The Case For Conservatism

Don't worry, I haven't gone off the deep end and seen the MAGA "light", but I want to take a few paragraphs to talk about what conservatism, shorn of the detritus of racism and pseudo grievance could be, and once in a while, is. I'm not going to be describing what the modern Republican Party has become since Newt Gingrich's time as Speaker, let alone the monstrosity that it is under former President "Losin' Don" Trump. 

Conservatism, boiled down to its essentials, is a political philosophy that is for (1) Limited government (2) A strong military and (3) Fiscal responsibility. These basics translate into a variety of policies and positions. One of these is minimal regulation. A fiscal conservative believes that business owners should have the freedom to run their businesses as they see fit, without the government requiring their products to meet certain standards or that they maintain humane working conditions. A fiscal conservative believes that the free market will, by offering consumers and employees choices, regulate itself. Competition will weed out the harmful companies. 

A conservative, as part of their vision for limited government, will be in favor of low taxes. The less that government does, the less money it will need to run itself. A conservative believes that a person's paycheck is best spent by the person who earned that paycheck. Social programs are also anathema to a true conservative. Part of a conservative's view that government should be small, constrained in its duties, is that each individual is responsible for their own welfare. Any help to a struggling family should come from the community in the form of friends and family or the local church, not the government. 

In an ideal world, a world where the free market was self regulating and self correcting, where no one fell between the cracks, but was helped by a network of supportive friends and family, and wealthy businessmen altruistically saw to the needs of the community, conservatism just might work. 

Maybe.

But the problem with conservatism is twofold: (1) We don't live in an ideal world and (2) Self-described conservatives have always done what they could to benefit big business despite their talk of limited government. 

Of course there is an argument to be made that our government is too big, that the debt and deficits are out of control and that regulatory agencies have too much power. But the answer is not to shrink the government back its size during the nation's mostly rural, pre-industrial, founding. The answer is balance.

Today's pseudo-conservatives claim to revere the Constitution, and especially put the Second Amendment (or their interpretation of it) on a pedestal, but ignore the very first words:

We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and out Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

How then, are we to establish justice, promote the general welfare and all the rest? By pretending that we live in a conservative utopia? Or by expecting the government to take an active role in making these things a reality? Has the general welfare been promoted when millions live in poverty? When racism excludes a vast number of our fellow citizens from participation in society? When rapacious billionaires line their own pockets while screwing over consumers? I think the obvious answer is that government must take an active - an active role in ensuring the blessings of liberty to its citizens. Liberalism is the political philosophy which believes that government has that responsibility. Naturally, liberalism can go too far, and fiscal conservatives can serve as a counterweight to excesses. 

Today's conservatives, found mostly in the Republican Party, have become completely unmoored from conservative principles, focusing instead on what amounts to White Christian Nationalism, "othering" Blacks, LBGTQ people, immigrants, non-Christians, and anything that deviates from their picture of what "real" Americans are. They have become a cult, elevating "Losin' Don" as their savior and rewarding any politician who mimics his style of hatred. So, in addition to pure conservatism not being a workable philosophy in the real world, "conservatives" aren't even actually conservatives any more. 

There are, without a doubt, excesses to be found within liberalism and its advocates in the Democratic party, but in this day and time, there is no sane alternative.