Tag: racism

How to Fail at Being Conservative…

It’s past time to separate the conservative wheat from the putrid chaff of Nationalism.

Though there may be many disagreements about what qualifies someone to be an American conservative, there can be no disagreement on what would disqualify someone as a conservative. The events in Charlottesville have made it ever clearer that the Republican Party and the rise of Nationalism have blurred the ideological lines that were once so clear. It’s past time to separate the conservative wheat from the putrid chaff of Nationalism.

So how does one fail to be conservative?

1] Support any form of government interference in the market.

Whether that be direct subsidization, tax rebates, arbitrary regulation, or contract constraints. The use of capital and resources should be left to the private decisions of owners and consumers, not to the government bureaucrats or elected politicians, no matter how well meaning, yes, even social programs designed to feed the hungry, cover the medical costs of the elderly, or subsidize the mortgages of the poor.

Support of government interference in the market disqualifies someone as being conservative, because government control or ownership of market enterprise that entails “taking from some based on ability and giving to others based on their need” (Karl Marx) has a name: Socialism. Socialism isn’t Conservatism.

2] Support any form of government interference in foreign nations.

Whether it be a military intervention, a coalition police action, or even just foreign subsidies, without a demonstrable and imminent national security interest that only be achieved through a committed alliance with another nation, the expense of the blood and treasure of the people of the United States of America is nothing short of murder and theft. Nation states must stand on their own, and, short of impending future threat to the sovereignty of the United States, there is no justification for possibly “entangling alliances” (George Washington).

Support of government interference in foreign nations disqualifies someone as being conservative because aggressive government interference in foreign powers has a name: Imperialism. Imperialism isn’t Conservatism.

3] Support any form of government discrimination for or against any individuals.

Whether it be affirmative action quotas or open discrimination based on sex or race, a just government should treat all individuals according to a single standard applied equally to all, with no differences in criminal codes among any group, be it race, sex, creed, or any other consideration. Our society should be based on “Liberty and Justice for all” (Francis Bellamy), and “all” in this case is literally everyone within the territorial bounds of our nation and, where applicable, for anyone beyond as well.

Support of government discrimination against any individuals disqualifies someone as being conservative because discrimination for or against any individuals has many names: Sexism, Racism, Nativism, etc. None of them are Conservatism.

“If the great American people will only keep their temper, on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled just as surely as all other difficulties of like character which have originated in this government have been adjusted.”
-Abraham Lincoln-

Let’s make this so clear that even Trump supporters might be able to understand. The “Carrier deal”, any kind of “repatriation tax”, or any tariff on foreign goods represent government interference in the market. Any military intervention in Syria, Venezuela, or any other country that doesn’t pose an imminent threat to American lives would represent interference in foreign nations. Any policy designed to advantage citizens over non-citizens, bans individuals based on religious belief, or support hate groups actively inciting violence against their countrymen would qualify as discrimination for or against individuals.

In every possible way, Trumpism is entirely inconsistent with the necessary and proper purpose of government to secure the Lives, Liberties, and Properties of all people living honestly within the boundaries of the United States. The core precepts of the MAGA movement in no way resembles Conservatism as espoused by Reagan, Buckley, or the Founding Fathers. To support Trumpism is to betray conservatism in every way.

Liberty is For The Win!

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A Short Word: Paranoia vs Patriotism

It does not matter if you are tired of the Left’s accusations of racism and bigotry, if those accusations turn out to be true.

If you pay almost any attention to the rhetoric coming from the rank and file within the pro-Trump camp, it won’t be long before you’ll hear the unmistakable reactionary chords of ethnocentric angst that runs deep in the psychology of their movement. Even disregarding the open bigotry of the alt-right movement’s totally unhinged agitators, there is still so much paranoid xenophobia couched in the MAGA movement.

Just listen to the rank and file talk about the “assault on western civilization” or whine about the “white genocide” of European nations “overrun by immigrants“. They are pro “Muslim ban“, anti “foreign trade“, and loudly “America First“, using buzzwords, such as “globalism” and “anti-establishment“, that can mean literally anything depending on the context. They’ll viciously attack anyone that dares call their political posturing what it very clearly is: bigotry.

Make no mistake, when some MAGA supporter on whatever social media platform says “globalist“, there’s a better than 50% chance they mean “Jew“. When they say “immigrant“, they very often really mean “non-white“. This isn’t some paranoid Leftist conspiracy, either, because even when these people are unmasked, other “innocent” MAGA supporters will do less than nothing to condemn this behavior. This fact alone convicts the entire Trump movement.

It does not matter if you are tired of the Left’s accusations of racism and bigotry, if those accusations turn out to be true.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.-

This isn’t to say that the underlying fears and anxiety that have engendered MAGA’s lunacy are completely unfounded. One need only look at the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, the Boston Marathon bombing, the murder of police officers by radicalized Black militants, the shooting death of Kathryn Steinle by an Mexican national illegally in the country, or, more recently, the radicalized Leftist gunman that open fired on unarmed Congressmen in Alexandria, VA to see that there are very real threats all around us.

Unfortunately, while the rank and file MAGA voter will say they are merely interested in the “defense of western civilization“, “protecting American jobs“, and enforcing the “rule of law“, the Nationalist policy that results always seems to end up being the persecution of “the other“. They criminalize the desperation of men and women seeking only an honest day’s work. They subject millions of Muslim Americans to prejudice and suspicion. They attack business men and women for simply trying to do what is necessary to stay competitive in a global marketplace.

All the while, Trump’s supporters have missed one fundamental fact. The necessary and proper role of American government has never been to defend any civilization, or to protect anyone’s jobs, or even to enforce the rule of law (keep breathing and keep reading). In America, “governments are instituted among Men” in order “to secure these rights (Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness)“, and while rule of law is absolutely necessary to secure public Liberty, the creation and enforcement of unjust laws that transgress on the Liberties of others is tyranny!

Never forget, the solemn duty of all Patriots is to defend the Liberties of all people.

Liberty is For The Win!

We just checked, and it turns out that fighting for Liberty isn’t free, because it requires time and energy to research, prepare, and propagate this message for you. Please drop just a dollar a month into the proverbial tip jar and become a Patriot Patron. Of course, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share. Keep this fight for Liberty going! – @LibertyIsFTW

A Simple Solution to the Grievance War

To everyone that demands that this nation change to become something it is not, I invite to do the only thing that makes sense: Go away.

The trial of Betty Shelby ended exactly how most people thought it would. The people who convicted her before the trial, convict her now. The people who thought that she was justified in the September 16th, 2016 shooting that claimed the life of Terence Crutcher still vindicate her now. The people that didn’t care before, probably still don’t care now. Nevertheless, the media circus, grievance propagandists, and mouth breathing race supremacists are all still doing today what they were doing the day before Terence Crutcher fell to the pavement, bleeding out the only life he had with God only knows going through his PCP glazed thoughts.

A family lost a father, a son, and a brother. A church lost a member of their choir. And, for Betty Shelby, what was normal life ended forever, as split second choice she made in a moment of fear has tyrannized her for most of a year, and, very likely, will keep her company in the darkness of the night for years to come. The only crime committed in this entire situation has been violence against the truth and the social peace by those who continue to use Terence’s death and Betty’s emotional trauma to perpetuate a mythology of intractable conflict between “minority” communities and “white” American culture.

“We all live with the objective of being happy;
our lives are all different and yet the same.”
-Anne Frank-

Tribalism, as old an ideology as human kind has, is at the heart of this interminable social disease, and there is but one cure for it. The United States is a melting pot, where ethnic traditions and cultural practices can be not only tolerated but celebrated. From Saint Patrick’s Day to Chinese New Year, the America is big enough to accommodate the cultural and ethnic identities of everyone in it. That is part of what makes America what it is. These cultural elements are shared with other Americans and ultimately become part of what it means to be American.

In this way Kung-Fu, tacos, green beer, lasagna, Hip Hop, and break dancing have all become a part and parcel of American culture. For the vast majority of Americans whose lives have been enriched by these borrowed cultural elements, there’s not a second thought given to where these elements came from. Americans just enjoy them as part of being American, as they should. Yet for others, they see anything alien to their own life experiences as somehow being a threat to their way of life, as if every sizzling skillet of fajitas fixings is somehow out to get them and “their” way of life.

To everyone that demands that this nation change to become something it is not, I invite to do the only thing that makes sense: Go away. You have such a problem with burritos, lo mein noodles, Ice Cube, Thomas Jefferson, the rule of law, political equality, the Fourth of July, Cinco de Mayo, Christmas, or the Second Amendment that you can’t even tolerate that other people enjoy them? Clearly this country and its culture are not a good fit for you. Find one of the over two hundred countries around the globe that homogeneously fits your idea of “correct” and go there. This is our culture, our laws, and our country.

Love it or leave it, because you have a right to leave but don’t have a right to infringe on our right to celebrate this diverse, peaceful, culturally rich, pluralistic, and law abiding society. You want to stay in America? Then be American. It’s actually pretty awesome.

Liberty is For The Win!

We just checked, and it turns out that fighting for Liberty isn’t free, because it requires time and energy to research, prepare, and propagate this message for you. Please drop just a dollar a month into the proverbial tip jar and become a Patriot Patron. Of course, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share. Keep this fight for Liberty going! – @LibertyIsFTW

The Mainstreaming of Bigotry

If we are to hold to the principle of pluralism that those on the left and the right both at least pretend to seek, we have to reject the purposeful intolerance of those whose political ideas may be antithetical to our own, so long as they do not harm others.

The first time two people came over a hill, took a long, hard, look at one another, then decided they simply didn’t like the look of one another, the evil of bigotry was born into the world. Since then, of course, there have been many hills and many long, hard looks, and bigots have only ever become more and more numerous. Villages have been turned to ash, armadas of slave ships built, and cattle cars filled with weeping humanity in an ever escalating tide of evil born of ignorance and prejudice.

Among many horrible things, 2016 revealed that bigotry was now mainstream in the United States, as millions of American voters on both sides of the aisle revealed just how little tolerance they had of opposing political views and values. It is this intolerance of ideas, not just skin color or ethnicity, that is the putrid heart of bigotry. It eats away at the bridges of society and civil norms until all bonds of country are so wasted that they simply collapse under the weight of blind hatred.

When we reduce each other to “evil, greedy, rich white people” and “stupid, lazy people, who need to get a job“, what is there to discuss? If simply “getting a job” solved all problems, poverty could have been eradicated eons ago. If “white people” are what’s causing all of the problems, why are so many nonwhite nations not utopias? What does any of this have to do with solving the problems that have plagued humanity since we started living together in multi-family communities in the first place?

“An eye for an eye will leave everyone blind.”
-Mohandas Gandhi-

Our culture is at an impasse created by the constant appeal to the lowest common denominator, exacerbated by politicians who have abandoned any pretense of rational political discourse. This may have something to do with the large numbers of people that have abandoned the major political parties altogether, as many Americans have simply had enough of the fact free, anti-intellectual political rhetoric of the last 20 years.

The norm, not the exception, is that most wrongs will simply never be righted. These injustices, both perceived and real, will never be punished, not because justice is invalid or unnecessary, but because the actual perpetrators of the injustices are dead and buried. To be absolutely clear, I’m not denying there are people who are so ignorant and maladjusted that they believe other people are inferior, simply because they are different. I’m not denying that people have acted maliciously upon these vile ideas.

What I am denying is that all people of any particular group are somehow complicit simply because they share similar skin pigmentation or blood relation with transgressors of any group. The superficial bigotry of racism is only the ugliest form of bigotry. Condemning others based on their racial identity, their political affiliations, or upon any other point not related to their actual deeds and words is the very definition of prejudice. The very thing the left and right both claim to abhor has become normalized in both camps.

People are individuals, not groups, so no one can nor should be held accountable for anyone’s wrongdoing but their own. While people may agree on certain things, even form political parties in order to further those goals, in the end, we’re still all individuals, subject to our own faults and fears.

“When they kept on questioning him,
he straightened up and said to them,
‘Let any one of you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.'”
-John 8:7-

Without common ground, society cannot function. If we are to hold to the principle of pluralism that those on the left and the right both at least pretend to seek, we have to reject the purposeful intolerance of those whose political ideas may be antithetical to our own, so long as they do not harm others. However, even when we hold people to account for the harm they do, we cannot simply dismiss their ideas. Jefferson said that “The people cannot be all, & always, well informed..“, but he held that the people always retained the right to rebel.

I hold that conservatives must defer to Jefferson’s judgment here, because in the pursuit of justice, fueled by the passion of youth, the wrong actions made for the right reasons, even if based on fallacious assumptions, will happen, and, indeed, in a free society, must happen, if the society hopes to retain its freedom. The confusion of these young leftists is not solely, or even predominantly their fault. The groundwork for their misinformation has been laid for decades before their birth.

For a young man or woman to understand differently than the prevailing culture is almost a miracle when we consider all of the forces at work at every level of our society to lead the young astray. Regardless, there is very little we can do to force leftists to hold themselves to a consistent moral standard. We are the only people we can hold accountable, and we cannot legitimately hold anyone to any standard of behavior, if we aren’t, in fact, holding ourselves to that same standard of behavior.

Every bigot is also a hypocrite.

Liberty is For The Win!

We just checked, and it turns out that fighting for Liberty isn’t free, because it requires time and energy to research, prepare, and propagate this message for you. Please drop just a dollar a month into the proverbial tip jar and become a Patriot Patron. Of course, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share. Keep this fight for Liberty going! – @LibertyIsFTW