What this conservative believes.

Hands holding the sunrise

Listen to the broadcast of You Tell Me on KTBB AM 600, Friday, May 24, 2013.

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Note: This article was originally published on Friday, May 24, 2013.

A liberal caller to the Sean Hannity Show not long ago accused Hannity, and by extension all conservatives, of obstructionism. Paraphrasing her she said, ‘…you right wing extremists spend all of your time criticizing Obama, criticizing Democrats, criticizing the government and criticizing the only people who are actually trying to solve the country’s problems. You just complain. You don’t believe in anything. You just complain about the people who do.’

Sean did a fine job dealing with the caller. But I would have liked to have had a go at her myself. I would love to have had the opportunity to respond to that caller with what this right-winger believes.

Here it is.

I believe in the genius of the Constitution of the United States and the express limitations that it imposes upon government. I believe that the men who crafted it, imperfect as they were, were men of exceptional vision.

I believe in the sanctity of private property, including the right to retain the lion’s share of what one lawfully earns. I believe in the right to dispose of that property as one sees fit, even from beyond the grave.

I believe in the sovereignty of the individual. Therefore I believe in personal responsibility. I believe in the duty of self help and in the freedom that flows from self-reliance.

I believe that people can be trusted with their own lives. I believe in the positive forces attendant to free individuals ordering their affairs and expending their energies without interference and in such a way as they themselves determine to be best.

I believe in the duty of charity toward those, who through no fault of their own, cannot adequately provide for themselves or mitigate their own suffering. I believe that a good and decent society looks after those who cannot look after themselves.

I believe in the dignity of labor and in the soul-robbing ignominy of idleness.

I believe in failure. I believe that the lessons learned in failure contribute indispensably to eventual success. I believe that the freedom to fail is inseparable from the freedom to succeed.

I believe in thrift – particularly as it pertains to the use of money taken by taxation.

I believe in the sanctity of human life and the profound responsibility that falls upon those who bring a new child into the world. I believe in mothers and fathers. I believe in the duty incumbent upon them to sacrifice of themselves, to the best of their ability, toward the goal of turning the child they created into a self-sufficient adult.

I believe in enterprise and in the creative forces for good that enterprise unleashes. Toward its advancement, I believe in fair, predictable regulation that is only so limiting as is necessary to impartially protect the interests of businesses, citizens, taxpayers and consumers.

I believe that humankind will always live in a world beset by strife, tragedy, illness, suffering, poverty, mayhem and malfeasance. I believe that while attempts to mitigate such dark forces are appropriate wherever they may be effectively applied, sweeping, ill-considered efforts born of hubris to eradicate such forces altogether will always fail.

I believe in risk. I believe that to avoid risk too vigorously is to foreclose the possibility of living life to its fullest.

I believe in the power of dispersed knowledge. I believe that innovation and the solutions to problems are much more likely to come from the bottom up than the top down.

I believe in economic freedom. I believe that for all of the admitted faults of free-market capitalism, it has nevertheless done more to lift humankind out of poverty than any other economic system ever devised.

I believe that government is at once necessary and dangerous. I believe that governments are constituted of humans and that humans can never be trusted not to abuse power over other humans. Thus I believe in the smallest government possible consistent with defending the peace and enabling the free conduct of commerce.

Most of all, I believe that this is the day the Lord has made, and that so far as our human limitations will allow, we should rejoice, and be glad in it.

That’s what I believe. What about you?

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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5 Responses

  1. Chuck G says:

    Well, pretty much exactly the same things. Thank you for articulating the values of the people I most respect.

  2. Aaron Vader says:

    Well said Mr. Gleiser

  3. Bob Smith says:

    Mr. Gleiser, you earned a fan with this “manifesto”. I hope you will forgive my posting it to my facebook wall (and my office wall) – I DID of course credit you with the authorship.
    Again, this is well said and just plain awesome.

  4. p k lewis says:

    Well said, kudos…kudos.

  5. R. Eagleman says:

    Paul, ditto for your re-stated comments from earlier in the year; if only this belief system could be shared by our government! At the conclusion of your article, you stated “That’s what I believe. What about you?” O.K., this is what I believe: When I saw that the president “gave” his wife the extravagant “birthday gift” of remaining in Hawaii after the 17 days that he also enjoyed there, it made me recall the very thoughtful comment by our Vice-president that we should all have “a little skin in the game”. Of course the generous “gift” that the president gave his wife, as usual for this man, was from the American taxpayer. We will pick up the tab for HIS generosity in sending the jet back to Hawaii to bring her back to D.C., at a cost of nearly a million dollars. One thing that you must say about this person and his ilk is that they are experts at spending other people’s money. They are not very good at making, but excellent at taking! As for the comment by the Vice-president about taxpayers having more “skin in the game”, I respectfully submit that it is not a lack of White “skin in the game.” I can already hear the shrieks of “racism”; however, let us first get a good dose of “factcism”. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the net contribution to the G.D.P for each American Caucasian is $13,527.00, the Asian American is $15,200.00, and the American Black is a NEGATIVE $23,764.00. For every dollar that Blacks contribute to our economy, they receive $16.00 in social transfer payments. A staggering 40.2% of Black employees are government workers; (I am sure that there are just not enough of other races that are qualified to fill these government jobs). If these numbers were reversed, can you imagine what the Revs.Sharpton/Jackson duo and the multitude of race baiters would be chanting (of course poetically). I know that these statistics are very uncomfortable for those who want to continue to re-distribute hard-earned assets; therefore, they always use charges of racism to silence anyone who would dare to expose the facts. Well, unless the politicians grow a spine and are willing to address this lack of “skin in the game”, we will continue this pathway to being another third world country with no safety net for anyone. Since this kind of courage is unlikely, then at the very least, please spare me the intellectual dishonesty of the genius Joe Biden, who wants more taxpayers’ “skin in the game” and the generosity of our president with other peoples’ money.

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