compassionate sonservatism or socialism?

http://www.newswithviews.com/Bill/sizemore29.htm

COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM OR SOCIALISM?





By Bill Sizemore

November 23, 2004

NewsWithViews.com

The word â??socialismâ?� has lost much of the stigma historically and rightfully attached to it. The evil that word conveyed for generations of Americans has been all but lost. More problematic, however, is the fact that many of those who understand the historical meaning of the word and profess to abhor the concept, practice outright socialism, but call it something else.

Letâ??s get a couple of things straight. There is no such thing as a generous politician. Generous people give away their own money, not money they used the power of government to confiscate from other peopleâ??s bank accounts.

There is no such thing as a generous or compassionate government. Government is at its essence force and power, not giving and sharing. Governments do not have the capacity for compassion or generosity. Those are human characteristics. Government takes by force and redistributes by formula. These are hardly charitable acts.

A government that forcibly takes from those who produce and redistributes to those who donâ??t, is socialistic. Plain and simple. By that standard, our federal government and the governments of all fifty states are socialist or turning more socialistic every year.

Conservatives appear to have already lost this battle. Worse yet, many of us have given up the fight and joined the other side.

The heart of the conservative philosophy is really pretty simple: Government, rightly formed, should encourage individual responsibility, insure that the its citizens are secure in their property and left free to enjoy the fruits of their own labors. That freedom includes, of course, the right to give away as much of oneâ??s money and property as oneâ??s conscience dictates, and the right to keep as much of what one possesses as one wishes.

What then are we to think of all this talk about â??compassionate conservatism,â?� which is so common these days within the ranks of self-described conservatives? Compassionate conservatism was a major plank in the Bush campaign for election and reelection and he ran as a conservative.

What does this mean? Is this something new under the sun? Is this doctrine some kind of long desired middle ground between conservativism and liberalism? Is it a healthy balance between two extremes? I think not.

Compassionate conservatism is, simply put, Republicans embracing just enough socialism to get elected. It is their effort, for political purposes, to outbid the Democrats in the competition to see who can be the most â??giving and sharingâ?� with other peopleâ??s money.

All this would just be politics as usual, if compassionate conservatism was merely a clever label created by politicians and political consultants to help elect more Republicans by taking the edge off of traditional conservative views regarding taxpayer funded social programs.



Republicans consultants have long sought some cosmetic way to make Republicans appear as warm and caring as welfare state Democrats. But what is going on today this is more than political posturing. It is not just a cosmetic makeover. The compassionate conservative movement prevalent in America today is much more dangerous than that. It is a sign that some top Republican officeholders and their handlers and consultants have given up on the conservative message.

Understandably, Republicans have become weary of the beatings they have taken from liberals in the media. They have grown tired of being labeled cold or uncaring, while their tax-and-spend Democrat counterparts are described as generous, visionary, and community-minded.

Given the time, true conservatives can explain why their approach is in reality more compassionate than the socialistic approach of the Democrats. Problem is, conservatives are rarely given the time. The political attention span of the average citizen is about one lousy minute. That is hardly enough time to educate someone about a political philosophy, an economic system, and the resultant worldview.

We can expect no help from the media. Most liberal reporters and editors simply are not capable of comprehending the conservative philosophy. Conservativism is entirely antithetical to their worldview and their understanding of human nature, or more accurately, their misunderstanding of human nature. Thus, explaining the logical and philosophical basis for conservativism to your average close-minded, liberal reporter or editor borders on casting oneâ??s pearls before swine.

Given the opportunity, conservatives could explain that it is immeasurably better (and more compassionate) to teach a man to fish, as conservatives would do, than to simply give him a fish, as the Democrats would. Problem is, the average citizen would rather just spend his time fishing than hearing about all this stuff.

Given the chance, conservatives could explain that the sense of pride that comes from self-sufficiency is vastly superior to the debilitating entitlement mentality that is engendered by the Democratsâ?? big government welfare programs. They could explain that the pie is not a fixed size, as Democrats generally believe, but rather can be increased to provide plenty for all, if governments would get out of the way and stop taxing and regulating the incentive out of the economy.

But then, besides the choir, who is listening?

Perhaps it took too long to explain such things and the politicians got tired of all the wasted effort. Maybe it was too much work. Maybe they wanted to win elections more than they wanted to change the world. Whatever the reason, many have decided to take the path of least resistance. Now they are compassionate conservatives.

Instead of being stingy, cold-hearted conservatives, who let people keep the money they make and take care of themselves, they are now â??compassionate conservatives.â?� As such, they are free to embrace increased spending on social programs, not because they are socialists intent upon redistributing the wealth, mind you, but because they â??genuinely care.â?�

It is so much easier this way. Trickle down, supply side economics always was a bit difficult to explain and appeared so self-serving. Never mind that the process is natural, effective, and consistent with sound economic principle. Never mind that history has shown that it leads to economic vitality while socialism leads to stagnation and what Churchill called an equal distribution of misery.

In the final analysis, the compassionate conservatism we see in America today is merely a sign that many Republicans have decided that they would rather compromise their principles and get elected as moderate Republicans than lose elections as conservative ones. It is a triumph of pragmatism over principle.

Compassionate conservatism is political expediency in action. It is a recognition by some that a candidate can garner more votes in a general election by being a compassionate conservative than a real one.

The adherents of â??compassionate conservatismâ?� apparently have forgotten the true nature of socialism and its unavoidable effect on human nature. Socialism is like quick sand. You make the mistake of wading in just a little, perhaps ignorantly, only to find yourself being sucked in deeper and deeper with no easy way out.

Remember Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader who said that he would bury America? Some thought he would launch a nuclear attack to bring about his prophecy? Hardly. Khrushchev was perfectly willing to let America move to the left incrementally; here a little, there a little.

When speaking about FDRâ??s New Deal, Khrushchev said, "We can't expect the American people to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have communism."

Khrushchev recognized the New Deal for what it was, socialism, pure and simple. Too bad the neo-conservative Republican crowd leading America today doesnâ??t see things so clearly. Their â??compassionate conservativeâ?� approach to politics is only taking us deeper into the entitlement quicksand.

Changing terminology and calling socialist programs â??compassionate conservativismâ?� doesnâ??t change the nature of the beast itself. Redistributing the wealth to win votes will produce the same devastating end as redistributing the wealth because you are an outright socialist.

History has shown us that socialism is addictive to the people who live under it. Once they realize that they can vote themselves a piece of someone elseâ??s pocketbook or a piece of the public treasury, they are not going to willingly give up that power and they are not going to be satisfied with what they get. They will always want more, no matter how much they are given.

For that reason, Karl Rove and President Bush are playing a dangerous game. The compassionate conservative movement is a swamp that is quickly swallowing the relevance of the Republican Party and making Republicans every bit the big spenders the Democrats are. Republicans already are spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars each budget cycle, just so they can appear generous and compassionate in their campaign ads.

I close with this thought: There is such a thing as compassionate conservativism. It involves two things. First, we dismantle the welfare state incrementally rather than overnight, so as to not throw out into the streets those who have become addicted to government â??freebiesâ?�. In some sense, we are partly responsible for enabling them in their addiction. Those people, we teach to work. We teach them that society does not owe them a living, but the freedom to earn a living.

In other words, compassionate conservatism is freeing people from dependence on government .

Second, compassionate conservativism is accepting the responsibility for giving our own money to those who truly are in need. It is thus that we find a balance between two powerful scriptural admonitions; one that says that pure religion and undefiled before God is to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction; and the second, which says, if you donâ??t work, you donâ??t eat.

The first is loving and compassionate. The other is what we call tough love, the only kind of "love" government can legitimately practice.

© 2004 Bill Sizemore - All Rights Reserved

i hate misspelling words like that.

man, the U.S. has to re-name everything for themselves, huh? Compasssionate Conservatism? That's BS! All over the world there have been Progressive Conservative parties for decades, and now that the U.S. has that party too, they call it compassionate and make a big fuss about it... meh. And the word progressive makes so much more sense: socially progressive, economically conservative. Imagine a Republican party that's pro-choice, allows gay weddings and provides healthcare for the poor. Wouldn't that be better than Bible thumping would-be preachers?

Besides, with a 2-party system, it doesn't matter that there are 'compassionate' conservative, cause the people in charge, like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft (thank god he resigned), are NEOconservatives, and that's much more scary. How do you like THAT label?

the point was republicans aren't conservative. the neocons aren't conservative. republicans haven't been fiscally or otherwise conservative in over 50+ years, they are socialists.

if a conservative provided healthcare for the poor (Which is socialism, and apparently you need to understand that label)...then they'd be a socialist.

what we need is less fascism and socialism, a dollar backed by something of value and not printed at whim at interest by an unconstitutional board, and a production base that provides jobs.

we don't need more welfare and bigger government.

Um, i do understand socialism very well, I think you just mis-read my post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pisshead

if a conservative provided healthcare for the poor (Which is socialism, and apparently you need to understand that label)...then they'd be a socialist.

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if a conservative did that but remained fiscally conservative, they'd be progressive conservatives. You do know that progressive is another word for socialist, or compassionate, right?

And to call the Republican party socialist is going a little too far, don't you think? not even the democrats are socialist, and they're supposed to be the "left-leaning" party. Americans as a whole (obviously, there are exceptions, but the majority anyway) are one of the most conservative societies in the world, fiscally and socially. Redistributing a bit of money doesn't automatically make a government socialist, it takes a lot more than that.

So many individual causes have injected themselves into the terms conservative, liberal, progressive, etc., they no longer have any real meaning.

My Best to You, Yours, Equality and Constitutional Rights,

Ed,

Ed Ward, MD,
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The word â??socialismâ?� has lost much of the stigma historically and rightfully attached to it. The evil that word conveyed for generations of Americans has been all but lost.




Thats all i had to read to know its worthless garbage. Socialism is good, anyone who dosent support state funded health care is evil

oh, the irony.

i know you know everything, and screw history and people who lived exactly what you think is freedom and wonderful, even when they called it tyranny.

Just remember not to confuse socialism and communism....

socialism leads to communism, and ultimately to fascism though. it's tyranny, it's dictatorship, it's one more method of control.

you con the people to think they're winning some grand revolution, then you transfer all the assets to corporations and give them governmental powers.

this is what we see happening here today. you socialize the wealth into the hands of a few, and then those elite families run the world.

it's a racket.

Communists throughout history have hated socialists more than any other political group, because socialism does NOT lead to communism.

Moreover, why do people equate fascism and communism? they're at completely different ends of the political spectrum. The only similarity they share is that they usually result in dictatorship.

It's not the same thing people.

i'd say they're at the same end of the so called left/right paradigm that didn't exist a hundred years ago.

i'd say the real spectrum is dictatorship on one side (socialism, fascism, communism, any method of control that centalizes power and wealth), and anarchy on the other side.

total government control to no government control. there is no left/right. it was taught by the big universities that the elite foundations and corporations set up to sell us dictatorship, but to give us 2 flavors of it.

they always get what they want passed, they just sell it to either side. the passing of the federal reserve act utilized this divide and conquer method. the writer of it even pretended to be against it, and then was for the version that passed, even though it was identical.

a constitutional republic is as close as you can get to anarchy, but with a rule of law, separation of powers and checks and balances.

as you socialize the wealth, you get communism and fascism, which work together. it's going on all over the country.

the toll road scam here in austin, as well as all over the country, is a good example of a mix of communism and fascism.

the national sales tax that's going to force all businesses to have the computer where we all swipe our cards is another example of fascism and communism at work.

total federal regulation of businesses and a national sales tax. look out for that in the future as well, as well as the national id card you'll have to swipe.

You know, I think I understand what you're trying to say, but you really need to learn what the big words mean cause you're really screwing them all up.

FYI, the left/right paradigm you mention has been around for over 200 years, not less than 100 years ago. The terms were coined during the French Revolution when the more socialist-like (Marx hadn't written anything yet, but you get the idea) republican (not like the party, but the philosophy) people sat on the left side of parliament, while the loyalists/conservatives sat on the right side.

In theory, all political philosophys end up in utopia. In practice, they are all screwed no matter what the name is that you give it!

Toker

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pisshead

oh, the irony.

i know you know everything, and screw history and people who lived exactly what you think is freedom and wonderful, even when they called it tyranny.

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I couldnt care less what you think piss. As soon as you say negative shit about socialism i assume you to be a stupid american. I just tune you out, like when you start talking about the one world government. We need a one world government, it will do america some good to have a counter balance to its power. And maybe they will even take away your gun too.
You are a nut, i dont see how anyone cant not laugh when you talk about the concentration camps you are 100 per cent positive are coming.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Libertarian Toker

In theory, all political philosophys end up in utopia. In practice, they are all screwed no matter what the name is that you give it!

Toker

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I guess you're right essentially right, but I'm a stickler for using the right terms :D

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Peace