Conservative Principles Vs. Progressive Principles

I came across a lovely post about the differences between the worldview of government based on conservative principles vs. progressive principles:

#1 Social Justice



A primary goal of progressive policies is to guarantee social justice, which can be generally defined as treating everyone equally well, and correcting “the system” to ensure that equality. Basically, an individual is not responsible for his/her relative position economically, and to assert as much is to “blame the victim.” As such, the function of social justice is to blame the system and those who control it (source).


Examples: Abiding by this principle, progressives work to eliminate concentrations of wealth and power in society, and believe that government should regulate economic activity to promote the common good. This is demonstrated in policy by a wealth redistribution plan that takes a larger percent of taxes from wealthy individuals, and spreads the wealth to lower income citizens through a variety of welfare programs. Social justice is also a factor in progressive policies that encourage open borders and illegal immigration (since, for example, Mexicans can't control where they're born) as well as support for things like slavery reparations.


The Conservative View: Conservatives, in contrast, are not big believers in social justice. We believe that principles like equal opportunity and individual responsibility are sufficient to level the economic and social playing fields. These principles conflict with the concept of social justice because they don’t assume problems are systemic, and they don’t presume that government can guarantee equality.



Read the rest here.  It is well worth your time. 

Social Justice?

Social Justice is all the rage of late.  We hear about it from both sides of the aisle; the conservatives are against the government forcing charity, and the left saying it is our moral obligation.  Al Sharpton has gone as far as to bring Jim Crowe laws into the debate. 

Aah, the stench of the industrial raaacism complex.  The constitution in no way advocates social justice.  The constitution advocates giving people the opportunity to succeed, it doesn't guarantee success.  The reality is, much to Sharpton's chagrin, people do have opportunity in this country.  To say that race holds people back in this country flies in the face of the accomplishment of President Obama.  If race were the major issue that Sharpton makes it out to be, how would he have gotten elected?  Did we put aside our racism for the day in November of 08?  The fact that cannot be gotten around is the majority of the people who voted for Obama were white; otherwise he wouldn't have won.  No one can honestly say that Pelosi wants to give more advantages to whites than to others.  The woman wastes no possible chance to add racial quotas to legislation.  Seriously, why were racial quotas necessary in financial reform? 

What I find so puzzling is how the supporters of this administration are not insulted.  Why do they allow themselves to be painted as racists at every turn?  According to the Sharpton's of the world we can't have strong states rights because of laws that have been struck down as unconstitutional almost five decades ago.  Where is the logic in this belief system? 

It is not to say that racism does not exist, because it most certainly does.  Old habits die hard, but they do die if people are willing to let them.  Racism has existed since the beginning of time and will continue until the end of time.  But when do we accept the good news that it doesn't exist on a daily basis of our lives anymore?  When do we celebrate the progress this country has made?  Maxine Waters wasted no time pulling out her race card upon the announcement of her ethics violations charges; after all, she was only helping a minority owned bank, the fact that her husband sat on the board and personally would profit from the bailout is irrelevant as far as she is concerned. 

As a conservative, I would like to see a colorblind society.  No one color or ethnic group gets any special treatment over another.  We educate every child in this country, if that means that we pull inner city children out of failing schools and give them vouchers to private school or charters then so be it.  Every child will receive a good education and that will level the playing field.  Every child will have the chance to get a good education, that will allow them to make choices about their lives. 

As long as we are society that continues to play the race card, we will never level the playing field. Someone will always feel slighted; the white fireman who is denied a promotion that was earned or the black man who was denied because of skin color.  I think we can all agree that both are unfair.  Let us move forward and give everyone what they have fairly earned, and for heavens sake, can we finally judge people based on character?  Then we will have as close to equal justice that we can achieve.  In our hearts of hearts, we all know that life just ain't fair and if God can't make it so, Obama and Al Sharpton certainly cannot.