On what would have been the 100Th birthday of Ronald Reagan, I feel compelled to tell why I consider myself a conservative.
Now if you listen to many in the media, since I am conservative, I am automatically a racist, homophobic who beats people over the head with my bible while holding a gun on them as I take the food out of babies mouths that are being held by their grandparents, whom I want to die because we can't afford to take care of them. Oh yeah, I want big business to get all the breaks and I also want to destroy the environment by drilling for oil in our own country, Mother Nature be damned.
Now if I were to address those issues one by one, this would be a long post indeed.
"Not gonna do it" -Dana Carvey imitating George H.W. Bush
I will try to keep this short.
I am a conservative because I believe that man CAN rule himself. Do we mess up? Yes. Have we made mistakes? Yes. Will we screw up again? Yes. Can we learn from our mistakes? Yes. Our founding fathers knew this. That is why we have the ability to amend our constitution. We can not just take amendments out though. They are left in so we can see the mistakes we have made and remember them. Remember prohibition? .
I believe in a limited government, one that protects our borders, keeps interstate commerce fair, and gives us the opportunities to pursue happiness. Government can not guarantee results, but it certainly tries to do so. Failure is a part of life. A very painful part of life, but also a very motivating part. As someone who at one point in my life totally messed things up ( I spent one thanksgiving eating jelly sandwiches on stale bread while I was living in a 40' travel trailer), if I had not hit bottom, I would have never decided to pick myself up. If we never allow people to fail, then we may never see their full potential. Does that mean I want people starving to death in the freezing cold? Of course not. But how much should government actually do? Shouldn't our churches and other charities step up to the plate? Shouldn't WE step up to the plate?
I believe capitalism works, when government stays out of it. Do we need regulations? Yes, but over regulation hampers capitalism and growth. Take my industry for example. Truck driving is one of the most regulated industries in the country. They are trying to add even more. More regulations will lead to a higher cost of doing business. Do you think trucking companies, or oil companies just absorb these cost? Nope. They pass the cost onto their customers, who pass that cost down the line until eventually it reaches you and I. Less money in our pockets means less money to buy things we need or want, and less money to help our fellow man.
As a conservative, I find it amazing that the only people bringing up race are the people on the left who claim they don't notice it. I believe that ALL men are created equal. It doesn't matter race, creed, sexual orientation, or religion. Affirmative action sounds in practice like a good idea. But how is giving someone extra consideration because of skin color or gender really helping them? Isn't that just saying, well, you can't get this job on your own, so we will give you a little extra boost. Let me give you a real life example how affirmative action really works.
Many years ago, I took a test to become an Air Traffic Controller. The test was difficult, time consuming and kind of overwhelming. It should be. Air Traffic Control is a very stressful, overwhelming kind of job. If you can't handle the stress of taking the test, you certainly can not handle the job. Well, I passed with flying colors. Not to brag, but I showed that test who was boss. On straight score, I was informed that my score was in the top half of the top one percent. My score was 98 or something ridiculous like that. HOWEVER, I am a white male. I did not get to go to training because I didn't get any of the bonus points. See, you were given points for being of ethnic decent, for being female, for being a vet, for being disabled. All of that sounds good, until you realize that people who scored less than I did are the ones actually landing your planes now. Now that is not to say they are not doing a fantastic job, but why can't we just ignore all the race, gender, religion, orientation crap and just give the job to the most qualified person, regardless of all that other stuff.
Are there racist employers out there? Of course there are. But if you are a minority, do you really want to work for someone who would judge you simply because of skin color? I would rather know about those businesses, so I can choose to spend my money elsewhere. Same thing goes for restaurants, bars, gyms or any business for that matter. If you don't want to serve someone because of their race, I don't' want to spend my money in your establishment. That is how capitalism works. People and businesses like that would not last very long. So, at first blush, being anti-affirmative action sounds racist, but it is not.
Lastly, I am conservative because I do not believe that government is the answer, or even has the answer to all our problems. Man has the ability, when left alone, to rise above it all and excel. Men do make mistakes, and many times greed gets in the way and mankind loses it way. We always find our way back though.
NO government program can do that
I could go on and on. It is hard to explain conservatism in just a few words. I don't think liberals are bad people who want to destroy the country, although there are some out there who do. Look back to the 60's. Many of those people are in power now. Most of us want the same things, we just have different ideas how to get there.
