I’m a little confused. Would someone please explain to me what exactly a “conservative” conserves? What can they lay their hands on and say, “This is what we stand for”—is it the American way of life? That question only raises these questions: Which Americans? And what “way of life?” I always understood that to be a home and family, a job that pays one parent enough to cover the basic necessities of life plus a little extra for a treat or two during the month, and maybe a savings account for future unforeseen troubles or college. This was the “Norman Rockwell” vision, if you will, of the American life most of us grew up with. But here-in lies the dilemma. The party that is currently in office has been there for eight years—and 20 of the last 28 years—and has used this image of Americana for its own selfish greed, and now left us holding the bill. What way of life have they “conserved?”
Do they conserve the Constitution of the United States of America? The government of the United States that was established by that Constitution? How about the legal system that they show complete contempt for (i.e. Rove and Palin) and refuse to acknowledge has any jurisdiction over them? And now we have the financial house of cards that they have pushed so hard to create falling in around them, and who do they reach for to obtain help? The very same government that the “conservatives” have effectively gutted, trash talked, and virtually treated as their own open checkbook!
When conservatives speak of “using” resources (oil, timber, coal) to spur the economy and create jobs, what I have found is that they actually mean “exploiting.” This applies to exploiting people as well. The most abundant resource in the United States is its work force, and it is to be exploited just as any other resource in the name of a profit. What is usually the first thing a company cuts when it is downsizing, its managerial perks?
The American people are smarter than they are given credit for. However, we have been remiss in our duty to ask pertinent questions, and therefore when we do ask the questions, conservatives do not know how to answer, other than to blame the other party.
One more thing: Drilling for more oil only puts more oil on the open market for anyone to bid on. Anyone. If you are na‘ve enough to think that oil off our coast is somehow solely America’s, consider this your wake up call. It is for the highest bidder, just like any other commodity sold on the open market. And OPEC can close its valves, run the price back up, and wait for us to finish off our supply.
This article appears in Oct 2-9, 2008.