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I
first got interested in politics
shortly
after high school. Before that, I really did not
have many political opinions, except holding a pro-life stance on abortion,
and being a very patriotic American. My parents were
Roosevelt Democrats for as long as I can remember, so of course, I
had the same opinion of those "big business" Republicans and
believed the Democrats were for the "little
guy."
Once I started to become aware of politics
and started paying attention to what was going on, my political
beliefs solidified. I saw liberal politics eating away at
my liberties and realized that conservatism was more inline
with my sense of justice, morality, and rationality of
thought.
Today, I'm a
Conservative Republican. The Republican party is not perfect
by a long shot, but its basic conservative platform, if the politicians
would have the fortitude and courage to actually implement
it, would help reverse some of the malaise and authoritarianism
which has plagued our great country for the last 50
years.
Below is a synopsis of my personal political philosophy:
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Small Government - In order to
ensure liberty, a government must remain small and have the least
impact on the lives of its citizens. The larger the
government, the more power that government has and,
consequently, less power is in the hands of the people.
The Constitution of the United States dictates specific powers to
be given to the federal government. All other powers are to
be given to the states and the people of those states. Since
the Civil War, the balance of power has dramatically shifted to
the federal government. This has caused a slow but steady
encrouchment on our liberty. Our Founding Fathers would
be appalled at the overeaching authority that our current
government has today.
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Low Taxes - Taxes are a necessary
requirement of any government. The taxation of the
population, however, must be held as a sacred trust, never to be
burdensome and unjust. Our government today gains power by
overtaxation and income redistribution, which again encrouches on
our liberties. Historically, the United States spent about
2-3% of the GDP on the running of the government. This rate
went much higher during national crises, such as wars.
However, since the social welfare system was developed in the
1930's, this rate has steadily increased to close to 40%.
This is a gross misappropriation of national wealth by the
government. I believe the federal income tax should be
repealed and that social security shold become privatized.
The government needs to once again hold the power of the purse as
a sacred trust and not use it as a means of controlling the
population through government hand-outs and pork-barrel spending
projects.
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Personal Responsibility - A
necessary part of personal liberty is personal
responsibility. As the adage goes, any action reciprocates
an equal and opposite reaction. Whenever responsibilty is
not taken by an individual for his or her actions, someone else
has to pay the penalty. Today's government seems willing to
take the burden of responsibility of its citizens onto
itself. Why is that? Simply, when a person foists the
consequences of his actions onto another entity, he is also
reliquishing some of his rights in the process. For
instance, the social welfare system allows literally generations
of individuals to live off of other people's tax dollars.
These people have reliquished control of their finances to the
government. The result? They become reliant on the
government and almost every aspect of their lives becomes
entangled with government programs. They have traded their
liberty for security. I do not want the government to
provide security for me, beyond its constitutinal duties to
provide a military, civil peacekeepers, and an uncorrupt
justice system. If I do something stupid, I'll pay the
consequences myself.
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Personal Liberty - Along with
personal responsibilty comes personal liberty. The
reason our country was established was to ensure the personal
liberty of its citizens. Politically speaking, we should be
able to do as we please as long as 1) we do not violate the rights
of other people to do the same, and 2) we take full responsibilty
for the outcome of our actions. This does not mean that I
promote immoral or indecent behavior. On the contrary, in
order to have the utmost amount of liberty available to us, we
must restrain ourselves from doing things that damage us or those
around us. However, what we do is no business of the
government. If someone wants to damage themselves in some
way, or engage in dangerous activities, then that person will
suffer the consequences of those actions. The point is that
different people wish to lead different sorts of lives, some
noble, some ignoble. The ignoble will pay for their
actions.
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Pro-Life - I have always been
against abortion and will always remain so. The consequences
of this practice goes beyond the moral and goes to the very fabric
of our society. Morally, of course, abortion is
reprehensible. Any taking of an innocent human life
should be considered murder. The pro-abortion forces in this
country have, for the most part, been successful in shifting the
mode of thought on abortion away from a human rights issue and
have made it a civil rights issue. From a standpoint of
liberty, of course, anyone should have the right to do what they
want with their body or their property, provided they take
responsibility for their actions. However, an abortion
affects another human being growing in the womb of the
mother. This is not the mother's body, but the body of a
genetically unique individual in the early stages of
development. The abortion argument also illustrates a very
chilling development in our society. Human life is becoming
cheap, something to be dealt with like an unwanted piece of
clothing. Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide; it all
boils down to a lessening of the value of human
life.
Conservative and Patriotic Links
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Boy Scouts of America
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I received my Eagle Scout award in December
of 1980. It is one of the things I'm most proud
of. The Boy Scouts of America teach not only patriotism
and love of country, but also personal growth,
responsibility, honor, and leadership.
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Hot Talk 560 KSFO
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This is the station I have permanently dialed in my car. KSFO
is the premier conservative talk radio station in the otherwise
liberal Bay Area. For a dose of sanity, it's always good to listen
to what they have to say.
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The Rush Limbaugh Show
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One of the main reasons I listen to KSFO is because of this man.
Always controversial, always entertaining, Rush espouses the principals
of today's conservative movement. Whether you're conservative, liberal,
or in the mushy middle, Rush will always make you think.
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I've subscribed to National Review magazine, founded by William F. Buckley, Jr.,
for about 10 years now. It offers a refreshing change of pace to the other
supposed "news" magazines. It's conservative, smart, biting, and even ruthless,
but always right on the money. If you're looking for a conservative
news magazine, this is the one.
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This website is the grassroots presence of the Republican party
online. You'll find just about anything you want to know about the
Republicans and conservatism in general at this website.
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