Conservatism, Socialism and Where We’re Heading

Conservatism, Socialism and Where We’re Heading

My roots are blue collar FDR democrat out of Western Massachusetts.  Being Polish Yankees (an oxymoron) from the Berkshires hill country, my folks (particularly my father), although they were members of the democrat party, did not swallow the democrat party line whole.  There was disagreement with the democrats’ social programs, even then.  My people were hardy and self-reliant, and did not look to government for support, even during the depression of the 1930’s.  My dad termed Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps “We Poke Around”, and preferred cutting logs or trees for paper pulp in the forests on his own, to raking leaves in state parks.

I find it appalling that politics has become so diametrically polarized in our country.  Rather than meaningful and cogent opposition political parties, we have a hatred fueled socialism from the left, and a personality-fueled populism from the right.  The days of meaningful dialogue in the House and Senate are things of the past, and have been replaced by obstructionism and rank party politics. 

This is certainly not the first time that political discord has led to major divisions in our country.  I am old enough to remember the race and anti-war strife and riots of the 1960’s that we thought would truly rip the country apart.  And, of course, the granddaddy of all disagreements, - the states’ rights and slavery issues that led to civil war in the mid-19^th century, and to the death of nearly three quarters of a million Americans.  Our current political strife, fueled basically by a strong hatred of the president, pales by comparison.

Through education, experience and a long life, I am basically a republican, a Burkean & John Adams and Kirkian conservative, and I have some libertarian leanings a la Buckley.  Having said that, I am an open- minded debater of issues of interest, with nowhere near a closed conservative mind on these issues.  I have voted for viable opposition democrats and independents in the past through the years, though not a great number of times. 

I typically watch Fox News and read the Wall Street Journal and National Review, because frankly, the other cable channels and the rest of the mainstream media are so left wing oriented, that they are nauseating to me.  They are essentially propaganda outlets for the leftists and are extremely biased.  The right and center news media I frequent seem much more honest and open to meaningful debate and dialogue.

The democrats are really shooting themselves in the foot with what seems a headlong rush into socialism.  Consider their platform – obvious Marxist socialism and/or communism, late term abortions bordering on infanticide, open borders with enfranchisement and free health care for illegal aliens, defund the military, repeal the second amendment and confiscate firearms, restrictive controls on the economy in the name of climate control, suppress free speech on college campuses and lawful public assemblies by violence as necessary, reparations for 160 years past slavery, remove electoral college, increase taxes for all Americans, wealth redistribution targeting the wealthy and successful.

If this is not enough, democrats would have impressionable young people question their sex and gender and which bathroom to use.  Democrats would identify subgroups and treat people differently depending on what sub group they belonged to, rather than treating all Americans equally, no matter what their skin color or origins or sexual orientation.  This is democrat “metoo” and “woke” and identity politics in action.  Seemingly, next come thought police and incarceration of dissidents to the algorithmic views of the democrats and their tech giant allies, who slant our very research on the internet.

This is a dystopian picture.  What can be done?  The 30-40% of the country who resist this leftist bullshit need to ensure that we elect republicans and conservatives to the congress.  We can’t allow our young people to be coerced by the siren song of socialist “free stuff” being pushed by slick talking democrats, the mainstream media and the Hollywood and coastal elitists.  The democrats are no longer a viable opposition political party.  They surely do hate Trump and hide behind this hatred, but they have become socialists, cut from the same cloth as Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.  They will truly destroy our country in their present configuration.   They are no longer mainstream.  They need to become mainstream again if we are to consider any of their proposals as realistic for America.

So we need to stay republican and conservation (and libertarian).  Conservatism is not staying stuck in some euphoric past.  Conservatism is remembering the past (and the moral and ethical principles that define us), and applying those lessons to our present.  Conservatism is not forgetting that the various forms of socialism being proposed again for our country, resulted in the deaths of nearly 120 million human beings in the twentieth century.  Conservatives like Edmund Burke and John Adams opposed the French Jacobin mobs that were beheading people in the 18^th century.  Modern conservatism opposes the antifa thugs who are violently accosting law-abiding citizens in Portland, Oregon, and the “politically correct” leftists who would strip rational civilization from our society.

Ray Gruszecki

July 3, 2019