Is Conservatism Dead

(Previously Unpublished, submitted to the Hickory Daily Record in June 2008)

As a philosophical conservative, I sadly feel that we have been successfully marginalized as a bunch of yahoo, God fearing, gun toting Neanderthals by the left. It is ridiculous. To label conservatives this way smacks upon the same intolerance that liberals profess to disdain.

Personally I have chosen the conservative philosophy because I believe in individual liberty and self-determination. People need to take responsibility for themselves, their actions, and the consequences of those actions. True conservatives are natural environmentalists, because we use all resources and assets wisely. I believe progressive developmental plans will allow us to take care of the environment without doing it at the expense of social and economic progress, as well as personal freedom. We can achieve a balance!

Personally, I believe that God gave us dominion over this planet and wants us to use its bountiful resources to improve Mankind. I refuse, as an American, to feel guilty about the circumstances that have been granted us. We should revere our ancestors for what they have left us. It is not our fault that other countries have chosen conflict and dictatorship over peace and prosperity. The Third World’s circumstances have been created by the sins of corruption, greed, and jealousy.

Politics is heartbreaking for conservatives these days. On the national front it is more than obvious that we have no voice. The three candidates still remaining are all liberals. In my opinion they stand for nothing. Except for the war on terror, there is hardly any appreciable difference between these candidates.

We are on the precipice of an economic calamity and yet we hear nothing about what the candidates would do to fix it. It is all shame politics. Sound bites and slogans far outweigh action; promises made lead to promises broken or forgotten. I do not want to vote for anyone because of my contempt for another.

The Republican Party that has been our home for years has been hijacked by a bunch of elite country clubbers that seem to be more worried about image rather than substance. They have compromised their principles to try and win some sort of popularity contest. Conservatives don’t look to raise taxes and waste money like the current Republican leadership. That is what has caused the chasm between the working class and the Republican Party and it must be addressed.

Too many times I have seen an ambivalent and uncaring wealthy class unwilling to take a hit to their own standard of living, all at the expense of the middle class. It seems to be more important for politicians and business executives to lead gluttonous lifestyles than to accomplish meaningful goals.

You want examples? What about trade agreements such as NAFTA? Companies are given every reason in the world to ship their jobs away. How are we supposed to compete when there is no level playing field as far as wages and environmental issues are concerned? Executives don’t seem to mind. Heck, they get to go on whirlwind world vacations and write it off as a business expense, as though they’re doing real work.

Look at toy maker Mattel. Last year 21 million toys made in China had to be recalled due to substandard practices. The company lost $46 million in the first quarter this year compared to a $12 million dollar profit for the same period last year. The company’s stock has lost over one-third of its value and this is directly attributable to the fallout from those imports. I don’t believe this would have happened if those toys had been made in the USA.

What about all of the high priced executives of now bankrupt or imploding companies? They run the company into the ground, leaving with their golden parachutes, and the company’s employees are left with no job and maybe no severance pay or pension. What has our government done to stop this?

If all of this doesn’t help business executives continue their prima donna lifestyles, then our Federal government has created an immigration policy that leaves the borders wide open so that businesses can keep worker wages artificially low. This exploitation of the labor force naturally increases short-term profits and thus fattens executive bonuses. There are consequences when these practices go bad, but rarely do the people making these decisions pay the price. It’s usually the stockholders and employees that get the shaft.

Also, I can’t see why politicians are ignorant to the fact that every major recession since the 1970s has been contributed to by a petroleum crisis. Yet, what has been done to alleviate our dependence on imported oil? Zero, sip, nada!!! It is due to total negligence and incompetence that we are in the position we are today. This situation could have been averted, but that would have taken forethought and common sense. Instead a political crisis has been created by inaction and it has been done purposefully to create a political football.

Now Hillary and Obama want to complain about Oil companies’ greed. So they have this bright idea that their mentor Jimmy Carter first dreamed up during the Oil crisis he created in 1979. Let’s have a windfall profits tax. Did you know that government already gets twice the revenue as the Oil companies on a gallon of gas? How would these two geniuses keep the Oil companies from just tacking this new tax onto already steep prices? The answer is, they can’t.

From January to March the average price of gas (in NC) was around $3.20. Of that about $2.20 was the crude oil component, State taxes and fees were on average 30 cents and the Federal tax is 18 cents. Distribution Costs, Marketing Costs, Refining, and Profits account for the rest, which is 52 cents. Of that 52 cents approximately 20 cents goes to bottom line profit. Oil executives are not going to lower their profit margins in the name of a government scheme. In my opinion, a windfall profits tax would be the fastest path to $5 gasoline.

The key to fixing the problem is simple. US companies must produce more oil. Demand keeps rising, yet there are fewer resources (refineries and wells) coming online. ANWAR and the continental shelf must be developed and refineries must be built. Create alternative energy source incentives. Hydro, Nuclear, Solar, and Wind are but a few of the alternatives. Every little bit of reduction in usage of petroleum counts and allows for further development of technology. Quit putting Band-Aids on this open wound.

The current Real Estate debacle is much the same. The government’s backing of bad loans, bad lending policies, and lack of oversight are what led to the bubble and subsequent bust. It will take some time, but Real Estate will come back in the next few years. However, none of our nation’s problems will get any better until the shortsighted, consciousless schemers are made to suffer negative consequences for their manipulations.

It is our government’s job to look out for everyone’s best interest. It’s supposed to be a government of, by, and for the people. The politicians are too worried about their personal welfare and not the public’s best interests. Right now, we have a government going to the highest bidder. These days I sure wish there was an alternative to the two-party system. The solutions are simple, but the political machine has gone bonkers. It’s too bad that it appears nothing short of a cataclysmic event will fix our political system.