By Teddy McCullough
What is a Conservative? The dictionary defines the adjective as “resistant to change.” This statement is generally true. Conservatives are resistant to change. Some people may define that as (especially this year) resistant to President Obama’s so called “change.” Then the liberals think that we are entirely supportive of President Bush and his policies. WRONG. We conservatives are resistant to change of the founding policies. We are not supportive of President Bush or President Obama or many other presidents in the last two centuries for that matter. The only exceptions to that statement is President Reagan and President Lincoln (you may disagree with me that they are the only ones) and even then, they are questionable.
Our founders were NOT conservatives, they were liberal. The founders were resisting the British government to create their own government, they were trying to CHANGE the way the country ran, that is the opposite of conservatism. But, every single person that supports the founding principles in government set by our founders, are conservative. Being conservative isn’t actually a political ideology; it is a state of mind, a type of character, and a way of looking at civil social order. In layman’s terms: conservatism isn’t a political party like Republican is, it is a way of looking at things, it is a belief that our original principles are how our government should ALWAYS operate. A true conservative in Congress would keep his/her oath of office and would “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” If a congressman or congresswoman voted for: The stimulus bill, the bank bailout bill, or the healthcare bill in the last year, they have broken their oath of office to which they SWEAR (or affirm) to. To tell you the truth (my New Years Resolution is to be straightforward with people), there is no TRUE definition of conservatism, just a broad spectrum of many definitions, I could go on for pages and pages of what a conservative is, and could be.6 beliefs that conservatives should believe in are:
1. A deep suspicion of the power of the state.
2. A preference for liberty over equality.
3. Patriotism.
4. A belief in established institutions and hierarchies.
5. Skepticism about the idea of progress.
6. Elitism
I will draw your attention to belief number 3. Patriotism, is the most important belief that conservatives share. Patriotism, is a devotion towards a set of ideals from the roots of our founding, and specifically from a certain place. To a certain extent patriotism is conservatism, in the same way that being a Christian involves some level of conservatism. It a set of principles set forth in the past and carried forward to today and, hopefully, tomorrow. If you are unwilling to conserve anything this country has to offer (originally) you aren’t patriotic.
When the Republican party was first created, Republicans were conservatives, they were the same thing. But within the first 100 years of the Republican Party’s establishment, the Republican party pulled away from its original principles. Either the Republican Party needs to go back to its principles, or we need to change them ourselves.
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