Rebuilding Conservatism: Introduction

The decision to write this, or something similar, wasn't easy. It came about because I realized that while I couldn't label myself a modern conservative, there was no way I could suddenly become a left leaning liberal. At any rate, I thought it might be a good idea to spell out what conservatism, in my mind, should be. When that's done, it should be fairly clear that whatever the current trends, they aren't very conservative.

In Part One, I will present a guideline for fiscal conservatism. The idea that governments shouldn't spend more than they take in has been lost. Included in that will be a breakdown of why the current tax system is flawed and how it can be fixed.

Part Two will encapsulate another conservative mantra: efficient government. Useless duplication of services and strange spending hurt efficiency. Guidelines must be established for how much is spent, what it is spent on and who gets to spend it.

The third part will be my take on what conservative foreign policy should be. In a nutshell, it amounts to a well staffed, well prepared military. There are NATO commitments we are unable to meet.

A focus on trade with both democracies and emerging democracies. If we must trade with places like China, then there should be strings attached. They need our resources and we don't need much from them.

The fourth essay will be the place of social conservatives in the rebuilding process. The Canadian example is a fairly good one and the US example is exactly what should be avoided.

In the end, I hope to show that what's going on now and how things end up aren't that far apart. This series, hopefully, will serve to remind conservatives that resistance to change doesn't mean all change is bad. It's a gradualist movement, after all.

Instead of immediate change, I prefer a measured and slow response. What I know is this: when the government is allowed to do something, it's loathe to revert back. Incremental change works best unless I have evidence that a quick change isn't very disruptive. What doesn't help anyone is demanding that things don't change at all or that everything changes tomorrow.