Letter to a Conservative

Letter to a Conservative:


Despite my tendency to generalize a bit too much, there is a commonality between our statements. I too distrust all politicians. I too think that a general lack of personal accountability is becoming a national standard. I generally believe that it is up to the people to take this country away from politicians and put power back in the hands of citizens. I think we have become a soft, self-indulgent civilization dependent on consumer goods to create the illusion of happiness. I think that the family structure itself has broken down, but not from human weakness, things have broken down due to economic stressors. I will speak more of the economic plight later. I see that State Rights, which should be paramount, are inferior to Federal Power. I see that fiscal responsibility at the Federal Level means a massive transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the ultra rich. I see that the Federal Government of the United States, as it now stands under Conservative Rule, is not our friend, and is, in fact, our real enemy.

I believe that humans are both good and bad, and all shades in-between. True evil does exist in this world at all levels of the human condition, but so does true good. Evil just gets better press. For the most part, the majority of people strive to do the right thing; they strive to live within a set of morals. People strive to do the best for their children and themselves as they can. Honesty and faithfulness are more endemic than is always apparent or reported.

People tend to live within the context of their value system. Where does this value system come from? It may come from history, religion, arts, environmental wealth, and economics. The problem today, as I see it, is that the value system of this country does not come from the people themselves, but is created for them by powers that we cannot match. The Economic system of Capitalism, for all its good and worthy attributes, is also a power of exploitation and fear. What I am saying is that it doesn’t much matter what the people want in the way of personal value systems, because these ‘values’ are no match for the overwhelming economic muscle of corporations as they now stand.

Corporations, singly and in groups, have taken control of the politicians. Politicians dance to the tune of political soft money. Politicians then make the laws that determine our culture and our way of life. Corporations have a lot more money, time, and attorney’s than any citizen group can muster. A fascist state, by definition, is one in which corporations and government are the same.

You mentioned NAFTA as being a Clinton project. It wasn’t a Clinton project as much as it was a Corporation Project. Clinton was just the whore that did what he was paid to do. Same as Bush I and Bush II; Reagan, Ford, all of them. The only politician in modern times that was honest was Jimmy Carter (my personal belief). He last exactly one term, because he told the truth, he was run out of office.

I know, you will say, that the answer is we change the politicians. How? At present the Conservative powers in this country literally control the vote. That is, they control the counting of the votes. You control the count, you control the election. Check on the real issues that the 2000 and 2004 elections presented. Right now Democrat and Republican are two sides of the same coin. Neither one is capable of honest governance. We have an election system that is so corrupted it is not longer viable. The Presidential Elections of 2000 and 2004 show the facts of this claim.

If we are to change anything, we must change the economic system so that we can focus on a common good, and not just survival of the fittest. In your post you mentioned, “Let’s (not) continue to reward people who don’t contribute to society, but rather leech off precious assets…” Who would that be? The elders? Disabled? Children? The very criterion of a decent civilization is how it treats the less able members of its society. The responsibility of government is to level the playing field. To ensure that the citizens of a country have a fair chance to make a decent living. You want to know how well our Government under Conservative rule is doing? Ask the Citizens of New Orleans.

To change this country back to a true Democracy I believe that we must demand National Health Care. We must have strong Unions. We must have a minimum wage that reflects the corrosion of inflation, and offers a living wage. We must have a government that protects us from the predation of corporate power. We must have a government that looks out for the greater good of the country as a whole. If that means stopping corporate welfare to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars, then lets do it. If that means environmental cleanup like toxic waste dumps, then lets have it. If that means taxing corporations justly so that they pay a fair share of the burden, by all means.

I believe in an activist government that actually stands up for the citizens over corporate power. I believe that when it comes to a question of who benefits from legislation, corporations or citizens, you must choose ‘citizens’ every time.

But can we take back our government?

Recently there was a Million Man March on Washington to protest inequality in this country. This march came 10 years after the original Million Man March. In both cases Millions, yeah Millions of people congregated in Washington DC to protest. You know what came out of it? Nothing. If a Million plus Americans can protest something and not make a single bit of difference, where do we go from there?

You and I can squabble and debate all we want, but it is economics that determines our lives. If we are to change anything, we must begin to Socialize Capitalism. Yes, I know that there is a knee jerk reaction to the word ‘Socialism’, but that is a product of hysteria and cold war propaganda.

At bottom, I am not sure if we can take back our own country. The power and control of our tripartite government, Legislative, Judicial, and Executive, meant to balance out power and prevent usurpation by a single party has been neutralized. The goal of Bush and his ilk is to achieve and maintain absolute power. A one party system is their goal. They are very close to this goal.

My hope, my money, my efforts, my prayers go toward the recreation of Democracy in this country. We will see out it goes. But I will say this, I once believed that Conservatives were Americans just like me, only we had different perspectives. I know now that Conservatives, as they exist today, are not Americans, for they chose to destroy the very essence of Democracy. They stand for everything that will destroy this country.

America has enemies all right; The Conservative Right Wing is that enemy.