What being a Conservative means to Me

I call myself conservative because there is no word that encompasses all of my beliefs. Libertarian is probably closer to my political beliefs, but so many people picture them as whack jobs and I do not want to be associated with them. With conservatives, I may not agree with all of their views but I do agree with the majority. Below is what it means to me to be a conservative.

Conservative means self reliance, common decency, and personal responsibility. It means you work hard for what you have, you pay your fair share to the government (who is supposed to make sure you are safe) and you keep the rest.

It means you take care of you and yours--you don’t demand that anyone bail you out when you fail, nor do you pay a fine for succeeding. If a neighbor needs help I will help them, but they damn sure better be willing to help me if I need it. That is what community is supposed to be.

It means I want a strong but small government that is truly of and for the people. Strong military, strong border security, and strong enforcement of reasonable laws.

It means I am patriotic and am willing to die for my country.

It means I believe in law and order with equal prosecution of our laws no matter who commits the crime.

It means that I believe that crime prevention is the individual’s responsibility and that police are our back-up. It means that I believe defending life, property, and pets using any means available are all one and the same.

It means I am for strict order in schools to optimize learning. Teaching should be focused on the average students and not on the slowest or smartest students.

What it doesn’t mean to me is Christianity. I believe you can be a good conservative and be an atheist. You just have to live on your honor instead of in fear of God.

It doesn’t mean racist. I believe we are viewed, by liberals, that way because we do not believe in handouts of any kind. I believe that it is the liberal ideology that minorities need assistance that is racist and propagates the poverty rate in the so-called minority communities.

It does not mean heartless. Because I wish to choose who I help with my money or time, it does not make me heartless. It means I do not want to be taken advantage of. I do not want to help someone that is in their predicament because of their own stupidity or fraud, while someone who is hard working, but is in need at no fault of their own, goes without.