What Is Conservative Populism?

Do you consider yourself a conservative? Many well intentioned but misguided souls like to maintain a fallacy that they are part of the right-wing; especially when they support Republicans. These bewildered partisans have bought into an illusion that a conservative is a supporter of the status quo. They often believe that any politician who proclaims they are a champion of a GOP regime are really traditionalists. Some even go so far as to consider it impossible for any Democrat to hold any sentiments that could possibly resemble a conservative viewpoint.

While it is difficult to speak well of any Democrat over the last century, it is becoming exceedingly routine to reject Republican party loyalists as just camouflaged clones for socialist policies. Calling yourself a conservative, doesn’t mean you walk the walk . . .

Excluding political positions that are inconsistent with conservative principles is the best method to identify phony yuppies that seek the label of respectability. Let’s list a few essentials – that establish if one is a real conservative:

1) Accepts the principle of states rights, limited central government, “federalism” separation of powers and constitutional law.

2) Proponent of honest money, balance budgets and free enterprise; while, foes of the federal reserve, deficit spending and state/capitalism.

3) Defenders of individual civil liberty and restrains upon arbitrary interpretations of natural rights by the legislature, executive bureaucracy and the courts.

4) Protection of borders and a pro America First foreign policy that resists entangling engagements, internationalism and “policeman for the world” intervention.

These are the basics. Now ask yourself what ‘so called’ conservatives support when they attain positions of power?

1) Strive to strengthen the central government, increase budgets and expand jurisdiction; while never abolishing superfluous agencies, reduce public employment and costs or scale back the role for the State.

2) Support the madness of Free Trade with the exodus of viable jobs, inducements to special interests and the extension in the merging of the corporate/government economy.

3) Restriction upon Bill of Right protections, using the excuse of contrived emergencies to implement additional people control measures – like the Patriot Act.

4) Encourage open door immigration, while erecting a neo-colonialism that requires a permanent garrison worldwide involvement.

If this record is truly compatible with traditional conservatism, the earth must really be flat!

The prevalent understanding of populism is that it seeks involvement of government to intercede on behalf of ordinary people. This distortion is rooted in a systemic effort by Statists of all ranks to disguise the factual nature of populism. You are mislead to believe that a populist seeks a more equitable distribution of wealth. Contrary to adopting a benign socialism, populism is inherently the philosophy of individualism. All rights reside in persons, and are not at the mercy of governments. The State possesses no rights at all. It’s only purpose is to serve the people. The ability for the will of the populace to be expressed, dwells in the representation within a republic form or government. Within that framework the repose of society maintains a balance as long as officials are held accountable to the fundamental principles of the American experience.

Those standards are the essence of conservatism. Violating these codes, while claiming the designation of a traditionalist, does not make one unprogressive. A progressive accepts the State as a solution. A genuine conservative understands the State to be the greatest threat to Liberty. The counterfeit conservatives are closet progressives, who are so embolden with their new found power, that they enjoy opening the door to their true motives.

We live in an age where people excel in their own stupidity. They have succumbed to the momentum of mediocrity. They have surrendered to suitors who charm with promises of fragrant flowers, while actually delivering flagrant bouquets. Insidious democracy produces ubiquitous socialism. The merging of underlying and ultimate goals, under the seal of disinformation and the label of conservative, is the latest weapon of the Statist.

A person can’t be a real conservative if he rejects the primary populist message. The government is answerable to the people . . . The responsibility of the individual is to become a knowledgeable and a capable citizen. That means that pledges for a free lunch must be rejected as just another swindle dressed in a pretty package. The performance seldom matches the rhetoric and never attains compatibility with basic conservative principles. Our test is clear; if it harms individual liberty, it can’t be conservatism.

The political solution is to become a populist and convince the uninformed that real conservatism is the best hope for promoting the maximum opportunity for the greatest number of people. While people are not equal by birth, talent or inclination; they are equivalent in their God ordained human dignity and common nature. Fulfillment of that character can be achieved one individual at a time. Government doesn’t exist to make people coequal, to control them or to force them to love one another. A bona fide conservative understands what are legitimate functions for the State and opposes all efforts to create a leviathan.

The status quo is hardly a reflection of what should resemble the founding promise for America. A desire to preserve, maintain and expand the current regime and policies is totally antithesis to the principles of our heritage. Populism is the rightful appeal and conservatism is the correct structure to restore and save our nation. Knowing the proper method is the first step in accomplishing the task. The choice is yours, that’s what it means to be a honest individual and a loyal citizen . . .

Politics is based on three other philosophical disciplines: metaphysics, epistemology and ethics- on a theory of man’s nature and of man’s relationship to existence. It is only on such a base that one can formulate a consistent political theory and achieve it in practice. When, however, men attempt to rush into politics without such a base, the result is that embarrassing conglomeration of impotence, futility, inconsistency and superficiality which is loosely designated today as “conservatism.” Ayn Rand 

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