I have been having an interesting conversation from a self-described liberal - Gerald from Toronto (yes we are international). Gerald has kept both his sense of humor and his ability to think beyond mere ideology. It has been a wonderful exchange of ideas, and we sort of look to that kind of thing happening here in the United States. Okay, you can always hope.

Gerald is active on Facebook (as we are - hit us up at Robert Brandner and The Thomas Paine Project pages, heck, don't hit us up, friend us...). This is where our exchange started. He asked why the comments from "conservatives" were mean-spirited, coarse, and what he categorized as ignorant. He asked if conservative = redneck.

We have come to understand that even though Canada is one of our closest friends, there is some misconception about who we are to our brothers to the north. We thought to explain our stance as conservatives the way most do - in a spirit of education and outreach. This started as a note on Facebook, but we thought it worth expanding on.

I and those like me, identify ourselves as conservative. We are not Republican, or Tea Party, or some other political affiliation. Conservatism is a mindset, not a political party. Granted, it is generally not found in the Democrat Party to the degree Progressivism is found in the GOP. Conservatism holds as it's ideal that every person should be empowered to live his (her) life to the fullest potential that is possible for that individual. We contrast that with the progressive mantra that no one should suffer.

It is often said that if a man hungers you can give him a fish, and he will eat for a day. Or, you can teach him to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life. Conservatism would rather teach fishing, than hand out fishes. If you were Sarah Palin, you might throw in moose hunting, because eventually, a diet of nothing but fish gets boring.

Conservatism is moored in the roots of our Founding principles - Our Founders viewed life from the standpoint of self-reliance and striving to our utmost potential. - " man was endowed by his creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". We were not created to be a society of beggars. Conservatism charts the course to self reliance. That is our core belief and our core principle. In general, if it empowers the individual, we are for it. If it makes the individual dependent, we are against it.

How does this affect our political stance?

Politically conservative means limited government that sticks to the Constitution. We believe in a federal, not national government, also, as defined by the Constitution. The function of the federal government is to provide for a national defense and to settle disputes between the states. That is what the Founders clearly intended.

The Constitution lays this out very plainly for all who care to read it, and if you do not care to read it, you are ignorant of our founding truths. Should you claim ignorance as to the Founders intentions, we recommend reading the Federalist Papers - which present the arguments about the form of the new government and it's Constitution, as authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. They were respectively, the fourth President of the United States and primary author of the Constitution; the first Secretary of the Treasury and a principle architect of the federal government; and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  There are few who would know better than they what the intended functions of the federal government should be.

There are also volumes available on the debates on the Constitution, which are the transcriptions of the debates held in the day about what the attendees of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 argued over. They provide a piercing view into the mindset of a broad range of the membership of the Constitutional convention. There is no shortage of insight as to what the Founders intended. 

That does not stick us in 1787 forever, as some would claim. The Founders argued and debated over how future events might shape their newly formed country.At our founding the divisive issues of slavery and regional loyalties were subjugated to the desire to become a new republic. Some issues were kicked down the road in the interest of a united front. Within the Constitution an amendment process was created for issues that would become nationally important. The Constitution has been amended 27 times, usually to grant further rights upon the citizens.

One theme runs through the vast majority of the Founders' arguments. The federal government was never intended to touch the lives of individuals. The states were given the duty to govern the citizens, and to set laws and standards. This principle was firmly expressed in the 10th Amendment. A federal government is a federation of the states, all equal and sovereign members. It is an arrangement of equals for the security and prosperity of the group as a whole. Laws governing individuals were left to the states. The federal government dealt with only the commonality between the states.

Liberals believe in a national government, not a federal one. A national government by definition trumps the 10th Amendment, which would be unconstitutional, but liberal governments get elected all the time anyway. It still is not a Constitutional stance.

As to politcal speech being coarse, vulgar or ignorant, well, that unfortunately is the way it has always been. Thomas Jefferson stopped reading newspapers because he tired of reading about his slave children and being accused of everything from being an atheist to a satanist. Lincoln was thought to be a hillbilly, and stupid. Grant was a drunk. Politics is a dirty business, and the same is true now as it was then. A few loud voices are making all of the noise on both sides. As for hate speech, liberals cast stones from within a glass house.Just hit Youtube and watch Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden, and you will hear characterizations that I think the vast majority of conservative would never dream of uttering about liberals. I would hate to judge all liberals by their poor behavior.

Conservatives have the occasional crazy, but by and large we are well-informed and deeply patriotic. We just disagree with liberalism as a method to solve the problems facing our country. We believe that the people are best served by the federal government getting out of the way, rather than micro-managing every aspect of our lives. The problems we are having now with the debt and the budget are not caused by too little government, but by too much government.

That is not to say there are no answers in DC, it is just that often, better answers are found closer to the problems. Apply that in real life. Who knows better how to fix that rattling sound that you hear in the car as you drive? Would it be a design engineer in Detroit (or Tokyo), or your local mechanic who knows your driving habits and the condition of the roads in your town?  Who knows best how to make the most effective use of your dollars to do the most good? A bureaucrat in DC, or you bringing a case of food to the local shelter because you know that they are low on supplies?

At it's most basic core, conservatism is Common Sense applied. We have rules, we need to follow them. If an idea isn't working, find a better one. Empower people, don't enslave them. We wish this thinking would be as fashionable in DC as it is in the rest of flyover country. Maybe then we could actually deal with the challenges facing the country rather than kick the can down the road, or put on a show for the public to appear as though something real is happening, when in reality it is bad smoke and mirrors. Maybe that's what Obama meant by hope. Now we need the change.