A Conservative is an individual who desires to preserve or maintain a particular set of values. Whether or not being a Conservative is good or bad depends entirely upon which set of values they are attempting to preserve. George Washington was dedicated to achieving independence and was not a conservative, but King George and his followers were.
The terms liberal and conservative are labels that divide people into political parties. They seek to lobby the government to get special benefits and privileges denied to others and they don’t even mean the same thing as they used to.
In the 1770′s, a colonist who supported King George and the British Parliament would have been classified as a Conservative and those who opposed him would have been considered liberals. In the 1860′s, the supporters of slavery would have been labeled conservatives and the Abolitionists would have been considered the liberals.
Before the American War for Independence, it was believed that Kings and Queens ruled by divine right. This principle led to tyranny and human bondage. To accept the status quo would have been the position of a conservative.
After the ratification of the Constitution, a new set of principles were established in America and then any individual who embraced the Declaration of Independence was called a conservative. Declaring that someone is a conservative without stating the principles they believe in, doesn’t tell anyone anything.
Anyone opposed to the principles articulated in our founding documents is simply trying to divide and confuse the people in order to control them. We need to stop identifying ourselves with political labels such as “liberal” or “conservative” and start defining ourselves by the principles in which we believe. No more names or classifications.
I am not a liberal or a conservative. I don’t lean to the right or to the left. I am not a Republican or a Democrat. I simply believe that we were “endowed by our Creator” with the right to life, liberty and property. I believe that “governments derive their power from the consent of the governed” and are created to secure our unalienable rights.
Today, we are taught that to rebel against tyranny and injustice is radical, but in the 1770′s it was considered Patriotic. We are no longer taught to do what is right It is our responsibility to obey laws that are just and our duty to refuse to comply with unjust laws.
I am not conservative or liberal or progressive. I am an American who loves liberty and “that I have both rights and responsibilities.
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