By Jon Falk

What does it really mean to be conservative? To me, this term is conflicting and outdated. As far as I can tell a conservative means 5 things:

-One who is reluctant towards change and reform.

-Believes in small government

-Fiscal responsibility

-Socially conservative

And the most powerful and worst part of modern conservatism:

-Robber baron conservatives.

The first kind of conservative who is reluctant to reform has merit. It is correct to point out negative things that might happen as a result of change and reform and be against it, if has too much of a negative impact. No sane person will ever deny that change can be both good and bad. However since our system is so corrupt these days, we do need to be extra skeptical of the robber baron conservatives out there. These people will bribe our elected leaders with campaign donations and they in turn will do everything within their power to block reform; not for genuine reasons, but block reform only because it will hurt a select few of the rich and powerful who care nothing about the America.

We saw this with the health care debate. Most of the politicians and corporate mouthpieces disguised as journalists on FOX news and elsewhere that fought tooth and nail over “Obamacare,” did not do so because they’re concerned about Americans, they fought against it because a select few would lose money if America had a better health care system.

Now conservative can also means small government, unless it’s abortion, the drug war, or being opposed to gay marriage, then it means socially conservative, which is a version of big government and thus a conflict with small government conservatism. The obvious conflict between small government and social conservatives makes the word conservative confusing, since social conservatives are advocates of big government.

I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me. If anyone listening to this is against abortion, while I disagree with that view, I understand where you’re coming from and I respect your right to feel that way, so please don’t think I’m disrespecting your beliefs. I’m just pointing out the conflict between outlawing abortion and small government. I would also assume that there are pro-choice conservatives who are pro choice because of small government conservative reasons.

I understand why too much government can be a bad thing. This is why I’m against the Military Industrial Complex corrupting our government, as well as  the failed drug war. Keep in mind that the economic crash proved that too little government in certain areas is also harmful. There were no cops on the beat to police against white-collar crime.

Now, the role of government is a whole other debate in itself, that will continue to be debated throughout time. America has 300 million people. We can’t go back to the days of the Wild West like some would want to do. What the size and scope of government is today, is going to be different from what it was in 1900 or 1800, or will be in 2050.

There’s fiscal conservatism, but this almost a moot point. What person in their right mind would be an open advocate out of control spending and a growing national debt that our grandchildren will have to end up paying?

The 5th version of conservative which I talked about a little bit, but will now go into detail about is the robber baron conservative. They support a system where the government does the bidding of a small very rich few, as a priority over doing what’s best for the American people as a whole. They’re the most powerful and influential type of conservative out there. They leave the other 4 versions of rank and file conservatives in the dust, when it comes to having power and influence upon our elected leaders.

This corrupt and broken system they support has many names. You can call it corporatism, call it corporate tyranny, call it a an oligarchy or a kind of monopoly, whatever you want to call it; this version of conservatism has far more in common with the British royalty that our founding fathers overthrew, than the system of government our founding fathers wanted for the American people. The robber baron version of conservative does not go public with his beliefs, so they do everything they can to blend in with the other conservatives whom they have very little in common with. The first 4 versions of conservative want a better future for America where the robber baron conservative could care less if America declined into a 3rd world nation, just as long as they get their billions.

Do I even need to even point out that this kind of “conservative” is a huge cancer in America that serves no valid purpose, needs to be voted out of existence, and have their lack of patriotism exposed at every opportunity? It goes without saying that the American robber barons have far more in common with the corrupt Egyptian government that their people are protesting against, than they have in common with the American people. There’s no purpose trying to work, or reason with them since they care nothing about the average citizen. The American people need to see this huge corrupting group controlling our government as the destructive force that they are. We need to see them as a threat to America’s security, much like we view terrorism. By their very nature they will block any valid reforms that will benefit the American people.

Machiavelli in his book “The Prince” said this about those that attempt reform. He had these robber baron conservatives figured out hundreds of years ago.

This 5th version of conservative consists of 98% of the Republican Party, many blue dog Democrats, Rush Limbaugh, most of those you see on FOX news, the Chamber of Commerce, Koch inc, the oil industry, the PHARMA lobby, the military industrial complex, the shady too big to fail banks, the health insurance companies and many others I’m sure I failed to mention. They are not at all conservative in any way, since they have no principles other than doing their part to make sure the rich get richer and ignore the vast majority of America.

These same robber barons are also members of the cult of ‘trickle down’ economics. They say that if we just keep being nice to the super rich at the very top, and give them all the breaks, that one day in the future they’ll decide to make a conscious decision to be nice to the rest of American in return and that they’ll start to hire massive amounts of Americans at a decent wage. I believe in this as much as I believe in the tooth fairy. It’s laughable that anyone would subscribe to this broken and morally bankrupt philosophy that’s already been proven a massive failure. How can anyone not know this is just a cover and an excuse so the very powerful can have even more power? And how can any common American citizen allow themselves to be duped by believing this garbage?

I know that the rank and file Joe 6 pack type conservative you meet at a bar, is not an advocate of the last version of conservatism that I mentioned. But it can’t be denied that countless politicians and media figures who say they’re conservative do fall into this 5th category of conservative and need to be denounced by the other 4 versions of conservatives similar to how the Tea party denounces racists or how moderate Muslims denounce terrorism. To anyone that says there’s conservative or part of the tea party, I challenge you to detect and denounce the robber barons and their salesmen within your own ranks who give you guys a bad name. They’re no friend of the American people, and they’re not your friend, either.

There is certainly a place in our society for those that would argue against reform due to possible negative consequences, a place for those that believe in small government, a place for those that are opposed to abortion, and obviously a place for those that are for a balanced budget and fiscal sanity. But there is no valid purpose for the self-serving robber barons in our society who lobby and corrupt our government, just like there’s nothing positive about cancer or AIDS. It’s our duty as American citizens and as patriots to identify this anti-American element among us and vote them out of existence since they don’t represent We the People in any way, shape or form.

Published, with permission, from; http://scipiosforum.com/what-is-a-conservative.html

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