Op-Ed: Fundamental Ideas are the Wellsprings of Liberty and Tyranny

Shame on us. In our political discourse, we throw the “isms” around willy-nilly, without really discussing—or understanding—what they actually mean. Liberalism, socialism, Marxism, fascism, conservatism, libertarianism… At election time, we employ these labels to blast or to boast about a given candidate.

But words have meaning beyond being political hand grenades. Fundamental philosophies of government pace the course of human history and cast the die of our destiny, for good or evil. We fight over government policies and practices, and that’s important. But even more important is understanding the basic philosophies of parties and candidates. Why? Because it is those fundamental principles and ideologies that underlie all public policy.

Here is a short tour through the overarching political philosophies of the major parties: (Democrats: liberal/socialist, and a majority [maybe] of Republicans: conservative/libertarian.) Come to understand these foundational ideas and beliefs, and politics will begin to make more sense to you. Then decide where you stand.

LIBERALISM: Believes that the purpose of government is to use its power to impose your will on someone else.

CONSERVATISM: Believes that the purpose of government is to preserve your right to exercise your own free will, empowering the individual, not the politician.

LIBERALISM: Focuses on our weaknesses, our brutish instincts, and on a naturalistic model of man. Life is negotiable.

CONSERVATISM: Focuses on our strengths, our inner character, and on a transcendent spiritual model of man. Life is sacred.

LIBERALISM: Believes that humanity progresses through politically-planned collective action and a government-controlled marketplace.

CONSERVATISM: Believes humanity progresses through unplanned individual action, inspiration, and achievement, enabled by free markets.

LIBERALISM: Believes that humans are perfected through conformity to the rules of an intellectual elite.

CONSERVATISM: Believes that humans are perfected by the release of the human spirit in an atmosphere of faith and freedom.

LIBERALISM: Defines morality as personal choice, shaped by environment and “situational ethics,” and sees man as the ultimate source of wisdom and truth.

CONSERVATISM: Defines morality as a universal code, unchanged by circumstance, and sees God as the ultimate source of all wisdom and truth.

LIBERALISM: Believes wealth can be created by a government program, and that redistribution multiplies wealth and elevates humanity.

CONSERVATISM: Believes that wealth is the result of enterprise, investment, and hard work, and the more the government confiscates, the less society creates.

LIBERALISM: Views property in the context of greed, and the exercise of property rights as conditional upon government permission.

CONSERVATISM: Views property in the context of personal freedom, and land use decisions as private prerogatives outside of government control.

LIBERALISM: Believes that people exist at the behest of government, and government should license and approve their activities.

CONSERVATISM: Believes that government exists at the behest of the people, and the people should constitutionally authorize and approve its activities.

LIBERALISM: Says people are not good enough to be free, that the state must guarantee their material security and protect them from themselves.

CONSERVATISM: Says that liberty and responsibility are inseparable, that people must be trusted with their freedom and be accountable for their actions.

LIBERALISM: Asserts that while theft is evil as a private act, it is benevolent and good as a public act, because government knows best how to allocate wealth.

CONSERVATISM: Asserts that when a government plunders its people and redistributes their earnings for political gain, it commits the most cowardly form of theft, which destroys the rights of the plundered and the moral integrity of the recipient.

LIBERALISM: Is empowered by politics, imposed by legislation, and enforced by the police powers of the state.

CONSERVATISM: Is empowered by intellect, spread by persuasion, and nurtured in the absence of coercion and the presence of human respect.

Summing up, if you understand a political party’s philosophical frame of reference, you can easily predict the laws and policies it will advance—contrary claims in election season notwithstanding. This is especially true with Democrats, who are far more philosophically consistent at advancing socialism than Republicans are at advancing freedom and smaller government. Democrats always place their faith in government, distrust the people, and see liberty as a danger to be suppressed more than a blessing to be protected.

Roger Koopman is president of Montana Conservative Alliance. He served four years in the Montana House of Representatives and eight years as a Montana Public Service commissioner. He operated a Bozeman small business for 47 years