What is Conservatism?

What is conservatism? This particular question has been bouncing around in my head for more than a year now. Ever since the idea that some of the presidential candidates weren’t conservative enough. Then I wondered who decides what conservatism is and what it stands for? Of course I have my own idea of conservatism is. And I would guess that a large portion of the population has their own idea of what conservatism is. In the end the question comes down to who decides what conservatism is? I will provide my answer in a few moments; in the meantime I am going to share my idea of conservatism with you.

Conservatism to me is the ideal political philosophy that I believe the United States thrives under. Unfortunately not too many of our politicians practice this ideal philosophy even though they are more than willing to proclaim themselves conservatives. To me conservatism is a way of life in which the individual is the one that holds the key to their own destiny, not the government. It is this philosophy that drives everything that I do in an attempt to make my way through life without the intrusion of well meaning, but ultimately failed government policies. This leads me to my first point, personal responsibility.

I abhor government programs and bailouts that interfere with the natural order of things. There are many individuals that continue to make poor decisions because they know that when they ultimately fail the government will be there to save them. This has got to stop. We must hold individuals to a certain level of responsibility. For instance, when the recent housing crisis struck there were many that publically advocated for bailing out homeowners that could no longer make their mortgage payments. Sure owning a home is a part of the American dream, which is fine, I understand that. But where is the lesson to be learned here if the government saves their bacon. These same people will most likely go back and make the same mistake in the future because there was no consequence for the wrong action. In a similar fashion, the banking institutions that made bad loans to people that they knew couldn’t pay for them should be allowed to fail. Once again bailing the banks out when they use poor judgment rewards poor judgment. This was a manmade disaster that could have been avoided if people had only used common sense. In both these cases the consequence is a direct reaction to the decisions that they made. Personal responsibility is a must.

The subject of eminent domain has also been a hot topic in our fair state in recent years. There are locations around the state that eminent domain has been used to plow under good fertile farm ground in the name of public progress. Land owners have been lied to and forced to take less than fair market value for their land. One such case is in the Fort Madison area where the DOT decided that they needed to put new highway in. One of my friends had some of her families land taken for this unneeded project. From what I could see there was no threat to public safety that required that this highway be built. Likewise there was a drive in Southern Iowa to build a new lake for economic development purposes. One of the primary reasons that this lake had been proposed was for the erection of a new ethanol plant. They said that there was not sufficient groundwater for the plant, and the only recourse was the creation of a manmade lake. I don’t think that I need to tell anyone out there that the creation of a lake for the sole purpose of economic development is nothing more than an infringement of the rights of property owners. This type of infringement has a direct tie in to personal freedoms. It is forcibly taking a piece of property for the benefit of others. If this isn’t a case of infringement of personal liberty, I don’t know what is. And this is something that I will oppose until I draw my last breath.

This next point has a direct tie in with the previous two points, limited government. Over the last several years we have seen the Iowa government and US government grow at an alarmingly fast rate. One of the bedrock foundations of conservatism is the concept of limited government. We have seen government intervention grow at a startling rate resulting in oppressive taxes, but also social engineering programs that stifle our children’s education. We need to get back to the basic principles of the constitution in the form of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We need to proceed away from an activist judiciary where a few judicial appointees overturn the will of the people. We need to dismantle the ability for justices to legislate from the bench, as was the case in Roe v. Wade. We need to get away from the government handouts that make people dependent on the government in order to survive. The only role the government should have is to enable individuals to be able to succeed on their own.

This is just a few of the things that I believe that conservatism stand for. I have noted with great consternation that most people have a differing opinion on what conservatism means. This self examination was brought on by a discussion on one of the forums that I frequent. You can check it out for yourself here. I am not trying to change anyone’s mind with this post, quite the contrary. I am asking you to reevaluate your beliefs in order for others to understand more fully what it is we believe. I know that I have left out many other facets of conservatism like the social issues and national security. Please understand that it is not because I do not think that they belong in conservatism, it was simply because this post was getting rather lengthy.