You Are A Conservative If… | Culture and Freedom

You are a conservative if:

You think America is the best country in history and you would like to keep it

You would like your parents to live a long, healthy life

You would like to keep the money you have saved

You appreciate the inventions and amenities capitalism has brought us

You think U.S. Representatives are supposed to represent

You think you have a right to yell at your Representative if they aren’t listening to you

You want to keep the freedom to practice your religion; or no religion at all

You want to keep the right to speak your mind without government interference

You would like to keep riding horses, farming, running the sprinkler, or playing tennis

You want to own a gun, just because you want to own it

You don’t want to government searching through your files or computer

You smoke and would like to continue to do so

You want to keep the right to hang out with whomever you want

You want to keep the freedom to travel from state to state without a passport

You want the freedom to start a business

You want the right to join a union or not join one

You want to keep your union vote by secret ballot

You want keep the right to have as many children as you want

You want to raise the kids without coerced government interference

You would like to keep receiving Social Security

You would like to be able to keep your home

You would like to keep your top notch health care plan

You would like to keep your home as warm or as cool as you want

You would like to have affordable American gasoline so you can:

Just take a scenic drive
Keep water skiing
Use your quad
Keep you pickup for work
Use your snowmobile
Keep using the family dune buggy
Afford a vacation
Watch NASCAR racing
Enjoy drag racing

I could go on, but you get the idea. If you want to keep something, you want to “conserve” it. To conserve is “to keep in a safe or sound state;” Webster says. Conservatives are not just those who are pro-life, support the death penalty, and oppose gay marriage, but that’s the conclusion you could reach by listening to those who want to divide us so they conquer. Conservatives are those who believe in free speech, freedom of religion, freedom from unreasonable searches, no criminal charges without Grand Juries, separation of powers in the federal government, civilian control of the military, a republican form of government, keeping the river and the air clean…we are all conservatives!

It is politicians and so-called ‘interest groups’ who profit by putting us into categories like “conservative” or “liberal.” It helps them create constituencies, demonize others, raise money, get elected, stay elected, and institute their agenda. Politicians of every stripe, and fund raisers on every side do this.

My appeal to you is: get beyond the stereotype; refuse to permit others to categorize you; and quit defining yourself by the general category of “conservative” or “liberal.”

All of us are willing to give up some things, and unwilling to give up others. We are all willing to trade some things we hold for other things we do not. Before you permit yourself to be captured by those who want to use you, always define what you what you want to keep, and define what you are willing to give away. You cannot define yourself as a conservative – only as wanting to “conserve” certain things. Likewise, you cannot define yourself as a liberal - only as willing to give away, or trade, or lose specific things your may never get back in favor of other things.

Some people, of course, are very shortsighted and want something today and are willing to trade something very important for it only to later mourn the loss of what they can never reclaim. Like Esau who was very hungry trading his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentils - the lentil soup seemed more important at the time; but what was lost could never be reclaimed. It was gone forever.

As an exercise, take a bit of time to jot down a list of the things (perhaps some of them mentioned above) that you really want to keep; to conserve. Then think about the things you are willing to lose forever and are willing to have them replaced with something else. My guess is that you will find you want to “conserve” much more about country, government, economics, family, and culture than you previously considered. Let’s keep the right to discuss what we want to keep and what we are willing to give away; that’s a conservative principle. Now you think about that.