Libertarians, Conservatives, and the Three C's

Thursday, March 5, 2009 2:51 PM

Constitution, Currency, and Capitalism are the three values held dear by the movement begun by the Founding Fathers of the USA, and of which I am a solid member. More about the Three C's in a moment, but first some basic questions: what is that movement called? Conservatism? Well, yes. Right-wing extremism? Well, also, yes, if you want the use the language of the "progressives." Libertarianism? Yes to that too.

When I was originally notified notified that I qualified as one of the Top Conservatives on Twitter, I was flabbergasted. I had never thought of myself as a conservative. If forced to describe my political leaning I would say "libertarian." What I find, however, is that most of the people I follow on Twitter, and am followed by, call themselves conservatives. Many are Christians, Roman Catholic or otherwise. All are anti-communist. Some are libertarians and opposed to statism. Many are fans of Rush Limbaugh, who describes himself and his movement as conservative, but whose ideas, with some exceptions, mostly theological, are consistent with the ideas of Ayn Rand, whose work I have read extensively.

For me what we call our movement is of secondary importance to a definition of the principles which hold our movement together, and for which we are fighting. That, my friends, is where the Three C's are so important.

The Constitution. This document, the legacy of the Founding Fathers, combines their intellectual capacity with the political process of give-and-take which led to its 1789 ratification. Three years before the revolutionary French began chopping off aristocratic heads, Americans had it all worked out. Since then, the Constitution has been violated, ignored, and amended for the better (the Fourteenth Amendment) and the worse (the Sixteenth and the Eighteenth.) During the current historical period, the Constitution is being violated wholesale by government, especially the Federal Government, especially the Obama Administration and the Pelosi-Reid Congress. In my opinion, all conservatives and libertarians should be able to agree to support the Constitution as a whole, warts and all, for the sake of unity, which we need to defeat the "progressives."

The Currency. "Sound as a dollar" is the reputation of our nation's currency, and dollars are being accumulated world-wide. In reality, they are only paper, issued by the Federal Reserve, and no longer 100% backed by gold reserves. Financial crises and irresponsible behavior by government have eroded world confidence in the dollar. Many, including Austrian school economists, urge a return to the gold standard in the US. I do not expect all conservatives and libertarians to advocate a return to the gold standard, but I would expect them to advocate and fight for the soundness of the dollar, and oppose any government measures that would undermine it.

Capitalism. Wealth available for use in the production of further wealth is called capital, and the system that protects capital and the production of further wealth is called capitaliism. The government cannot produce capital, it can only steal it through taxation or big spending. In order for capitalism to work, individual rights have to be protected, not merely rights of groups, and for that reason, capitalism needs the Consitution and a sound currency, and vice versa.

If we can all agree on the Three C's where is there room for disagreement? It's built into the Constitution in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, which in principle prevent the federal government from meddling with issues that are constitutionally off limits. States can take either side in such issues, sometimes passing legislation. A partial list of issues for disagreement including the following: the abolition of the constitutional welfare state, the rights of the unborn, non-interventionism in foreigh policy, minority set-asides by states, charitable aid to other nations by the USA, enforced business closure on the Sabbath, and bans on gambling, alcohol, marijuana, and pornography.

Meanwhile, we've got ten major amendments to fight for, a weakening dollar, and a capitalist economic system being demolished by the Obamacrats as I write this. Keep on truckin'.