MANY LABELS, BUT WHAT ARE YOU

​We have so many labels being used today. People call themselves progressives, liberals, Democratic Socialists, conservatives, Compassionate Conservatives, Fiscal Conservatives but Socially Liberal. And on and on. In the 18th century, people also had labels for themselves and others. In days gone by, any who advocated for the advancement of individual rights and liberties to replace the common practice of promoting the rights of a group or community before the rights and liberties of the individual were labeled Liberals. Our founders, those who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, fought, and won the War for Independence, wrote, and ratified the United States Constitution, and added the Bill of Rights to that Constitution were called Liberal. Everything these Liberals professed was to limit the power and control of government and expand the rights and liberties of the individual.
Today, those who advocate for placing limitations on individual rights and liberties for the greater good of the community, and expanding the power and control of government for the greater good of the community are labeled liberals or progressives. They are what we call the Democrat Party. Those who would like us to believe they advocate for promoting individual liberties and rights with restrictions on government power and control are most often identified as Republicans.
What history would teach us is that labels are used to mislead. The term democracy is used in names to indicate the party is for rule by the people which connotes freedom. Democracy is in fact dictatorship. In a democracy the majority dictates to the minority with no protection of individual rights or property. When a label begins to have negative connotations, the party will choose another label as when the Democrat party changed their label from liberal to progressive.
When we review history, we learn that we have had two basic philosophies that have transcended all the other misleading descriptions. These two philosophies are individualism and collectivism. Individualism is the philosophy upon which our nation was founded and adhered to up until the 20th century. In the early 20th century, the philosophy of collectivism became a force in our nation. Collectivism places what is termed the “good” of the community or group above the liberties and rights of the individual. Collectivism always becomes totalitarianism and is controlled not by elected representatives but by party appointed bureaucrats, technocrats, and experts. Marxism, communism, socialism, progressives, and today’s Democrat party all advocate for the collectivist philosophy.
Individualism believes the liberties and rights of the individual are not to be restricted or limited for the common “good” of the community or the group. This is why our Declaration of Independence specifically states that our rights and liberties are endowed to us by our Creator. Government is to only protect those rights and liberties, not to limit or abolish them. This is why our Constitution limits the powers of our government to only those listed in the Constitution while expanding the rights and liberties of the individual beyond those listed or specifically named. Individualism is promoted by conservatives and libertarians.
Notice, I did not say that individualism is promoted by the Republican party. The elite of the Republican party tells us they are conservatives and promote individualism, but it is critical to look at actions and not words. First we must define what a conservative is. To do this we will look at how he who penned the “Conscience of a Conservative”, Barry Goldwater, defined conservative.
Mr. Goldwater explained that a conservative always believes in limited government. Throughout history, it is government that has thwarted individual liberty and rights. History has proven that the goal of the collectivist, they advocate for big government, is to place power in the hands of a few for the purpose of controlling and regulating the lives and thoughts of the people.
A conservative will always support limited government, both in numbers of people in government, and amount of financial resources it takes from the private sector. This means a conservative supports lower taxes and less government spending.
A conservative will always support fewer laws and less regulation.
A conservative will always support having a necessary function of government done by government that is closest to the people. The less power in the federal government, the better says a conservative.
A conservative will always support a free-market economy and oppose central planning.
What we have learned, is that in the Republican party, the power elite may voice support for these conservative values, but their actions do not support their words. We have many in the Republican party who are much closer to the collectivist philosophy than they are to the individualist philosophy. These people are labeled RINO’s. Rockefeller and Lindsay from times gone by. More recently the Bushes, Dole, McCain, Romney, McConnell, Boehner, Ryan, Graham, and McCarthy. They have claimed they support less government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and all that a conservative would support; they have even tried to label themselves conservative, but their actions speak louder than their words.
If you identify as a conservative, not your words or wishes but your core beliefs, you must support conservatives based on what they do and not what they say.
Collectivists and RINO’s support a more powerful centralized government taking more and more financial resources form the private sector, and taking more and more freedom and liberty from you. They support a totalitarian government where the bureaucrats, technocrats, and experts tell each individual how we must live our lives and how we must think.