish our freedom. It has done so quite effectively for over 200 years and they would be appalled if they could see how liberalism is chipping away at it's fundamental principles.

*Individual Freedom and Empowerment - There is power in knowing that it is up to us to determine how we live our lives. It is our duty and responsibility to protect and defend individual's freedom and rights granted to us by the Constitution. Individual Freedom has empowered people throughout the years and they have accomplished many great things because of it. We want to be free, to choose our own destiny, to make our own choices and to have the power over our own mind, body, lives, and soul.

*States Rights - We desperately need to give the power and responsibility back to the states, especially in regards to education. All states are different and need to be treated as such. One policy that might make a lot of sense in Alaska, might not work so well in New York. We need to remember that the government did not create the states, the states created the government. Too many have forgotten that important fact! One size fits all may be great for sweatshirts but in government it just doesn't work. The Tenth Amendment states.......

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

ROBERT:

Since I haven't yet been voted off the island here at CC, I will press on and add what four items on which I believe the conservative philosophy should rest. This is easier for me since T-P and Jenn have already served as guinea pigs.

* Respect for the original intent of the framers of the Constitution. Distinctly different from strict constructionism, originalism is the theory of interpretation that relies upon the framer's intent. The articles within the Constitution are both broadly written and narrowly defined. The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial does not specify the definition of speedy, but the Sixth Amendment does specifically guarantee the right to counsel for a trial.

It is important that the intent of the founders be respected if the document is to remain viable. Adding new rights and eliminating old ones are not within the purview of courts. The courts were constructed so that the Constitution would be applied to federal and state decisions, not to be the creator of phantom law.

* Respect for states rights. Jenn covered this one, but as usual we are of like mind. I need not discuss the concept here, as it is evident in the text of the Constitution that the federal government was to be limited to specific areas of concern, and the other areas left to the individual or to the states. A prime example of the intrusiveness of the government into state affairs is the condition of education in this country. The Constitution does not give the fed the responsibility of educating children, therefore the education standards should be written and enforced at the state level. It is how citizens can actually control the outcome of the affairs of the states, as local control is far more effective and responsive to citizen desires and concerns.

* Capitalism. In his first inaugural address in 1801, Thomas Jefferson said "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."

I am not sure anything else need be said.

* Strength and Integrity of the nation. Alexis de Tocqueville stated "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

America's integrity is in question. Not because of the war in Iraq, and not because we seek to eradicate those who would attack us. It begins at home, where about 1 in 5 people have a healthy disrespect for the very legislative body that rules with an iron fist so many aspects of our lives. Our government, as individuals, acts selfishly with only the thought of today. How can the decisions of our federal government around the world be respected when her own citizens do not have confidence in the very people for whom they vote?

Conservatives must define the role of the United States in the world, for the reality is that as America goes, so does the world. It can be seen in this current economic downturn which is affecting the entire world population. The economic situation didn't start in North Korea or Somalia or the United Kingdom. It began in America because of irresponsible lending practices by banks that were not regulated by government. It is our own domestic actions that cause doubt and lack of confidence in America.

There you have it, short and to the point. Will they let me stay here another week?

Craig

What am I trying to conserve? When I look at the world, even the history of the world, what we have in America is unprecedented and unique. Imagine going to a room at a convention center in any city in America and sitting with 2 or 3 dozen other people and its up to you to form a new nation. You have just come through a period of abuse and oppression at the hands of a monarch. Older relatives have told you stories of how they fled their homeland because of religious persecution. Some of the people in the room with you own other human beings and treat them as chattel. What are your priorities, what do you insist upon, what points do yield and what informs your decisions?

Imagine being able to access the words and thoughts of people throughout history through youtube videos. You could watch History Channel depictions of past civilizations and determine what worked and what didn't work. If you had the works of great philosophers and thinkers who had studied these questions long before you, what would you find? What would be your priority? The absolute essence of who we are as Americans, what draws the rest of the world's citizens to our shores, legally, illegally, by stowing away on a ship, by milk cartons and inner tubes tied together with shoe laces launched into shark infested waters, by H1 visas and through asylum, by charter or military transport, by hook or crook is freedom from the tyranny of government. Whether it is the stifling tyranny of Eurosocialist regulatory and entitlement schemes or the dictatorship of a Zimbabwean thug, their people want to come here. Whether it is the oppression and corruption of the ejido system or laws in Mexico that don't permit dark skinned Indians to migrate to the cities or a People's Republic that can't feed its people in Asia, they want to come here. But why?

It is rumored that Thomas Jefferson was unhappy with a couple of the revisions to his original writing of the Declaration of Independence. Principle among the changes he objected to was changing the wording of that famous phrase "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Hapiness." It is rumored that he originally wrote what he took from John Locke's Two Treatises of Government, Life, liberty and the pursuit of property. Jefferson understood and believed what Locke wrote. He knew that the key to freedom is the ability to own and dispose of property as you see fit (property and contract rights). Jefferson hung around long enough to eventually become president, of course, but also to participate in the Constitutional convention. In the 5th and 14th Amendments, you will find in the due process clauses of those amendments the phrase, life, liberty or property.

Property rights secure our freedoms (religion, speech, right to bear arms, assembly, etc,) and protects us from the tyranny of government. As it turns out, it is also the key to our prosperity and anywhere you find prosperity in the world, you will find either tyranny or property rights and since there can be only so many tyrants, to me the essence of classical liberalism, conservatism, what I want to conserve, is free exchange secured by property rights. The strongest critique of John Locke was by Karl Marx who in his Communist Manifesto said "the theory of communists may be summed up in a single sentence: Abolition of private property." How does one "spread the wealth?" Through the abolition of private property.

What is Conservatism?

Before we get too involved in discussions about what has happened to conservatism and how we can change it, I feel we need to define it. Defining conservatism is very difficult because it is not just a simple belief. It is a set of principles and ideals that make up our vision for the future or America. The most accurate definition I found at Answers.com......

1. A political philosophy or attitude emphasizing respect for traditional institutions, distrust of government activism, and opposition to sudden change in the established order.
2. The inclination, especially in politics, to maintain the existing or traditional order.

For way too long, conservatism has been associated with resistance to change, and an opposition to progress, when in reality, it is nothing like that. When I think about conservatism in the United States, three words come to mind, freedom, tradition, and personal responsibility. Ronald Reagan epitomized what it meant to be a conservative. The GOP has to return to the conservative principles and ideals that haven't been seen since.

"The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated." Ronald Reagan

We want smaller government. Our goal is to give the power back to the states, community and the individual, where it belongs. By looking at our past, we see that we have been the most successful when we have made the individual accountable and given them the power to decide their own fate. We love freedom and liberty and are thankful for those that fought to protect it. The least we can do is preserve it for our generation and those to come. There are a great deal of responsibilities that come with freedom. When we delegate them to the government we are basically saying that politicians are more capable and honest than we are and there is nothing further from the truth.

"The preamble to the Constitution states: "We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare..."

In that statement it does not say that we should give the government the right to decide how that it is accomplished. Government does not produce the wealth nor should it decide how it is spent. One of the biggest issues I had with Obama's policies is the Distributing the wealth. If the government takes from the wealthy they will be less inclined to produce it. If you then distribute it to the poor freely, they become less inclined to work for it. That is not beneficial to anyone. Personal responsibility becomes null and void. I am not willing to sacrifice the right of the individual and in doing so increasing the power of the government. We need to get back to the basics laid out in the Constitution, promoting free will, and personal responsibility. We feel a sense of duty to those before us and a deep respect for the history of this country. We feel that our rights are given from God and not the government.

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States when men were free." Ronald Reagan

We realize tradition is what makes this country so special and unique. It is what sets us apart from other countries. To destroy that, is to change who we are and what has made us so great. Ronald Reagan once said "if we forget what we did, we won't know who we are"

Conservatism will never succeed on a national level if it isn't fought for on a personal level. It is different for each individual and there are many different varieties, (ex Social, Fiscal, Libertarian, Compassionate.) but they all need to be fought for by us as individuals.

On a personal level, I feel that a family is responsible for raising children, not the schools. I believe that there is a fundamental right to life, not just when it is convenient. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I believe that if I make the money I should decide where it is spent. I believe that our flag is a symbol of our liberty and should be cherished and respected. I am against illegal immigration, if you come to the land of freedom do it legally. I believe that I have every right to own a gun, period! I believe that everyone is created equal and there is no need for Affirmative Action. Being American is a blessing and I resent those that come here and want to turn it into another country. Regardless of what you think about my personal beliefs, conservatism is the common ground we all share and what brings us together as fellow Americans, and partners in our fight to bring back the principles and ideals, that are slowly being chipped away.

I invite you all to share what conservatism means to you. Together we will fight, to preserve the history, integrity and traditions of America and bring back the nation she once was.

"The root of conservatism lies in the second greatest commandment: "...'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matt. 22:39 NIV) and in the Golden Rule, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31 NIV)"

ACU statement of principles listed here.

Another great site is the Conservative Movement.