Don’t you?
“Republicans hate the poor and love big business.”
“Republicans want the gays to suffer because they can’t get married! Homophobe.”
“WHAT? How can you possibly suggest that abortion and birth control not be available to every single woman for free? Woman-hater!”
“You want poor people to die from lack of health care because they can’t pay for it.”
“Cutting money from education is intolerable – no matter what reason you may have.”
“RACIST!”
Remember, this blog is focused on the political perspectives of young people. We can’t tell you how often we hear these sorts of things from young liberals. EVERY WEEK I have discussions with several people over these false statements that they wholeheartedly believe. Forget reading facts, arguing with teachers, or understanding both sides of the spectrum before making a decision.
I was once a liberal. I often said many of the aforementioned quotes. But, after Hillary lost the nomination, I reassessed myself. I started reading McCain’s platform. I dove into the world of politics – I haven’t looked back since. I’m an ardent young conservative because I believe people should earn their money, then keep and spend it at their own will. The majority shouldn’t have to pay for the failures of the minority – enough entitlements and handouts; that’s called socialism.
I believe that we should tax everyone equally, not at tiered rates (remember, only 47% of the country pays income tax anyways). If you get lucky in the stock market or work hard to make your small business grow larger, why should you have to pay more in taxes? To lower your net profits? When that happens, there’s no incentive to innovate, create, or make money because, at the end of every fiscal year, you won’t have any more money than someone who works for only 9 bucks an hour managing the drive-thru at Wendy’s.
Capitalism is based on playing to your individual strengths – not everyone is good at math, and so not everyone is an engineer. The same analogy works with history … curator, politics … lobbyist, science … microbiologist. Based off the three examples I just gave you, here’s how capitalism works: A student tries hard in school and wins a merit scholarship for the university she wants to attend (which was designed by an engineer working with an architect). She’s got her mind set on having her own research firm when she graduates, so she works a job to earn money for her future instead of getting drunk and doing nothing all day. After she graduates, she sets out with her money and starts a firm with her friends. Eventually, they all go on a diving trip to discover why some tuna are dying like never before. Let’s say that they find and bring back some water samples to their firm’s lab. They find a new parasite that is killing the profitable tuna. They then publish their findings and appeal to a lobbyist to find a solution within Congress. When a solution is found and the crisis is resolved, she ends up having her picture in a museum that the curator is in charge of. That’s capitalism. Conservative ideals of working hard, keeping earned money, and individualism all support capitalism – aka, OUR system.
I believe that abortion should not be a form of contraception because life starts at the joining of a sperm cell and an egg cell – it has a full set of human DNA, and it is a Homo Sapiens. Birth is not required to become human.
I believe that we should not be dividing anyone by race, and that “there is no room for hyphenated Americans.” You’re American, or you’re an alien. No middle ground. Permanent resident? You ain’t one of us yet.
I believe that offering a certain ethnic or religious minority group a scholarship opportunity or “affirmative action” without factoring in income, environment, or other factors is wrong. Offer scholarships to the poor, and foster advancement for struggling students – who cares if they’re Hispanic or 1/16th Cherokee? Intelligence or motivation to succeed has nothing to do with your race, right?. Funny how liberals claim to be proponents of the “plight of minorities,” – all they emphasize is which minority is this week’s “Flavor of Suffering.”
I believe that national guidelines should be set up for education, but by no means should all states and schools be forced to follow these guidelines or a national curriculum. No one cares more about local schools than the local residents, teachers, and parents themselves. The more power local people have in changing their own schools, the more growth and competition we will see between our schools. Bottom-up, not top-down. There’s a reason grassroots works better – local people care more than some bureaucrat who has to oversee the problems of a massive amount of people.
There’s a reason why it’s called “commonsense conservatism.”
I have yet to hear “commonsense liberalism.”
