Bedward Family - Commentary

Political Reputations and Reality

Craig Bedward

The media and pop culture have certain images of conservatives and liberals. But how close to reality are those reputations? Not close at all, actually. The reputations of the parties are based on a caricature. Conservatives want to "conserve", to keep things the way the are, to block any "progress." Liberals, on the other hand, want to "liberate", the want freedom for everyone. 

Both of those images are nonsense created by liberals to make themselves out to be the heroes and champions of freedom. They are not. Conservative ideals work toward freedom; liberal ideals enslave. But sometimes you have to look beyond a sound bite to see it.

Let's take an example. Conservatives are painted as mean-spirited because they don't want to government to help people (read give handouts). Liberals give to the needy in our society, therefore they are supposedly compassionate. 

But let's look a little deeper. The money that liberals give to the needy is taken from the rest of us, the ones that the liberals label as not needed and make us pay "our fair share." And they don't just take a small amount. The average American pays around half his income in all the combined taxes. Is taking half of someone's hard-earned money being compassionate? Conservatives advocate not steeling money from people. They want to let you keep the money that you make. A novel concept. Would it be alright to rob a bank as long as you gave the take to charity?

It is easy to be compassionate with other people's money. But when it comes to their own, they don't appear to be as compassionate or generous. Remember a few years back when it was revealed that Al Gore's total charitable contribution was $300 for the year? I don't know about you, but I gave considerably more than that and I didn't make nearly as much as he did. The liberal wants to be seen as compassionate and he wants to do it with your money. He want to force you to give to his favorite charity. That is theft and coercion. The conservative wants you to keep your money and give charities of your choice. That is known as freedom.