Politics - Why I am and Am not a Conservative (Part 2), 7-31-2010

 [Continued from Politics – Why I am and Am not a Conservative (Part 1), 7-31-2010. sch 2/22/23]

What we had from Reagan and his acolytes was radicalism, not conservatism. They wanted not to conserve, but overthrow on a wholesale basis.

I find even worse the infiltration of Objectivism into our government. I never have had, or even will, any support for Ayn Rand, or her philosophy. Politically, it strikes against the philosophy underlying American governments: everyone can participate; anyone can be in government; the people control.

Even though I would be a Republican in Massachusetts (according to my Aunt Mary Ellen in 1991), I am a Democrat in Indiana. We do not think much of spendthrift governments in Indiana. So, I do think of myself as a fiscal conservative. At the same time, I know money must be spent to make money. This explains why the cost of my incarceration bothers me so much. Show me the benefits outweigh the cost, I will shift on government spending.

I find the conservative idea of smaller government not a categorically bad thing. For me, the real question about government size is: is it up to the job of serving the public good? I see government as a tool – too big is just as much a problem as too small. Where I sit now, I see the federal criminal law as being too large, too awkward for the street criminals I see in my halfway house abode. On the other hand, you, the people, asked for the federal government to get tough on crime, didn't you? The people's demands determine the size of government – regardless of political party.

Long before my incarceration, I puzzled over the conservatives wanting to expand federal police powers and take away programs with positive benefits for the people. Maybe because the liberals took the opposite view? Increasing federal police powers used to be attacked as un-American, as dangerous to American liberties. If that is the traditional argument, why is this not also the conservative view?

Therefore, I should be a conservative, but I am not. I see the Republicans as generally as the party of scam artists. Democrats have such a talent for truth-telling it hurts them. Consider what Jimmy Carter told us about energy and tell me he was not right. Walter Mondale told us in 1994 that a tax increase was needed to whip the deficit, and Reagan increased taxes – after the election.

I may be even more conservative. I see no reason for America playing policeman for the world. I think Clinton found the right balance for this by working through the UN and NATO. Those thinking we could go it alone were ivory tower idealists, putting theory before fact. In short, they lacked any sense of prudence. 

So I do not think of myself belonging to the category currently labeled conservative. Am I a liberal, then?

sch

[After Trump and the MAGA nuts arrived in town, I am certainly a liberal and a democrat and anti-fascist.sch 2/22/23.]