Words Have Meaning; Ideas Are Important

One of the challenges in calling yourself a conservative or liberal (I prefer the term progressive) is that others will assume that you are then a lock-step follower of either the Republican or Democratic Party. And while I believe this holds true more for progressives than conservatives, it is a false assumption. Political Parties are simply organizations bound together by a common view of policy that often times ebbs and sways with the political wind, polls, or the course of history. Being a true conservative or progressive (or libertarian or communist) is following a common core of beliefs about government and society. For example, conservatives see more negatives than positives when government is expanded; when its role in our everyday lives increases. Progressives see that as the very purpose of government, so government expansion to address issues is supported by them.

This brings me to, for lack of a better term, my bitching point. I get sick and tired of critics, both official media types and unofficial Facebook types, who simply go with the political flow and do not commit to a real political philosophy of ideas. Many of these folks simply try to bait you, or squeeze you into some box for their own amusement. The sad part is that they have no real belief system. Some may say they are conservative but spend their time baiting in other conservatives by pointing to the less than conservative ideas proposed at times by the Republican Party. A good example would be George W. Bush's expansion of Medicare with the drug program. Since words have meaning and ideas are important, this was definitely not a conservative policy, and many true conservatives opposed it and criticized the President immediately for it. However, many valueless, unofficial pundits on Facebook and elsewhere simply lumped us all together as Republicans.

Many of these critics like to play loose with words. They buy into some postmodernist, literary criticism, relativist interpretation that avoids the literal meaning of practically anything. WRONG! Words have meaning. If you say "always" it means just that. It does not mean sometimes, more often than not, or rarely. Such flamboyant and over the top prose is one tactic they use to goad you in, so be careful. Secondly, ideas are important. A great little book that focuses on this is Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver. Ideas are not superfluous, conditional, or lacking in meaning. Many of these closet critics like to demean and tear down the thinkers as being useless because they do not always focus on policy. They are not influenced by what polling says.

Character and respect are built upon the notions of FairPlay, civility, and commitment to principles. Regardless of what your political ideas, beliefs, philosophy is, stay true to it and express your ideas succinctly in words that have meaning and represent what you mean. Being a conservative, I have more respect for a progressive who sticks by their guns and can debate issues in a civil manner than I do for someone claiming to be conservative but seeks to drag me or the opposition down through cheap shots and vague words or ideas.

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