There are
six concepts that I feel are essential to conservatism. These aren't
just “my six conservative principles”, instead these are the six principles that I propose are essential to
conservatism. I have written them in a way that builds one on top of
the other. Let me know if you can see how they are all connected.
Individualism is the idea that all humans are equal. We
are equal in essence, and therefore equal in rights, and therefore
equal before the law. We are all one people, not to be divided by
religion, political party, ethnicity, gender, or any such thing. Yet,
each of us is a unique individual. We each have similarities and
differences that we can find with each human being on Earth.
Negative rights are rights that only require
inaction on the part of others. Your right to life, requires that
others NOT kill you. Your right to free speech requires that others
NOT stop you from talking (although you can't force them to listen,
either). Negative rights boils down to your right to be left alone.
This is in stark contrast with positive rights, which are
entitlements to free stuff. Negative rights must be protected in
order to maintain civilization, and those who violate negative rights
must be punished (usually by having their rights proportionally
violated).
When we
protect everyone's negative rights, we create a society with the
purest form of liberty, but in order to maintain this pure
liberty, we must have virtue, which can be defined as moral
excellence. Someone who pursues moral excellence (virtue) can be
expected to give liberty to his fellow-man. In fact liberty can be considered the
most basic form of virtue.
He can
also be expected to pursue the highest good for himself and others.
He will seek mutually-beneficial trades, that will lift up both
himself and his fellow-man. He will give to the poor, without
government coercion. He will stay away from substances and activities
which harm himself and those around him.
A
perfectly moral population would need no government, but no one is
perfectly moral. However, the more moral a population, the smaller
government that they will require. This concept is the often unspoken
core of conservatism. If we want greater liberty, we need to promote
the highest virtue, in the greatest number of people. Virtue cannot
be brought by force, from the top down, except for severely punishing
those who violate negative rights. Instead virtue must be taught from
the ground up.
The
government is an institution, set up by the people, to protect the
negative rights of their citizens. The job of the government is to
recognize different rights, create laws to protect those rights, and
punish those who break the law. In America, we have a contract with
our government called the Constitution. Our government promises to
protect certain negative rights, and we promise not to overthrow
them. At least that's supposed to be the idea.
Our
Constitution limits the government's power, and the Tenth Amendment
delegates all other powers, not mentioned, to the states or to the
people. This protects us from centralizing power, which leads to more
micro-managing from bureaucrats in the capitol. An effective
government delegates power as much as possible. The federal
government delegates power to the states, states to counties, cities,
and towns, and from there to private institutions, families, and
individuals.
Free
enterprise is based off of two negative rights: your right to your
own property and your right to control how you use your property.
When these rights are truly carried out, we create a free enterprise,
and wealth is generated. Not money, but wealth. Wealth is generated
primarily when there is a mutually-beneficial exchange. When both
parties in a trade win, they walk away wealthier than they were
before. This doesn't eliminate poverty, as we can never eliminate
poverty. However, it can alleviate the severity of poverty.
So What Do You Think?
Please share this post if you liked it. Also, tell me what you think. Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks Facebook page. Did I miss any essential concepts in conservatism? Do you disagree with any of the ones I presented? If so, please tell me why. I am curious to know.
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