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Why I am not a Conservative
People
often assume that I am a conservative.
Why?
Because my writings focus on western ideals, personal
values, universal principles and responsibility. For some reason, conservatives
think they own these topics—along with patriotism and belief in God.
What they don't realize is that my beliefs were not born from that dark
corner of extremism, nor do they reflect those two-dimensional views.
In truth, I find their take on values trite and demeaning of human nature.
This includes the tiresome rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity,
Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, and all the
conservative propagandists who make a living bad-mouthing free thought,
compassion and civility. If hatred and paranoia were illegal drugs, these
rabble-rousers would be prosecuted as pushers.
I am not a liberal as conservatives define them
(or shall I say malign them). Conservatives need an enemy to blame and
hate, a progressive cause to oppose, no matter how legitimate, or they
really have nothing to say. This is central to their existence. We've
seen similar dynamics in modern times whenever a dictatorship attempts
a coup, maligning some race, religion or ideology in the name of some
fake nationalistic cause. In the United States, conservatives have done
this to liberalism, despite the fact that our nation was built on liberal
principles-liberal, as in liberty.
There was nothing conservative about the founding
of this nation. Conservatives at the time, like now, resisted change.
They wanted to remain subjects of England. The Age of Enlightenment ideals
that Jefferson, Adams and Madison propounded were considered radical,
untried, too secular and risky. Equality and popular rule contradicted
the familar safeguards of aristocratic control.
The product that our founders created, for which
we were then recognized throughout the world, was called a "liberal
democracy."
Conservatives who know this contend that modern
liberalism is different from liberalism back then. This is true to an
extent. It has evolved. It has risen to the challenges posed by the Great
Depression, which called for government regulations of the economy and
intervention for the poor. This was a good thing, resulting in unprecedented
prosperity and progress. Conservatives disagree. They criticize the New
Deal and government regulations, not with relevant fact, but with angry
denunciations. Never do they say how the United States might have better
responded. For all their talk, there would have been no defense of capitalism
at all, no help for the poor, who were in the majority back then. If they
had their way, the nation would have collapsed and paved the road to communism.
But then, they were against communism too.
Although conservatives talk a good game, one thing
is for certain, the ideals they represent are not the same as our founders.
The American experiment was based on free thought, tolerance, equality,
separation of church and state, and a respect for science, as Thomas Jefferson
and Benjamin Franklin amply personified.
What does modern conservatism represent? Thought
restricted to the party line, intolerance, the inequality of social Darwinism,
the merging of fundamentalist Christianity and government, and the replacement
of science with biblical mythology.
Conservative rhetoric may be exciting, and may
appeal to one's inner demons, but it leads nowhere. It is regressive,
pointing back to some idealistic time that never existed, that would be
completely anachronistic today.
History shows us that conservatism is habitually
on the wrong side of the issues. In my own lifetime it fought against
civil rights, women's equality, Social Security, protection of the environment,
energy independence, much needed regulation of the stock market, the United
Nations, universal medical coverage, a woman's right to reproductive choice,
homosexuality, minimum wage-the list goes on. They demean every liberal
attempt to build a more perfect union, and then, when those ideas finally
succeed, they grudgingly accept them. Today's Republican platform has
turned completely around on such issues as regulating the stock market,
civil rights, and energy independence. With Sarah Palin, they even go
so far as to embrace a type of feminism. But their commitment rings hollow
to those of us who remember their long-standing oppositions, which was
not so long ago. These ideas remain too progressive for conservatives
to effectively deal with.
Conservatism owes its incredible success at duping
the American people to certain powerful influences. First and foremost,
it is unquestionably supported by wealthy businesspeople who see liberalism
and equality as a threat to their bloated profits. For instance, they
would rather see people take the very great risk of investing in their
companies rather than protecting their retirement income through Social
Security. They would rather see people medically uninsured, as long as
pharmaceutical and private insurance companies can make obscene profits
on disease and ill fortune. These companies, and others like them, know
that conservative representatives will almost always place the good of
big business ahead of the little people.
Think tanks. It takes a lot of thought, skill
and strategy to make people believe that conservative ideals are beneficial
and all-American-which they are not. To accomplish this, conservatives
dare not face an honest debate of the issues. They know that their shallow
ideals are questionable at best. To accomplish this mass transformation
of facts and public opinion, they instituted well-financed think tanks,
where devious minds work closely together to bend every fact, distort
every good deed, and redefine the issues to their advantage. That liberals
have held onto half the nation in light of this invasion of mass propaganda
speaks well for their efforts.
Consider how, in just a few short decades, conservatives
have decreased the balance of power in Washington that our founders so
carefully designed. They have elevated the power of the executive branch,
weakened the relevance of Congress (which most represents the people),
and attacked the judicial branch as an activist threat to our culture.
It does not take much imagination to see this as a well-planned attack
designed to return to the tyranny of a single leader-something that our
founders completely rejected.
Through conspiratorial effort, they have redefined
American patriotism to have nothing at all to do with the people and free
thought, and everything to do with blind nationalism-the kind of nationalism
that plagued Europe with war for centuries. They continually try to turn
our flag of freedom into a symbol of close-minded chauvinism based on
power and greed. Like it or leave it is their retort to disagreement with
their anti-Enlightenment dogma. Agree, or be branded a heretic, or traitor,
as Ann Coulter calls them. Some conservative talk show hosts work themselves
into such a frenzy that they fantasize about killing liberals as enemies
of God and country. Their maligning of big government inadvertently encouraged
the Oklahoma bombing. Some of their staunchest supporters are members
of the Ku Klux Klan. With all this known and out in the open, conservatives
still convince people that liberals are the threat!
They disregard the hypocrisy of ministers and
representatives denouncing gay rights one minute, and then soliciting
gay prostitutes the next. Why would anyone do this, unless they don't
believe what they are advocating?
They say they want smaller government and lower taxes. They deliver larger
government and huge deficits instead.
Unfortunately, there are many conservative supporters
who are sufficiently brainwashed that they will not see beyond much repeated
slogans. I, for one, refuse to be one of them. My nation, and the ideals
it really stands for, demands that all of us think for ourselves and resist
the un-American and regressive propaganda that conservatism now represents.
There is more to life than serving the whims of the wealthy and powerful,
who will do and say anything to subjugate us. The leaders of conservatism
have shown their contempt for the American people leading up to the stock
market crash of 2008, the widespread corruption of Tom Delay's Congress,
and misleading the nation into the Iraq War before that. Even the negative
advertising of John McCain, whom we once considered unimpeachably honorable,
has resorted to lies and distortion in order to mislead, not the American
people, who recognize these falsehoods, but the conservative base that
has been trained to accept anything their leaders tell them.
Why am I not a conservative? Because their ideals
are empty rhetoric, their morality contrived to hide a deeper immorality,
and because their plans for America are not of, by and for the people-but
for the wealthy alone. The truth is, they have contempt for many of their
own supporters, despite the folksy rhetoric. Check out their bank accounts
and where the money came from, and you will find the treasure they have
sold their hearts to.
