Conservatism is Compassionate

I recently heard someone defend his belief in compassionate conservatism, the same idea introduced (to a significant extent later practiced) by George W. Bush when he first ran for president back in 2000. I think I have a vague idea of what this term is supposed to mean (i.e. helping the poor and need). Regardless of that, however, I see some very negative consequences of its usage. The problem with this term is very simple: it implies that Conservatism is not compassionate by itself. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

Before I continue, however, I think it’s important to remember how we Americans–myself included– often define conservatism. It’s composed of some very basic principles. As Conservatives, we believe the power of the government should be limited. We believe in a free market over which the government should have very little, if any, control. We believe in upholding the traditional family, and celebrating our Judeo-Christian heritage. We believe our elected officials should strictly follow the Constitution. Of course the list goes on, but these are some of the basics. I’ve heard many conservatives say that conservative principles are simply the founding principles of the country.

As a side note, I think the free market system of allowing people to pursue their dreams without a lot of government intrusion is already compassionate. I could say the same for upholding the traditional family by recognizing kids’ need for a female mother and a male father. However, I don’t think that’s the kind of compassion that many liberal Democrats, and even many moderate Republicans, think we conservatives lack. They want to see us give to the homeless and needy. They think they see a huge contradiction between the firm way we defend Christianity and the level to which we oppose this country’s welfare system, for example. Yet, both liberals and conservatives will be surprised to find the founding principles that we conservatives embrace are just as compassionate as those specifically mentioned in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Long before Britain decided to exercise greater control over her American colonies, Americans had already founded those principles that they later incorporated into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Ever since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 and the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay ten years later, Americans had been slowly but surely practicing freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press. They had also been practicing representative government on a local level. In addition to all these, they had also been practicing compassion. A long American tradition, compassion goes back to the ‘City on the Hill’ idea set forth by John Winthrop. He, very explicitly, stated the following:

“wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions our owne rejoyce together, mourne together, labour, and suffer together, allwayes haveing before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke, our Community as members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his owne people.

While the progressives in this country believe everyone is entitled to some kind of government-backed security blanket though welfare, social security, health care, etc, Conservatives have a little bit more faith in each other. When the economy goes south temporarily, we conservatives turn to our churches and local charities for help. Those of us lucky enough to ride out the storm make donations through those same churches and local charities. Where liberals are willing to sacrifice the entire American experiment of freedom from tyrannical government during times of economic distress, Conservatives remember that allowing ourselves to become more dependent on the government diminishes our freedom, which, in turn, provides us with fewer resources to help the poor and the needy through the most effective means possible. When bad times come, as they always do, liberals (out of fear) begin believing that the American experiment of free market economics has failed and that government should step up to the plate. Conservatives, on the other hand, believe that they themselves should be consistently choosing to step up to the plate because choosing to help others in economic distress is a significant part of our national identity. I’ll touch on more of this later, but the key difference between the two mindsets is in choosing.