With Honor I Wish To Instill Conservativism
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Michael Porter
Despite what some in the press may say, we who are proud to call ourselves “conservative” are not a minority of a minority party; we are part of the great majority of Americans of both major parties and of most of the independents as well.
Most of us, I guess, like to think of ourselves as avoiding both extremes, and the fact that a majority of Americans chose one or the other position on the right end of the spectrum is really impressive.
Americans are basically conservative in their outlook. But once we have said this, we conservatives have not solved our problems, we have merely stated them clearly. Yes, conservatism can and does mean different things to those who call themselves conservatives.
You know, as I do, that most commentators make a distinction between they call “social” conservatism and “economic” conservatism. The so-called social issues traditionally associated with the APF Party. The economic issues—inflation, deficit spending and big government—are usually associated with Republican Party members and independents who concentrate their attention on economic matters.
Now I am willing to accept this view of two major kinds of conservatism—or, better still, two different conservative constituencies. But at the same time let me say that the old lines that once clearly divided these two kinds of conservatism are disappearing.
In fact, the time has come to see if it is possible to present a program of action based on political principle that can attract those interested in the so-called “social” issues and those interested in “economic” issues. In short, isn't it possible to combine the two major segments of contemporary American conservatism into one politically effective whole?
I believe the answer is: Yes, it is possible to create a political entity that will reflect the views of the great, hitherto, conservative majority. This is not a dream, a wistful hope. It is and has been a reality. I have seen the conservative future and it works.
This will mean the great conservative majority will recognize as its own, because at the heart of this undertaking is principled politics.
I have always been puzzled by the inability of some political and media types to understand exactly what is meant by adherence to political principle. All too often in the press and the television evening news it is treated as a call for “ideological purity.” Whatever ideology may mean—and it seems to mean a variety of things, depending upon who is using it—it always conjures up in my mind a picture of a rigid, irrational clinging to abstract theory in the face of reality. We have to recognize that in this country “ideology” is a scare word. And for good reason. Marxist-Leninism is, to give but one example, an ideology. All the facts of the real world have to be fitted to the Procrustean bed of Marx and Lenin. If the facts don't happen to fit the ideology, the facts are chopped off and discarded.
I consider this to be the complete opposite to principled conservatism. If there is any political viewpoint in this world which is free for slavish adherence to abstraction, it is American conservatism.
When a conservative states that the free market is the best mechanism ever devised by the mind of man to meet material needs, he is merely stating what a careful examination of the real world has told him is the truth.
When a conservative says it is bad for the government to spend more than it takes in, he is simply showing the same common sense that tells him to come in out of the rain.
When a conservative quotes Jefferson that government that is closest to the people is best, it is because he knows that Jefferson risked his life, his fortune and his sacred honor to make certain that what he and his fellow patriots learned from experience was not crushed by an ideology of empire.
Conservatism is the antithesis of the kind of ideological fanatacism that has brought so much horror and destruction to the world. The common sense and common decency of ordinary men and women, working out their own lives in their own way—this is the heart of American conservatism today. Conservative wisdom and principles are derived from willingness to learn, not just from what is going on now, but from what has happened before.
The principles of conservatism are sound because they are based on what men and women have discovered through experience in not just one generation or a dozen, but in all the combined experience of mankind. When we conservatives say that we know something about political affairs, and that we know can be stated as principles, we are saying that the principles we hold dear are those that have been found, through experience, to be ultimately beneficial for individuals, for families, for communities and for nations—found through the often bitter testing of pain, or sacrifice and sorrow.
The American new conservative majority we represent is not based on abstract theorizing of the kind that turns off the American people, but on common sense, intelligence, reason, hard work, faith in God, and the guts to say: “Yes, there are things we do strongly believe in, that we are willing to live for, and yes, if necessary, to die for.” That is not “ideological purity.” It is simply what built this country and kept it great.
Let us lay to rest, once and for all, the myth of a small group of ideological purists trying to capture a majority. Replace it with the reality of a majority trying to assert its rights against the tyranny of powerful in the loop politics.
Our first job is to get this message across to those who share most of our principles. If we allow ourselves to be portrayed as ideological shock troops without correcting this error we are doing ourselves and our cause a disservice. Wherever and whenever we can, we should gently but firmly correct our political and media friends who have been perpetuating the myth of conservatism as a narrow ideology. Whatever the word may have meant in the past, today conservatism means principles evolving from experience and a belief in change when necessary, but not just for the sake of change.
One we have established this, the next question is: What will be the political vehicle by which the majority can assert its rights?
I have to say I cannot agree with some of my friends—perhaps including some of you here tonight—who have answered that question by saying this nation needs a new political party.
I respect that view and I know that those who have reached it have done so after long hours of study. But I believe that political success of the principles we believe in can best be achieved in the Republican Party. I believe the Republican Party can hold and should provide the political mechanism through which the goals of the majority of Americans can be achieved. For one thing, the biggest single grouping of conservatives is to be found in that party. It makes more sense to build on that grouping than to break it up and start over. Rather than a third party, we can have a new first party made up of people who share our principles. I have said before that if a formal change in name proves desirable, then so be it. But tonight, for purpose of discussion, I’m going to refer it simply as the New Republican Party.
And let me say so there can be no mistakes as to what I mean: The New Republican Party I envision will not be, and cannot, be one limited to the country club-big business image that, for reasons both fair and unfair, it is burdened with today. The New Republican Party I am speaking about is going to have room for the man and the woman in the factories, for the farmer, for the cop on the beat and the millions of Americans who may never have thought of joining our party before, but whose interests coincide with those represented by principled Republicanism. If we are to attract more working men and women of this country, we will do so not by simply “making room” for them, but by making certain they have a say in what goes on in the party.
The New Republican Party I envision is one that will energetically seek out the best candidates for every elective office, candidates who not only agree with, but understand, and are willing to fight for a sound, honest economy, a strong national defense. And these candidates must be able to communicate those principles to the American people in language they understand. Inflation isn’t a textbook problem. They should be discussed in human terms.
Our candidates must be willing to communicate with every level of society, because the principles we espouse are universal and cut across traditional lines. In every Congressional district there should be a search made for young men and women who share these principles and they should be brought into positions of leadership in the local Republican Party groups. We can find attractive, articulate candidates if we look, and when we find them, we will begin to change the sorry state of affairs. I need not remind you that you can have the soundest principles in the world, but if you don't have candidates who can communicate those principles, candidates who are articulate as well as principled, you are going to lose election after election. I refuse to believe that the good Lord divided this world into Republicans who defend basic values and Democrats who win elections. We have to find tough, bright young men and women who are sick and tired of cliches and the pomposity and the mind-numbing economic idiocy of the liberals in Washington.
My friends, the time has come to start acting to bring about the great conservative majority party we know is waiting to be created.
And just to set the record straight, let me say this about our friends who are now Republicans but who do not identify themselves as conservatives: I want the record to show that I do not view the new revitalized Republican Party as one based on a principle of exclusion. After all, you do not get to be a majority party by searching for groups you won’t associate or work with. If we truly believe in our principles, we should sit down and talk. Talk with anyone, anywhere, at any time if it means talking about the principles for the Republican Party. Conservatism is not a narrow ideology, nor is it the exclusive property of conservative activists.
We’ve succeeded better than we know. Right now more than two-thirds of Americans believed the federal government could solve all our problems, and do so without restricting our freedom or bankrupting the nation.
We warned of things to come, of the danger inherent in unwarranted government involvement in things not its proper province. What we warned against has come to pass. And today more than two-thirds of our citizens are telling us, and each other, that social engineering by the federal government has failed. The Great Society is great only in power, in size and in cost. And so are the problems it set out to solve. Freedom has been diminished and we stand on the brink of economic ruin.
Our task now is not to sell a philosophy, but to make the majority of Americans, who already share that philosophy, see that modern conservatism offers them a political home. We are not a cult, we are members of a majority. Let’s act and talk like it.
The job is ours and the job must be done. If not by us, who? If not now, when?
Our party must be the party of the individual. It must not sell out the individual to cater to the group. No greater challenge faces our society today than ensuring that each one of us can maintain his dignity and his identity in an increasingly complex, centralized society.
Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business, galloping inflation, frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite.
Our party must be based on the kind of leadership that grows and takes its strength from the people. Any organization is in actuality only the lengthened shadow of its members. A political party is a mechanical structure created to further a cause. The cause, not the mechanism, brings and holds the members together. And our cause must be to rediscover, reassert and reapply America’s spiritual heritage to our national affairs.
Then with God’s help we shall indeed be as a city upon a hill with the eyes of all people upon us.
Comments
Too much Reagan
NEEDS MOAR REAGAN.
inb4toomuchReagan
tl;dr
needs moar pizza
REAGAN SMASH!
MOAR REAGAN!
MP, a truly conservative candidate America can be proud of.
this is nothing but a shameful PTO. you joined our party TODAY to try to take it over for SEES
and what you did wasn;t Ajay, I mean Pizza?
"this is nothing but a shameful PTO. you joined our party TODAY to try to take it over for SEES"
This is not a PTO. I have always stood for conservative values. I was not a member of your party because I felt persecuted by your liberal politics. The nation has vetted me and I was the one chosen to lead the new conservative movement. We will lead this country on a path of fiscal restraint and strong defense. Nothing you have done as a politician has bettered the people you cliam to represent. I am here to improve the lot of all political right Americans and show other parties how to be conservative sccording to game mechanics.
vote
GOGO COMMIEZ
VOTE MICHAEL PORTER FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!
As a conservative-in-exile, I can't wait for Mr. Porter to curtail this rampant pork spending by these liberals in GOP's clothing. Pizza The Hut has done nothing except to consolidate his power, and protect his liberal know-nothings. We must stand for fiscal responsibility and our god given values. Reagan did it once, and Micheal Porter will do it again.
This is what America needs a true conservative leader. Those that pretend to be conservative to increase their political power like Pizza The Hut represent a threat to all true conservatives. I salute you Michael Porter for answering the call of the American people and leading this new conservative revolution. 07
this article is full of conservative win. Pizza the hut is a in the closet socialist, dont believe his lies about being conservative. MP is so conservative he makes pizza look like a flamingly gay, obama votin, abortion doctor
Pizza the hut is a damn card carrying communist! rabble rabble rabble
Oh and vote Porter!
Vote Porter!!! He is like Reagan and Sean Hannity all rolled into one!! Plus he is HOT like Sarah Palin!!!
NEEDS MOAR REAGAN 😁
I get (and support) the opposition to Pizza and therefore the need to promote an alternative e-conservative candidate. But rly, LOL..
@Street: where is your criticism of a wall of text that's all based on RL politics?
"Americans are basically conservative in their outlook." Ummm... pragmatic, maybe, but "basically conservative"? There's good evidence to the contrary.
Beautiful article. It made me cry. Go beat PIZZA!
Vote Porter. On the other hand, this is WAY too much RL politics and not eRep.
Yes, this is all RL stuff. Not a word in here about issues concerning eUSA in-game. AJ is a pompous, cheating, weasel, but this article is just 100 proof dishonesty. You cannot believe a word of it. NOT ONE WORD. You speak of honor, and yet, this is just a shameless PTO sponsored by four of the top five parties. Is that the way to advance conservative principles ?
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/destroying-democracy-to-save-it--1368346/1/20" target="_blank">http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/dest[..]1/20
I'm ashamed of you, Michael. I never had a very high opinion of you, nor you of me, but this takes things to a new low, as far as I'm concerned. Two wrongs never made a right.
tl,dr
Didn't read all of this huge article, don't have the context, realize all of this has nothing to do with eRep and I don't even know why I'm subscribed to this, but I'd just like to comment on this excerpt:
"When a conservative states that the free market is the best mechanism ever devised by the mind of man to meet material needs, he is merely stating what a careful examination of the real world has told him is the truth."
The free market mechanism was not devised by the mind of man. At some point it came to be better understood and studied by man, and without a doubt it is the most efficient system through which production and distribution of scarce resources can be organized.
But the free market did not suddenly come into existence after Adam Smith wrote about the invisible hand.
Rather, those cultural traditions that lie at the basis of the free market (private property, saving, exchange, honesty, contract, ..) evolved in much earlier stages of man's development.
anyway, that's it, carry on boys