Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

A traditional conservative walks into a room, and the lights are off. He/she turns the lights on him/herself and continues on.

A traditional liberal walks into a room, and the lights are off. He/she wonders why the lights aren’t on. He/she complains about the deprivation of light and how it is unfair and causes inequality. He/she goes to the government to complain about the lack of light in the room and pushes for legislation.

So I am being facetious. But having discovered true intellectual conservatism in college, I cannot help but marvel at the simplicity and commonsense of it.
I won’t be surprised if I elaborate on this one and turn it into a potential Commentator piece.

What is true conservatism? It isn’t about being religiously conservative, or about being socially conservative, which is what conservative gets labeled as these days. Conservatives also get a bad rap on being ignorant or self-righteous. But these aren’t even issues that define conservative or liberal.

Simply put, conservatism believes that you are your own person, and you are responsible for yourself. Personal responsibility and individual action are the most important. Merit outweighs privilege. You do not deserve anything, but must work to get what you want and need. Furthermore, you are free to do what you want as long as it does not infringe on another person’s freedoms.

Conservatives are all about rights. We love the Constitution of the United States of America and the freedoms that it outlined. However, any rights that we have, while arguably ‘God-given’ or inalienable, must be backed up by the immediate threat of force or defense. Thus an armed citizenry is imperative to maintain these rights. That is why conservatives are often painted as gun-toting shoot-em-up anti-government types. The simple fact is that is true! We love arms because it allows personal protection. Bearing of arms requires personal responsibility, for when we decide to wield those weapons and possibly use them, we are accepting a responsibility far greater than one person. We are undertaking the responsibility of protecting a society and defending the freedoms of ourselves and our fellow citizens. Moreover, it allows individual action by giving a powerful tool to our citizens. And most importantly, it gives us a means to protect ourselves from the tyranny of an overly powerful government, should that ever happen.