Conservativism And Morality
By Cathryn Crawford (11/12/03)
Last week, after I wrote my column on conservativism, I received a considerable amount of mail telling me about the things that I neglected to say. It seemed a common consensus among the Republicans that I spoke too little about specific things like abortion, gun control, and free speech; and too much about general, basic beliefs.
I thought about these comments a lot, and I considered doing a column that addressed these specific issues each in turn β but then I realized that there is one basic belief that underscores and supports conservative beliefs, including all these. As a matter of fact, it is an excellent summation of conservativism.
Conservative people have a moral compass that they, whether they live by it or not, acknowledge. They recognize and believe that all social questions, all government issues, can be traced back to a question of private morality. Conservatives have a strong belief that societies that are governed by people who are in turn governed by a strong moral compass are, in fact, better societies. They believe that a good government, a legitimate government, is one that is based on the conservative principles of justice, honesty, and honor.
This moral compass is what drives the main tenets of conservativism. Citizens with strong moral beliefs are less likely to act for the instant gratification of desires β therefore, they are less willing to advocate frivolous and excessive spending on programs that are unnecessary. They have β or should have β a stronger work ethic and more independent inclinations β and this translates into a desire for a smaller government. They donβt feel that they need a government to take care of them. They are more independent β minded.
This may sound like a general, feel-good statement, but itβs the core of conservativism. Conservatives hold their own to a higher standard. While we expect immoral ( an old fashioned word, but still relevant) behavior from those that we know are not guided by a moral compass, let a conservative commit a crime or even an act generally accepted to be βbadβ, and conservatives will be the first to point it out and call them out on it. Think Bill Bennett, and, to a lesser extent, Trent Lott. As a matter of fact, conservatives tend to carry it to the other extreme β their attacks on their own are more brutal than their attacks on those whom they hold to a different standard.
This moral standing β moral compass β is why the conservatives of America want to see less government rather than more. They believe that as government grows, so does its capacity to be corrupt. They believe that government will eventually grow to such a capacity that it will take away the liberty of the citizens. They also believe that this liberty is more important to protect than social norms or social consensus. Barry Goldwater sums this up in this paragraph from his book, "The Conscience of a Conservative:"
"I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' interests, I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can."
In closing, while the conservatives of America have their pet issues that they consider to be the nearest and dearest of their ideology, their real defining belief is in the strong ethical and moral foundation that their tenets were originally founded on. All the strong positions on gun rights, abortion, free speech β all can be traced back to moral reasoning. The Constitution itself was originally founded on moral beliefs about the best way a government would serve its citizens. Morality is not just a part of conservativism β morality is conservativism.
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