Science & Government Funding
Over at RogueOperator, there is another defense that every conservative should know. Frank Chodorov caveat: “As for me, I will punch anyone who calls me a conservative in the nose. I am a radical.” Still, sometimes I have the urge to defend conservativism, which at least pays lip service to free markets, freedom, and small government. Having values and not following them is better than denying values exist. All the problems with the recent conservative pushing of the warfare and police state aside, every conservative should know that conservatives do not resemble fascists nearly as much as the utopian liberal ideal. Enter Rogue:
1. American conservatives are for individual rights, not statism.
2. They believe individuals are ends in themselves, and not a means to an end.
3. They are for liberty, not totalitarianism.
4. They are for free markets, not corporatism or state capitalism.
5. They are for private property, not state property.
6. They are for a color-blind, legally equal society based on individual rights, not group rights.
7. They are for freedom of religion, not theocracy.
8. They are suspicious of government authority, not obeisant.
9. They tend not to deify political leaders, though they revere leaders like Ronald Reagan.
10. They are for less government intervention, not control over every aspect of life.
11. They are patriotic, not nationalist.
12. They are for federalism, not centralized government.
13. They are for checks and balances, not unification.
14. They support gun rights not because the seek to harm others, but to protect and defend themselves.
15. They display judgment in the context of moral and cultural relativism.