"The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." --Thomas Jefferson

Monday, November 10

Ye-Haw Buckaroo.

Two posts in one day I know...but in an effort to understand the reason why so many people in our country have leaned to the left, I consulted the thesaurus. I found my answer.

For your consideration
The thesaurus defines conservatism as bourgeois, constant, controlled, conventional, die-hard, fearful, firm, fogyish, fuddy-duddy*, guarded, hard hat, hidebound, holding to, illiberal, in a rut, inflexible, middle-of-the-road*, not extreme, obstinate, old guard*, old line, orthodox, quiet, reactionary, redneck*, right, right of center, right-wing, sober, stable, steady, timid, Tory, traditional, traditionalistic, unchangeable, unchanging, uncreative, undaring, unimaginative, unprogressive, white bread

Liberalism is defined as advanced, avant-garde, broad, broad-minded, enlightened, flexible, free, general, high-minded, humanistic, humanitarian, indulgent, intelligent, interested, latitudinarian, left, lenient, libertarian, loose, magnanimous, permissive, radical, rational, reasonable, receiving, receptive, reformist, tolerant, unbiased, unbigoted, unconventional, understanding, unorthodox, unprejudiced

Which would you pick to be labeled? Redneck or Intelligent? Obviously the younger generation in particular chooses to take the route of the populist. Perhaps it's the written definition of conservatism and the way conservatives are perceived that drive people to their pre-conceived notions about conservatism. I, for one, do not feel that a conservative is unimaginative, unprogessive and "white bread". There are plenty of free thinkers out there that are conservatives. Perhaps what is needed is a redefinition of the word conservatism or at least an explanation of what a conservative stands for.

I'll do my best.

Conservatism- the school of thought that America was built on standards, and moral foundations that have served our country well and should not be abandoned. Conservatism does not equal racism, bigotry, prejudice or the umbrella of the uncreative. And I triple-dog-dare anyone to debate that. Perhaps there are those in the Republican party that call themselves conservative that embody these unwanted virtues, however I don't appreciate being labeled as a dogmatic sheep that is afraid of anything that doesn't speak English or have ancestral origins in western Europe. I'm my own thinker, and I don't appreciate being told I am an idiot for believing in traditional values. I ask the question-"What's left in our society outside of our own Sunday worship that identifies our country as one that believes in anything but itself?" It's under attack in our anthem, on our money, gone in our schools, and mocked in our media. I find value in standing up for the only part of our political/social system that seems to have any trace of moral worth left to be found in an ever increasing, godless and secularist society. Does this mean I am a religious fanatic? No. Does this mean I want everyone to convert to Christianity at the end of a bayonet? No. I do believe that when government has the ability to remove all likeness of religion from our lives and is run without morals and the thinking of men trumps what a man's conscience and heart dictates to him as moral, then we can all sit back and watch the country let her last air bubble rise to the surface as we see our country sink into the black abyss that is apathetic acceptance of secularism. I choose not to ignore this. I'm a conservative and if the dictionary and the masses label that a redneck, I say ye-haw buckaroo.

2 comments:

Brien said...

Interesting. And I agree that it's unfortunate that along with conservatism comes those less-than flattering labels.

On the other hand, as a more liberal thinking person, I don't appreciate the labels of anti-religion (or God), elitist, anti-White, socialist, communist, fence-sitter, worldly, etc.

I'm not saying those are labels you individually assign to liberals. I'm just pointing out, in the name of "fair and balanced," that this is a two-way street. A very unfortunate two-way street.

Oh, and I'm offended I'm not a friend with a big brain!

Kirk said...

I'm glad you find it interesting. I cut and pasted these straight from Encarta. Although the Thesaurus is not the be all that ends all by any means, I still feel it unfortunate that the written definition of the two are so slanted. You can be a liberal thinking person and not be those things you mentioned. Unfortunately it's the extreme of either school of thought that ends of defining the rest. Mostly because they make the easiest target and are the cheapest and most easily accessible ammunition. I follow your blog but I was just waiting for you to put me on your blog reading list to add you as a friend with a big brain! Thanks for the comment Brien.