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. 

Be the Party of Know

The Republicans have had the moniker of the Party of No for the past two years.  The left has also characterized them as standing in the way of passing legislation.  While that meme is completely false, for the first year in office Obama's policy agenda needed not one republican vote to move forward.  That changed slightly after the election of Scott Brown, but since the senate contains quite a few moderate republicans, it was relatively easy to pick off Brown, Snowe, Collins, or Graham had they really wanted to. 

Moving forward, in January, the republicans will now have that same luxury to pass anything through the house; not one democrat will need to be on board to pass something.  In the senate, the dems will have to get at least one more republican senator and the list above in order to move forward with any legislation.  Compromise will be necessary on both sides of aisle.  Many are saying that their should be no comprise whatsoever or that republicans should show the same type of compromise that dems showed over the past two years. 

Is this really what is best for the nation?  Our unemployment still hovers at just under 10%, much higher in some states.  Entitlement spending is out of control, we have people who have been collecting unemployment for years and there doesn't seem to be an end to the continuation of these benefits.  One could argue that this just increases unemployment, but what do you do about the person who is really looking and can't find anything?  The foreclosures show no signs of leveling out and the housing market is probably years away from a substantial recovery.  The country is in need of solid policies that will create the environment that the private sector is willing to start investing, this will then spur growth.   

The republicans had better have a clear understanding that the country is expecting results.  I am not advocating going back on principle, because I am not.  What I am advocating is passing common sense legislation with very thorough explanations of what that legislation will accomplish.  If President Obama or the democratic run senate choose to stop the legislation, that is their choice.  But they must put actions to the words over the past two years. 

Americans want solutions to the very real problems that our country is facing.  We are not interested in the infighting that goes on between the political class inside the beltway.  We want economic stability, we want to see the foreclosure to go away, we want to see the local strip malls full of life again; instead of the windows that are full of Lease Available signs.  We want the government to stop printing money out of nowhere, as we understand that inflation is not far behind. 

The election results from the past few years were very clear, we are tired of the status quo.  If we don't get the change that is necessary we will kick you out too.  Many are already stating that Obama cannot get re-elected in two years.  Wasn't that said about Dubbya six years ago?  Wasn't that said about Clinton in 94?  It is very difficult to beat a sitting president.  Re-election happens more often than not. 

If the true goal is rid the country of a second Obama term, we need to realize that a willingness to make the tough choices is what is in order.  President Reagan once said that comprise doesn't mean letting go of your core principles.  A lesson that Boehner needs to embrace. 

Conservative Values?

Liberals like to say that all conservatives think alike.  They do not.  The more you involve yourself in the movement that is going on the more you realize this.  I spend a great deal of time reading as much as I can about what is going on this great country of ours.  I like being informed.  I also like reading points of view other than my own.  I strongly believe that reading other points of view solidify my own beliefs, and in some instances I learn something. 

I also promised myself that I would stay true to own my voice and values.  I have met some very nice people during this process.  I have also met some not so nice ones as well.  I have a twitter follower who is brutal.  He calls me a Nazi.  Which for the life of me I cannot understand as Nazi's believe in a powerful government and I firmly believe in a limited one. 

On quite a few occasions I have been called a troll and traitor among other names.  I was talking to someone the other day that I met through the tea party movement.  She had what I believe to be her first experience with that. 

She is medical professional who has very strong views on how nurses are treated in society.  I really don't know a great deal about that topic as I have never worked in the medical field.  But, she has dedicated her life to it. 

She came across an article that someone had posted regarding Obamacare.  The article is irrelevant, but the photo that was put with the article is not.  It was a picture of nurse dressed in provocative clothing.  A stereotype that makes her crazy.  She was telling me that this is something that professional nurses have been fighting for what seems like forever.  She made a comment on the picture and how it was not only a negative stereotype it also was degrading to women in general. 

In return, she was a called a feminazi and liberal.  Really?  Since when did sexualizing women become a conservative value?  Did the same people that made these comments feel that it was OK for Newsweek to put Gov. Palin on it's cover in running shorts?  I have this feeling that the answer to that question is no. 

There needs to be some things that we can accept that we agree upon.  We should be able to agree for example that sexualizing women is not a healthy thing to do; it gives young girls the wrong impression of what they should become.  Young girls see these images and feel like the need to look like Kate Moss in order to be considered attractive.  Eating disorders among teenage girls is a serious problem in this country, and this is part of the reason why. 

People think that because I am a conservative blogger that I can never say anything positive about President Obama.  That simply isn't the case.  While I will admit that it is hard for me to find things that I agree with him on, but one thing that I really do like about the president is the positive family image he projects.  Family is the bedrock to our society.  I have no way of knowing what the Obama's are like in private, but the public image is of a man who loves his two little girls and wants to be a positive role model for them.  This is a good message that in many ways gets lost in our society; and it should not.  As conservatives, we need to promote family values and everything good that brings to our children.  While we may disagree on what constitutes a family, we can agree that family is important. 

We are never going to agree on everything.  Life would be pretty boring if we did.  But the conservative movement needs to learn to be nicer to one another and to not to revert to name calling simply because someone has a one or two viewpoints that may be different than our own.  Especially when that view point is about treating women as a sexual object instead of a human being with real emotions that deserves dignity and respect. 

Look at New Jersey Now - Chrisitie's first Six Months

This is exactly what New Jersey needed and what the country needs for our future.