Too Late for Conservatism

The revolutionary leadership must:

• Keep moving forward – do not stop

• Do not set improper expectations – don’t minimize, cover up or lie about the pain

• Obtain visible results from strong actions – not risking failure through half-measures, hesitation or lack of courage

Those taking up the leadership challenge for this new revolution will face many challenges. Some of the challenges will be very familiar, others will be new:

• No roadmap – Because a free market is defined by the fact that every individual acts independently seeking personal “happiness” (i.e., welfare – not to be confused with “entitlements”), there will be no “roadmap” that can be offered by the leadership to the liberal media, “talking heads,” or challengers on the other side of the aisle. Instead, the leadership must demonstrate themselves to be genuine leaders by boldly asserting and articulating the “vision” in a clear way in lieu of a “roadmap.”

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  No quick fix – While the leadership must be careful to not set improper expectations, even the proper expectations will be seized upon by the opposition. Aggressive social and political demagoguery organized by left-leaning parties, organizations and media outlets will seek to engender class hatred, distrust and otherwise to undermine the transformation efforts. In such cases, it will be up to the leadership to undertake a patient explanatory crusade in order to once again rally public support of the vision.

• New winners and losers – The dismantling of various forms of price controls and market over-regulation, trade liberalization, the readjustments necessary in the money supply, and the changes in taxes and entitlements will – as stated above – create entirely new groups of “winners” and “losers.” It is likely that some short-term concessions may be necessary to reduce the volume of pain borne by any one group during the transformation. These concessions should, reasonably, take the form of transition programs granting special tax treatment or (rarely) subsidies to smooth market-driven transitions.

During these trying times, it will be important for the revolutionary leadership to keep in mind that human society is not, by nature, filled with class-based antagonisms – especially not antagonisms that burst forth into outright hatred. The leftists, on the other hand, thrive on class hatred. Pick anywhere on the spectrum of leftist ideologies – from radical communism to heart-felt socialism – and one will find those to espouse, support, indulge and even take effort to stir up envy and hatred between races, genders, religions and social classes. Then, having engendered the hatred, they next leverage the class warfare for their own gain – or the gain of their ideologies.

In the midst of the demagoguery of the partisans across the aisle, the new revolutionary leadership must reinvigorate the clear controlling vision of our universal bright future. The principles of limited government, free markets and a sound monetary policy are what will provide the best and surest welfare, largest opportunity and most hope for happiness for all – rich or poor, black or white, of any creed or gender.

Recall how Ronald Reagan reminded us all: “The experts tell us there are no simple answers to our difficulties. They are wrong. There are simple answers, just not easy ones.”