Limited Government

Conservatives are about conserving the principles which maximize liberty. Many, even some conservatives, have characterized conservatism as being for "small government". However, this is not technically true. A small government can still do a great deal of undue damage.

Instead conservatives promote the idea of limited government. If the government is limited from violating your negative rights, then the government will indeed be small. Here in America, our government is founded on a document called the Constitution. The Constitution is one of the things that makes America unique. It marks the first time that a nation was founded on laws, rather on a supposed divine right of kings.

The Constitution was founded on a philosophy called Liberalism, and we conservatives love the Constitution. We seek to interpret it strictly (or conservatively) because we know that it will lead to greater freedom for everyone. If people interpret it loosely (liberally), or simply rewrite it to suit their own views, we will have tyranny from those who are interpreting. It's a scenario like the pigs in Animal Farm, who rewrote the laws while the other animals were sleeping.

The Constitution is our contract with our government. We give them the power to protect our rights and dispense justice, in return they are bound not to violate our rights. This is why it is so important to understand that our rights are negative. If the government violates the contract, it has nullified it's legitimacy. Our Founders took this very seriously, even saying that the people should overthrow the government in such an event.

The Referee

The government is supposed to be a referee, and the Constitution is a handbook of all the things that the referee should not do. The referee should not interfere with the game. The referee cannot pick favorites. The referee cannot give free throws to a team, just because he feels like it. It can only give free-throws when one team is fouled by the other team.

My Observations

I am no expert on the Constitution, but I have had the honor of studying under many experts who love our nation and want to preserve the freedoms that our Constitution brings. Earlier this year, I read through the entire US Constitution, and I would recommend it for anyone who hasn't. Even if you are not conservative. You might not understand all of it, but try to grasp as much as you can. I am now reading further materials to help me better understand the original document and it's underlying philosophy. While I am no expert, allow me to share a few of my observations on this great document.

1. The articles and amendments in the Constitution restrict the government, not the people. You would think that the law of the land would have articles talking about activities that are restricted for citizens. To my memory, there are none, save the Prohibition Amendment, which is also the only amendment that has been repealed.

2. The articles and amendments protect the negative rights of the people. I have put this series in this order for a reason. I spent a whole blog explaining “negative rights” and how your only true right is the right to be left alone. All of the rights that the Constitution protects are negative rights, and they are all protected against the government.

3. The Tenth Amendment delegates all other powers to the States and to the people. This observation segues nicely into my next blog in this series. A government ought to be decentralized as much as possible. Decentralization is the best way to limit the government.