In Defense of Conservatism

In Defense of Conservatism

By Karen Harper

September 21, 2012

Today I respond to a European woman who commented on my “Attaining Prosperity Without the Government” blog that I had posted on Facebook.  One of the issues she voiced was taking Obama’s words out of context, and the other was that we Americans need to take care of the weaker of us (which I happen to totally agree with).  The problem here is that Conservatives are largely misunderstood when it comes to this social issue, and, because of that, I must jump to our defense.

Dear Heidi, 

Thank you for reading my article and commenting.  Your opinion is valued.  Yes, I did take Obama's words out of context, but I believe that when his words are heard in context, it only further makes my point.  The fact, like you stated, that “this platform. . . has been built up by you and with the help of your government”  is evident, but what the government provides are tax dollars coming from working citizens, so it is all the same, as far as who is building this platform we use to succeed.  It is the hard-working, tax-paying citizens.

We do share the same belief in the other area you brought up, an area in which Conservatives are so misunderstood, and that is taking care of our “weaker” as you mentioned. You said, “Only by joining our forces together, helping each other and taking care of the weaker, can we truly reach (a) better life.”  Of course we should take care of the weaker, but we must not confuse weaker with lower income.  You rightly asked, “Can one live in prosperity if the person next to you lives in misery?” Because Conservatives desire personal responsibility and accountability, some think they have no compassion.  I honestly do not know one Conservative who wants to deny the “weaker” the necessities in life.  The elderly, the infirm, those who cannot care for themselves should and do receive support!  No one should live in misery.  America’s poor, though, are wealthy to many people around the world.  Most of our poor have cars, cell phones, air-conditioning, and cable t.v. *  

Our great country is what it is because those ABLE to do for themselves actually DID.  But our country is changing, and not for the better.  We are becoming a nanny state in which way too many people are expecting the government to pay their way.  A large percentage of Americans are now dependent on the government, with record numbers on food stamps and welfare.  Our U.S. government is broke and borrowing heavily to pay our bills.  We are over $16 trillion in debt.  So, lest we  Conservatives continue to get a bad rap for not caring about people, let it be known that we just believe that we cannot continue down this path of providing for the wants rather than the needs of American citizens, because we are broke, and there are no longer enough tax-paying folks to pick up the tab.  

• http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/what-is-poverty
• http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/11/poverty-in-america-if-poor-people-own-luxury-items-are-they-really-poor/    “According to the government’s own survey data, in 2005, the average household defined as poor by the government lived in a house or apartment equipped with air-conditioning and cable TV. The family had a car (a third of the poor have two or more cars). For entertainment, the household had two color televisions, a DVD player, and a VCR,” the Heritage Foundation report reads.
  
  
  

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.”  ~Margaret Thatcher (Former and longest-serving Prime Minister, UK)

The Thought Police are Coming

The Thought Police are Coming
By Karen Harper

Seriously, people!  What is this world coming to?


Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said this week that his privately owned company is "guilty as charged" in support of what he called the biblical definition of the family unit.

"We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that," Cathy told the Baptist Press, the news agency of the Southern Baptist Convention.  His comments to the Baptist Press, the news agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, unleashed a mix of criticism and support.  "He's taking a bold stand," said Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, which is based in Washington, D.C. "Chick-fil-A is a bible-based, Christian-based business who treats their employees well. They have been attacked in the past about their stand. But they refuse to budge on this matter, and I commend them for what they are doing."

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign that works for same-sex-marriage, said Thursday that Chick-fil-A "has finally come clean" after cloaking its positions for years.

"While they may have been in neutral, kicking this fight into overdrive now allows fair-minded consumers to make up their own minds whether they want to support an openly discriminatory company," Griffin said in a statement. "As the country moves toward inclusion, Chick-fil-A has staked out a decidedly stuck-in-the-past mentality."

(Excerpts taken from Fox News website.)
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/19/chick-fil-surprises-some-with-gay-marriage-talk/#ixzz21pPvz2Rv


So there is an uproar in our nation right now, with people not only calling for boycotts on Chick-fil-A because the president of the company has publicly stated his belief that the traditional definition of marriage should stand, but politicians like mayors Rahm Emanuel and Boston's Thomas Menino are even trying to block Chick-fil-A's expansion in their cities.  Does Mr. Cathy not have the right in America to have an opinion?  And does he not have the right in America to let his opinion be known?  Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign calls this an "openly discriminatory company." Oh, please.  Because Chick-fil-A's president, Dan Cathy's opinion doesn't line up with the politically correct view does not make the restaurant "discriminatory" by any means.  The restaurant has not barred homosexuals from eating their chicken sandwiches.  This is not about discrimination at all.  This is about gagging and persecuting someone and trying to ruin their business because a small group of people do not like the owner's opinion.  I guess now it is a crime to have a "stuck-in-the-past mentality."  Whether Mr. Cathy's belief is right or wrong is NOT the issue here.  It is a BELIEF, which we are all entitled to.  The issue is that we are seeing over and over again in this country that the only beliefs we can tolerate and allow to exist are the ones that align with the LOUD minority of liberal thinkers.  Make no mistake about it: if we do not rise up and take a stand against this foolishness and injustice now, we will continue to be mown down until we have no voice at all, and worse, have no right to think what we want, God forbid.  

If people do not like what Dan Cathy stands for, then, by all means, don't give him your business.  I definitely support your right to do that.  Boycotts are fine.  But just call it what it is, and don't make it out to be something that it's not, and don't call people names that they are not and try to persecute them for having traditional values.  Dan Cathy has the right to believe what he wants to, and even to publicly state it.  Please do something to encourage this man and his freedom of speech!  Honestly, I've never liked the food at Chick-fil-A (I know; call me crazy), but I will soon visit one just to show my support for them.  Now, go "Eat Mor Chikin."

My New Blog

There are no promises here that this will be a place for you to gain wisdom, insight, or advice.  I'm not even sure I'll have enough inspiration to muster up what it takes to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) to say anything worthwhile for you to spend your precious time reading, ever again.

However, after all the encouraging words I received when I posted on Facebook my thoughts about getting somewhere in life without government intervention, I thought I could at least have an outlet ready and waiting should the inspiration come tapping on my door again.  

Actually, this blog was created back in 2007 and had about four postings, mainly about family stuff.  I just had to clean up the cobwebs and get a fresh start.  It's a bit frightening to me to expose my personal thoughts to people.  The positive comments are a boost, but what if someone despises my way of thinking or wants to (Heaven forbid) debate me?  I'm not a debater.  I can tell you what I'm thinking, what I believe, and why; but I've never liked confrontation, and I'm only a good arguer when I'm persuading my husband to see things my way.  :-)

There is one thing I am, though, and that is opinionated.  I can never be accused of not having an opinion about things.  I guess that's why a blog might be handy.  Many times I want to say something on Facebook, but I don't want to get people all riled up, knowing that it appears in the newsfeed whether people want to see it or not.  You will have to intentionally look for these opinions of this Conservative.  I hope some Liberals will stop by.  My desire is to dig up some wise words from our founding fathers to post here.  Maybe, with those in mind, they will be able to make some sense out of where we are coming from, and maybe even begin to agree with some of our ways of thinking.  The fate of our country depends on it!

Thank you for checking in.  I hope once in a blue moon I will have something interesting or thought-provoking to say, or something to which you can just say, "Amen!"  Sometimes it's just nice to say, "Yeah!  That's what I think, too!"  Please leave comments!  God bless the U.S.A.

Attaining Prosperity Without the Government

Attaining Prosperity Without the Government
By Karen Harper
July 17, 2012

I’ve had it! In President Obama’s recent speech, he tells successful business owners that they didn’t do it; they are not responsible for their success. “If you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.” Really? Who made it happen? The government? Is he insinuating that the only way to be successful is to have the government help you out? This has put me over the edge. Let me just say, “The AUDACITY!”

I look around and see business owners that I know personally, who grew up much like I did -- not in wealth, but in very modest, humble homes, with parents who worked hard to make ends meet. The business owners I know worked extremely long, hard, stressful days, six or seven days a week, sometimes for years. They risked everything they had to get started, and their families literally prayed them through it. Please look them in the eye and tell them they didn’t do it.

I am also tired of hearing that you can’t get ahead and be successful without government assistance. My parents and my husband’s parents had nothing when they started out. Both of our fathers joined the Navy soon after high school. When my in-laws married, they put all of their belongings in the trunk of a car. He became an airplane mechanic with the skills he acquired in the military; she had two kids to raise at age 17. When the kids were older, she went to work in a fabric store and decorated cakes on the side. They worked hard, struggled, they saved, and they sacrificed to put their two kids through college.

My father became a mail clerk after his military service. Who, now, wants to be a mail clerk? That’s not a “good enough” job for most. It doesn’t pay well, it has no prestige. My father did it. And he worked hard, probably never called in sick, was loyal and dependable. He worked his way into a sales position and had to leave his wife and two daughters a lot for job-required travel. He did that well and landed an office job with the same company, and he retired from there many years later as a customer service supervisor. My mother went to work full time at the public library when I was in junior high. They, too, worked hard, struggled, saved, tithed, and sacrificed to put me through college.

I worked at McDonald’s, a grocery store, a steakhouse, and eventually as a bank teller to pay for my expenses during high school and college. I got no government assistance, and neither did my husband, nor our parents. When Wade and I started out, we didn’t have much more than our parents did when they began, except college degrees. We did what our parents had taught us. We worked hard, struggled, sacrificed, and saved our money like crazy. I took a job that I felt was below my qualifications. I was a little bit embarrassed about it at the time because it didn’t require the college degree I possessed. But I took it and proved myself. I was promoted before a year was up. And one year after that, I was able to go to work for another company, doing more what I wanted to do, and finally getting paid what I thought I deserved. After two years, I was promoted and making more than I had ever imagined I would. I left it all a couple years later to stay home and raise our kids.

Wade’s career has steadily progressed through the years because of his work ethic and proven track record. We believe all good things come from God, not the government. We are thankful to Him for our talents and abilities. We believe in giving back. We do this by tithing to our local church and, on top of that, giving to missions and to a church building fund so that more people in our community and abroad can be impacted by the Gospel. We also give regularly to City Union Mission and other ministries that help heal the broken by giving them a hand UP and pointing them to Christ. We've also learned that when you help your neighbor, chances are, they'll help you, too. I say all this not to brag, but to defend ourselves from the false accusations that conservatives are stingy, selfish people who don’t care about helping anyone. Again, as I look around, I see most of our friends and relatives giving back as we do.

Even though we are blessed enough to live life comfortably and give back, we will not be able to completely pay for our three kids to get through college. We, like so many other middle-class Americans, make too much for government assistance, yet not enough that we can continue to give AND pay 100% of twelve years of college. We continue to give because it is a core value. Our kids are going to have to work harder than we did to get themselves through school.

I resent the government wanting to take more and more of our money through taxes to help the “less fortunate” and to put other people’s kids through college when we can’t do it for our own. At one time or another, we or our parents or grandparents were all members of the less fortunate. (And the less fortunate today have way more than my parents had when they started out!) When cable television, flat screens, computers, cell phones, and Nike Air Maxes are considered necessities, we know the line between want and need has not been blurred, but erased. Entitlement mentality at its finest.

The question for the day is, “If you are an able-bodied person of sound mind, what will you do to change your destiny?” Will you look to the government to even the playing field? Or will you do things the hard but respectable and guaranteed way to get ahead? Most of us have made it to where we are today because we did it the hard way. We have made it because WE KNOW WHAT IT’S ABOUT.

It’s about taking a job, any job, and working hard, proving yourself valuable, dependable, and efficient. It’s about integrity -- not calling in sick when you’re not; and not stealing from the company, neither time nor material. It’s about staying married and working through problems when you feel like leaving. It’s about staying in school and paying attention in school and doing your homework. It’s about having wisdom and showing restraint, and making wise decisions with your money. It’s about taking advice from your elders. It’s about ordering water in restaurants when you’d rather drink Coke. It’s about doing without cable television. It’s about spending less than you earn and putting money away. It’s about sacrifice and delayed gratification. It’s about driving to Branson for an extended weekend when your neighbors are spending ten days in Tahiti. It’s about not going into debt to drive a fancy, new car. It’s about realizing “get rich quick” usually doesn’t work, but that slow and steady wins the race. It’s about taking responsibility for your own destiny, even when it doesn’t feel good. Just don’t tell me you can’t get there because things aren’t fair so the government needs to help you. The government helping you is what’s not fair.