Conservative Values?

This week another of many similar emails which seem to persist in making the rounds of the "Conservative Circuit" was sent to my attention. Perhaps knowing my strong stance on the importance of private property, which is simply what gun ownership is, my friend thought, very erroneously, that I would agree with all the points expressed and pass on the positive story and its secondary message.

The email concerned the story of a young girl, home alone when home invaders broke in, and her brave defense of her home. According to the story, the girl, a trained competitive shooter, used her advanced "gun control" skills to drive off the criminals.

Then it was brought to my attention that the girl and her particular story of brave self-defense, was actually a false story and never happened. Of course there are plenty of other instances when vicious criminals, expecting certain types of people to be vulnerable — very young people, women, old people, disabled people — surprise the aggressors with the availability of a weapon and ably defend themselves.  

Had the story been true, it would have been just one more, albeit a compelling one, in a history of self-defense that is simply human nature. If it had been true I would have congratulated the young lady for developing her skill and her parents for encouraging her and teaching her calmness in the face of danger. Those should be Conservative Values.

When any person develops skills to make themselves more self-sufficient and capable they exhibit personal determination and ability to achieve self-set goals. All of the above attributes should be considered values all humans should strive to acquire.

But what about the secondary message of the story that was sent to me? According to the tale, the young girl, Patricia Harrington, fended off two illegal immigrants. Interesting. Of course, the story about 11-year-old Patricia Harrington is not true. See here and here for details. Note in the latter link that this story dates back as far as 2007.

Not only am I in strong opposition to the secondary message, but find it profoundly disturbing that any Conservatives would hold these attitudes or refer to them as a "Conservative Value" and pass them on and urge their friends to disseminate them. Especially so when the story they are passing on is a fiction.

But what really bothers me is the pinning of a story meant to capture the attention and favor of conservatives with a subtext regarding frightening “illegal aliens.” For years there has been a steadily growing barrage of hatred and animosity, even demonizing, of all immigrants. I frequently am sent emails and blogs which make the assumption that "illegal aliens" are evil, law breaking, violent and sub human. This is the worst collective ideology; a grouping of people by race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Why would anyone ever want to claim this as one of their “values.”

The fact they lack government permission might realistically be due to the fact they only need to wait 50 years to enter legally. The desire to build a better life, not a desire for welfare, is the motivation for most immigrants. The human attribute to endure hardships in the quest for a better life is stronger than the fear and hatred they know they may face.

Now the Republicans are scrambling to suddenly be coolly receptive to the mess that is typical of all Administrative Agencies and say they “may” consider a second look at the problems inherent in it. However, their intransigence against dropping the “trigger” of the not only unrealistic but undesirable “Border Security” will doom any real efforts to eliminate the morass that is the immigration system. The venom and hostility that too many Conservatives have displayed repeatedly is the arrow already shot that cannot be recalled. Is this too little too late? 

Of concern to Republicans should be that someone, somewhere, creates and sends out these many false stories designed to appeal to two things. First are a set of reasonable economic issues on which practically all Conservatives agree. A variation is that some messages purport to be from a person Conservatives admire. That is the insidious first part.

The second part is as predictable as mud after a hard rain; the nasty, untrue, characterizations of immigrants. Sure, they usually use the term “illegal” but it is too obvious that their real intent is to limit all immigration. The damage to Republicans who tout this anti-immigration rhetoric and espouse it by emails and blogs far and wide, is only bringing down destruction upon themselves. In years to come they will be embarrassed to admit they were duped into supporting ideas that appeal to the worst in human nature.

I am not certain, but am highly suspicious, that these emails are encouraged by the anti-immigration groups such as FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), Numbers USA and CIS (Center for Immigration Studies) and VDare. This is not said lightly, but based on years of reading, first their printed materials, and later their web sites and the commentary their readers and members make. 

Also lending credence to their involvement is commentary by the members of their Boards of Directors as to the great benefits of a homogenous Western European population, Governmental directed policy for Eugenic cleansing of the United States, and the need for population control for environmental concerns. Not just universal birth control, but more drastic methods are suggested, particularly for the “unwashed.” Appearances before Congress and on conservative shows seem to give them credibility regardless of their true philosophy. 

Understand that I am not claiming I have proof they write the Emails. But such a repetition of certain themes and phrases are so common that I am highly suspicious that their common founder or mentor, John Tanton, is “being channeled.” 

Most who identify as libertarian have from the very beginning of the political side in their platform made their position clear. Quite simply and clearly, all humans have inalienable rights to life, liberty and their personal pursuit of their own happiness. These are not just tired old words written long ago on crumbling parchment. Rather, that simple statement reflects the necessary mental attitude that must exist before a civilization can flourish. Libertarians have not deviated from this position regardless of its unpopularity.

It is not easy, but it is necessary, for a civilized people to recognize that it is not only Me, but also Thee, who owns the same rights naturally within oneself. The caveat, of course, is that no aggression is initiated. The people who accept the idea of inalienable rights for all people, therefore would logically support Freedom of Movement, Open Immigration and Emigration, non-governmental control of voluntary agreements concerning labor, goods, capital and property. Peaceful, voluntary interaction is the underpinning to a free peoples' civilized life. I would hope that these are Conservative Values also.

The measure of a person's value of liberty is not how much liberty one desires for oneself, but how much liberty one is willing to allow others.

Image Credit: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (Flickr)/Timmy Chaves