What I'm looking for in a political system is the one that works most effectively and compassionately, regardless of how much compassion the people are feeling as they work within the system.
Let me lay out the foundation of Marvin Olasky's Compassionate Conservatism. This is not an attempt to return to the years of Bush the younger, though America did have a season of resonance with his message. It's more of a declaration that conservatism need not and should not yield the label of "compassionate" to liberals and progressives who primarily find their solutions and salvation in the government.
The U.S. economy continues to crumble under the weight of socialist ideals. That alone should show the emptiness of the government's claim to offer compassion. But this downturn is not shocking and we had better not lose the clarity of it's report: socialism doesn't work.
That message is starting to hit home, but what do we replace socialism with? If we stop charging toward centralized government power and financial control, where do we charge to next?
Marvin Olasky's version of conservatism needs to be considered. Yes, we can chew the meat and spit out the bones, but there's plenty of meat to be had. Let me outline his ABCDEFG principles.Seven Principles of Compassionate Conservatism
(Compassionate Conservatism, pp 16-20)
Assertive
The preamble to the Constitution speaks of government promoting the general welfare but not providing it. Alexis de Tocqueville was astounded to see Americans forming associations to fight poverty and other social ills rather than waiting for government to act. Such assertiveness surprised to Europeans well into the 20th century.... compassionate conservatism is the opposite of how wimpy doctrine; it emphasizes a renewable of the Citizen assertiveness that so impressed the first great for a journalist to come here, de Tocqueville.
We're seeing this sort of assertiveness in the TEA Party movement of the last 18 months. There is a very real sense that the people still have a voice to remind our political representatives who is working for whom! In a free country, the government fears the people more than the people fear the government. This assertiveness is both historic and uniquely special in this time and place.
"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson
