The Conservative Myth

In the upcoming elections, voters must choose candidates for public office based upon their values, authenticity and trusts. And the radical authoritarian right wing Koch brother’s front group, Americans for Prosperity, is wasting no time mailing out their deceptive propaganda. Expecting voters to believe that they are preserving and promoting American values and yet their actions trample our values and deconstruct the government agencies responsible for protecting our citizens.

In “Conservative” economic mythology the earth resources exist for human profit and for us to consume. Promoting the idea that if natural resources are not privatized, then they are of no value…. The land, water and air that we cherish are being destroyed by “conservatives” who promote privatization and deregulation as a virtue instead of a responsibility of the government to protect our common wealth.

The outsourcing of American elections through wealthy campaign contributors has made profit making our governments primary mission, and spending on public good and safety no longer one of their goals. For example, climate change is happening, yet the “Conservative” agenda is to bury scientific evidence, stop conducting research, gag government agencies and cut budgets for those investigating it, acerbating this global crisis even further.

In the “Conservative” free market world we find multi-billion dollar government bailouts, legalized bribery by lobbyist, and subsidies for industries, plus the auctioning of common wealth land, water, oil rights, etc., to corporations at a fraction of the cost of what privately owned resources cost.
Business decisions and markets driven by profits will often affect human health and life, a subject outside the scope of conservative moral judgments.

In contrast, Progressives believe that markets should serve human values, that government regulations protect the public from harmful products and fraud, they believe in fair taxation wherein the wealthy should pay more to nourish and replenish the common wealth they benefit from, and they believe in a balance of power between worker’s and corporation owners to insure a healthy workplace.

Clean drinking water and air quality are NOT commodities and industry should not decide how much contaminants American’s ingest. Progressives see fundamental freedoms of markets exist for the common good, the freedom to earn a living wage, freedom from expensive healthcare, freedom from ignorance, freedom from bigotry, hate, and fear, and the preservation of our natural world.

Conservatives see these freedoms as interferences.

So here we are at the beginning of another election cycle filled with the Conservative myths of free markets and deregulation. Do we vote for a “Conservative” party candidate intent on lowering labor costs, providing less health care coverage, abolishing environmental protections, and letting the taxpayer pay for corporate profits?

Or do we vote for a Progressive candidate whom claims the moral responsibility to care for others, believes in using common wealth for the common good not for the wealthy, and believes in protecting the natural and individual resources we share? Your vote IS VERY important for our future.

Mark S. Chapman

Editor’s note: This article has been reposted with the author’s permission, and unless you are a paying subscriber to Louisa County's paper of record, the Central Virginian it is only available here.