On the young conservative

Show me a young Conservative and I’ll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I’ll show you someone with no brains.
—Winston Churchill

Being a young conservative, I am often told I am heartless. No, I am not a bleeding heart, but I am by no means someone with no heart at all. The conservative point of view stands behind a few basic principles, some of which are a limited government, individual responsibility and a strong sense of national security.

None of these seem to be reasons to tag a young conservative with the label of having no heart. Let’s take a look at these concepts.

Limited government

Conservatives believe that we need less government. Less government would mean a greater sense of personal responsibility. Things such as public health care would be nonexistent in a limited government. This is where the idea of being heartless comes in, conservatives (including young conservatives) are not for a public health care system, and this at face value may seem cruel.

Conservatives are not against the right to obtain health care, but public health care would be expensive for our government and people. Look at France, for example. It has a supposed “good” public health care system, and their citizens are paying roughly 48 percent to 65 percent, of their income in taxes. Conservatives do not want government control over things such as health care, and by this they allow us to keep more of the income that we worked so hard for.

Individual responsibility

Apparently, I am cruel because I think people should have some control over their own fate. With individual responsibility comes the Second Amendment. If a robber knew every house on the street had a gun, do you think he would rob any of those houses? I don’t think so. We have a right to protect our home and should do so.

Being responsible for your own actions isn’t saying that we should not have law enforcement. But it is saying every individual in the country has the right to the pursuit of happiness and the right to fight to keep it when they must.

National security
Yes, we should try to get along. But we should be the iron fist that wears a silk glove. Be gentle when we can, but when necessary, we will pull that glove off and use force. If our country is being threatened, then we need to fight to keep it. Empires throughout history did not survive by being gentle all of the time. They had to constantly fight to keep what was their own.

This is not heartlessness, but pride—pride for the country we love so deeply, enough pride to protect this land as if it was our own child. If you love something and don’t want to lose it, that is the natural reaction.

Like any other conservative, young conservatives believe in this country. They believe in its welfare and will protect it at any cost. These “heartless” people also believe in the people, they believe that they should be able to keep what they earn and protect what is theirs.

Sounds to me like a young conservative is simply a person with a lot of pride in the country they call home, not people with no hearts. I think Mr. Churchill was mistaken about young conservatives, but I will agree with him on the latter part of his statement.