As California Native, I once considered myself a Democrat. I was once a starry-eyed freshman-college student feeling the need to be in lock step with fellow college students in what at the time I believed was right. On the surface, how could you not be allured with the promise of stopping global/national poverty, equality for all, and helping the world?
I decided to delve deep into these issues and do the intellectually honest thing and study those issues I believed in so that I could more persuasively make those arguments. Oddly enough, the evidence overwhelmingly did not support the liberal perspective of the world. On the contrary the evidence proved to be strongly contrary to liberal perspective and closely aligned on conservative lines.
On poverty, how is the poor better served. You give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; you feed him for a lifetime. So is the idea of perpetual welfare. Now before liberals freak out, I care about the poor. I believe that there should be a very limited welfare system that helps those who GENUINELY fall into devastating times to get back on their feet and become productive members of society once again. That being said, welfare is one of the most cruel and inhumane social experiments in the history of the United States. Before Lyndon B Johnson’s Great Society came into effect, welfare rolls were at 4.1% of families. By 1980 the number skyrocketed to 10%. LBJ’s Great Society and War on Poverty utterly failed and everyone knew it. So much so that under Democratic President Bill Clinton, led by a Republican Congress welfare reform won stunning support and decreased welfare rolls by 60%! Welfare as envisioned by liberals is intended to create an underclass of society and a perpetual voter base. Welfare destroys human drive and motivation. Perpetual welfare is the new slavery. Liberals are interested in control not helping people, for if helping people were their goals then the results should speak for themselves. Liberals often speak in rhetorical flourishes with very little evidence to back up their programs. We need to demand RESULTS not intent. For all of liberals’ historical claims of restoring science to its rightful place, you would think that results would make a difference. Interestingly enough and despite results being stacked completely against their programs, they push them forward anyways.
Equality for all, how to best achieve it? To this question I have to direct our inquiry to the Constitution. Our founding document is brilliant in its careful and thoughtful construction as a document that preserves & protects our God given rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Once again we have to look at the results of the liberal cry that racism and injustice defines America. How can a people and country be racist and unjust if from within its own legal framework, all people regardless of race, religion, gender and any background were made free? In no other country has anyone from a group of people that at one point was considered slaves, have ever risen to the highest office in that same country and that same legal construct. Such is the case of the United States, a tribute to the Constitution and the struggle of the soldiers that have given their full measure of devotion that this country not perish from the earth.
The GOP has been a banner of conservative values and of upholding the constitution. To be considered a party of racists is factually and intellectually dishonest. No other party has done more to further the equal rights of man than the GOP. The GOP is the party of Lincoln that abolished slavery, freed 60% of our nation’s poor from dependency and a soft slavery. As quoted by Jerome Hudson, a fellow Republican and author of “Life of a Young Black Conservative” The GOP is the;
“Anti-Slavery Party, the party responsible for: the 13th (abolished slavery), 14th (gave former slaves full citizenship rights), the 15th Amendment (gave slaves voting rights), the Civil Rights Act of 1871(protecting southern blacks from the Ku Klux Klan), the Reconstruction Acts, and the 1866, 1875, 1957, 1960, and 1964 Civil Rights Acts.
And no, my brothers and sisters, yesterday’s southern Democrats are NOT today’s Republicans! If so, former Klansman, Sen. Robert Byrd—the highest ranking senate Democrat and President Pro-Tempore of the Senate—apparently didn’t get the memo and forgot to switch parties.
But it’s more than just the history. I’m proud to stand for self-empowerment, personal responsibility, strong family values, small government, low taxes, free markets, a strong military, and individual achievement etc.
And don’t even get me started on which side stands up for the precious 1.4 million unborn children (32% of whom are black), who will be casualties in the war inside the womb. When I see these so-called “black leaders” bashing conservatives for “racist policies,” I wonder how they justify cheering on the political team who proudly defends the annihilation of 13 million black children since 1973.”
On the last issue, helping the world. The best way to do so is through being the best country that we can be through empowering each individual to achieve unparalleled success. How could this be so, how can a capitalist system be the best for the world, doesn’t it promote selfishness and greed? I would say yes and no to that same question but here’s why. Capitalism is a system based on self-interest but why is that a bad thing. We are all self-interested by human nature and to say otherwise is dishonest. Even the most liberal individual donates money and time because he takes more self-interest in charity and that makes him/her feel better about him/herself. But how is it that this individual came to a financial position to be able to donate money and time? If this person hadn’t accumulated the wealth somehow then he wouldn’t be able to help others. If they hadn’t been self-interested enough to earn the money to pass it along then no one would benefit from the donation. Indeed, the richest individuals of this country have done more to feed poor and provide them with the basic necessities than a whole world of well wishes. That is the story of this great nation, one that has generated so much prosperity as to impel its citizens to generosity and the ability to help millions around the world through private donations. Our current administration seeks to alter this generosity by forcing people into volunteerism. Forcing people to do things is not volunteerism and we all need to forcefully argue that position. In this country “time is money” and government forcing us to give time is nothing short of theft. Charity should be of our own freewill and so should volunteerism. Any mandatory charity or volunteerism is in fact theft!
Another movement, Globalism, has been maligned for two reasons each of which are complete and utter false constructs of the left.
First is the issue of keeping jobs in the US and second is the claim that globalism is slave labor. Liberals domestic policies have forced jobs overseas. The death grip of labor unions in liberal states has created competitive disadvantages for American companies competing with foreign companies without those labor laws. Again, before liberals freak, I support fair treatment of workers and decent wages. What liberals are talking about is not that. Liberals again seek power. As we have seen with the current bankruptcy of Chrysler and GM, Labor Unions made out like bandits as this administration has completely erased 230+ years of bankruptcy laws and finance laws. Bondholders have always been first in line to receive the principal in their investment during a bankruptcy for a very good reason. This has enabled companies to borrow from investors and has been the backbone of capitalism. Bondholders were wiped out and as the first in line creditors have been given mere pennies on the dollar while Labor Unions were handed over control of two of the largest companies in the US. Labor Unions led to the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler and now they are in charge of running them, along with the US government. Labor Unions are not interested in just wages and compensation. They have become insatiable beasts devouring the hand that feeds them. How is it that companies are vilified if they have conferences at country clubs but Labor Unions can own a $27 Million country club. Additionally, while the average American is struggling to keep jobs or find jobs, Labor Unions have plush jobs banks where members are earning a paycheck for doing nothing but sitting at home on the couch. Retirees in Labor Unions have unsustainable plush retirement plans (far higher than the industry average and even American average) that drain companies of capital, the average American has had their 401Ks or retirement vanish. GM and Chrysler were unable to adequately restructure because of the labor mandates requiring the factory to have a minimum number of jobs and a minimum number of hours allocated to each of the employees. While Toyota uses employees where a human touch is vital and machines for tasks that make economic sense, GM and Chrysler are forced to make decisions based on Labor Union mandate. How are American companies supposed to compete in that environment?
Globalism is not slave labor and evidence has pointed out that while to an American, working for $1 per day sounds inconceivable, that salary is a Godsend to citizens of a country whose average income is $0.50 per day. Furthermore, the idea that these workers work under the worst standards is also false because in example after example, those factories have in fact improved the standards of living and working conditions based on the conditions that are present in the country before their arrival. No they aren’t to American standards but as we have already discussed, not even the average American has the standards imposed on Unionized companies by the Labor Unions.
As I stated earlier, I am American with Hispanic parents. I choose to not hyphenate my identity because it is identity politics (mastered by Liberals) that has ripped this country in two. I choose to be American first because I identify first and foremost with our principals. I was born and raised in this great country and I refuse to let my allegiance to be split. I appreciate the music, the food, and the culture that my parents were raised in. I do not denounce any of it. I just believe that American principles are far superior and have produced the best civilization in the history of humanity. I seek to conserve those principals and that civilization. So yes I am proudly a conservative and member of the Grand Old Party!
Great post. I am glad you recognize the identity politics in hyphenation. I too am an American first. I love the rich culture which my ancestors bring, but I am an American and feel incredibly blessed to have been born in such a place.
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