Why Conservatives Struggle to Hold Power - WE WORK!
We all intuitively know that conservatism, at its core is a winning ideology. It’s the basis for our Constitution and central to the Declaration of Independence; “We hold these TRUTHS to be self-evident…” When articulated properly, conservative principles will usually win the day. So why aren’t we in power? Why isn’t the government small, like the Founders intended? How did this all get away from us so that we find ourselves meeting in secret with our little Meetup groups or teabag protests across the country? Simply put, we’re busy.
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We’re busy raising our families, as we’re supposed to. We’re not asking the government to do it for us with its latest daycare proposal or nanny state idea.
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We’re busy with work. Desiring to not be a ward of the state, we work hard, sometimes at two jobs to make ends meet. We’re not quick to run to the government for solutions when things get a little difficult. Instead, we’re more likely to open the “help wanted” section of the paper and see if we pick up a few hours here and there to lighten things up a little. We’re averse to asking our neighbor, through compulsory taxation policies to open his/her wallet to pay for me…at least we were.
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We’re busy starting businesses. Instead of looking for the government to provide for our welfare, many conservatives take the risk of starting their own companies. In doing this, they create jobs for others and enhance the community and the lives of many.
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We’re busy volunteering at our churches, synagogues, temples, Lions Clubs, local fire departments, ambulance crews, etc, etc. We don’t believe government has many good answers so we get involved in civic organizations as a way to provide solutions.
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We’re busy with….fill in the blank.
Conservatives are busy. Without us being so busy, America would come to a grinding halt, but there is a cost to this busyness. And here’s the dirty little secret the politicians hope and pray we never figure out…pssst, they know we’re busy being the responsible party in America. And they know we’re too busy being responsible to spend a lot of time opposing them.
This has been the game they’ve played since the 1930’s whether republican or democrat; the names have almost become interchangeable at this point. One slaps us in the face, and one promises to take us to the dance but never shows up at the door.
Well, as thousands have already said, America is at another one of those defining moments in her short 230+ year history; a new moment where a new cost will need to be paid if we’re to leave anything behind for our children and their children.
Our lives of relative peace and quiet are coming to an end and soon you will find more and more liberties taken from you by the very force the Founders attempted to limit…the federal government. ACORN and its agitators may soon show up at your doorstep if you’re identified as one who opposes broader sweeping government intervention. Look at what happened to the AIG executives who lawfully took bonus payments…protesters actually showed up at their house.
These are transitional times folks.
The big question is; will we answer the call?
Some of you reading this and not currently in elected office are going to need to come out of your comfort zones and actually run. But before you run, you need to know why you’re trying to obtain power, and let’s not kid ourselves, that’s what this whole game is about…the Founders set it up that way; they intended the peaceful transfer of power through elections.
Power is not an ugly word for a conservative, or at least it shouldn’t be. We hate the word because we’ve seen both parties exercise it over the populace in highly oppressive ways and so we chill at the use of it. But principled power (conservative principled power) can be a great thing and thus each of us needs to know what we believe before we seek it. In the end, we need to take power to reduce power, there’s no other way…Constitutionally.
In this regard, I’ve got to hand it to the liberals, in some ways they’re more principled than we are. They fundamentally believe in socialism and have been working diligently at bringing it to our shores for 70 years. Talk about patience! They’ve rallied, marched, ran for office all in an attempt to seek and hold power and they’ve just about reached their goal. Soon, very soon, over 50% of the country will pay no income taxes, nationalized healthcare will be implemented and business regulation will govern business decision making. The government will hold all the cards and there won’t be much we can do about it.
So, my statement stands, the liberals in some ways have been acting on their principles far more effective than we have. Because we’re busy, I’m too busy.
Well, as many a fisherman has said; it’s time to fish or cut bait.
No one is asking you to become a politician, at least as it’s understood through the lens of a modern definition of politician. I don’t trust politicians myself and I’ve been deep in the belly of the whale before…no thanks. But you do need to consider being a conservative citizen leader, driven and beholden to no one but principle. That’s the only way this mess is cleaned up, and it will be a herculean task. We’re pretty far down the road to socialism and if I’m honest, it might be too late.