The Unconscious Conservative

     Many years ago I was looking for a group of fellow conservatives so I could find fellowship and discuss ideas.  I came across a group of Republicans.  Having been told my entire life that the Republican Party was the Party for Conservatives,  I decided to talk to them.  I asked them if they were conservative and they replied that they were.  However, I'm a bit skeptical by nature so I decided to give them a test.  One of the items that had drawn me most to the conservative belief system was the stance against communisim and totalitarian regimes in general.  I had recently read "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx so I quizzed the Republicans about their beliefs on the various tenets of communism.  To my surprise, they agreed with most of the communist doctrine.  I am sure that these people were honest and believed that they were conservative but I believe that they were actually Unconscious Conservatives.  Unconscious Conservatives are those people who sleepwalk blindly through political life, believing that what their favorite politician or radio host tells them is a conservative belief actually is a conservative belief.  I prefer to be a Conscious Conservative.  I analyze each position to determine if it truly matches conservative values.

To Illustrate this further,  let's contrast some views of Communists, Unconscious Conservatives and Conscious Conservatives.

Communist-  Abolish private property
Unconscious Conservative-  Regulate uses of private property and determine who can own what property
Conscious Conservative-  Allow complete ownership of private property with all rights and privileges

Communist-  Establish a Progressive Income Tax
Unconscious Conservative-  Establish a "Flat Tax" or "Fair Tax"
Conscious Conservative-  Any Tax on the fruit of a person's labor or intellect is theft and immoral

Communist-  Centralize credit in a National Bank
Unconscious Conservative-  Support a Federal Reserve system--Use public funds to help banks that are "too big to fail"
Conscious Conservative-  Abolish the Federal Reserve, return to a sound monetary system.

The list could go on, but the main point has been made.  The Unconscious Conservative agrees with the Communist but modifies the position slightly so that it isn't "too radical"  or makes "good common sense."  The Conscious Conservative considers each position in light of the principles of natural rights for all human beings, the ideas of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and the concepts of liberty and equality under the law.