There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.
THOMAS SOWELL
When I was young, I was a Republican and a conservative. This began when I was in middle school and ended when I turned 30 and became an atheist. The reason I was a conservative was because I was a Christian. I think politics is an extension of your religious beliefs. When I lost my religion, I did a pivot into libertarianism. I could never become a Democrat or a Marxist. I am grateful that reading Ayn Rand was as nutty as I ever got. Then, God opened my eyes, and I became a Roman Catholic in my forties. This led to me becoming a "born again" conservative. Today, I consider myself to be a paleoconservative which I define as a reality based libertarian. I think paleoconservatism is the most sensible political position to take. Here is that sensibility applied to a few topics.
1. The lesser of two evils
When I was a libertarian, I considered voting to be a waste of time. When I did do it, I would waste that vote on libertarian candidates. If voting is a waste of time, voting for candidates who have no chance of winning is certainly a waste of time. This would be anyone who isn't a Republican. Third party voting or not voting ends up being a vote for the greater of two evils.
I have never been happy with the GOP candidates that made it to the general election. I vote my beliefs in the primaries, but I pinch my nose in the general election. When Romney ran against Obama, I couldn't vote for Mitt. Four years later, I wish Mitt Romney had won. Life in the USA would have been better. Today, we are still suffering from that election in 2012.
I am totally for voting for the lesser of the two evils. I am not so naive as to believe my single vote matters, but I do have a moral obligation to participate in civic affairs. I am not voting for Utopia. I am voting to prevent this world from descending completely into chaos and hell.
2. Minarchy
One of the things that I share with libertarians is a belief in small government. I believe government should be as small as possible. This makes me a minarchist. I am not an anarchist. I believe in law and order, the police, national defense, and public roads. I don't think all functions of government can be replaced with a profit driven corporation. I accept that taxes are the price we pay for government, but those taxes should be as low as possible. Sadly, small government conservatism has vanished, but I still believe in it.
3. Republics
I am not a monarchist. Some Roman Catholics champion monarchy forgetting what God had to say about monarchy in the Bible. Here is what God said,
And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give us a king, to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them. According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them. Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him,
And said: This will be the right of the king, that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen to run before his chariots, And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots. Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants. Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give his eunuchs and servants.
Your servants also and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses he will take away, and put them to his work. Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants. And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves. and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king. But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said: Nay: but there shall be a king over us. And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us.
1 SAMUEL 8:6-20 DOUAY-RHEIMS
Before King Saul and King David, judges and elders governed the people of Israel. This was essentially a republic much like the Romans had. It was not perfect, but it worked. Today, most countries around the world function as republics. This is the form of government for nations with modest ambitions. It is when they turn imperial that they clamor for a king and an emperor. This is the "strong man" impulse which is inimical to peace, freedom, and prosperity. Today, the neoconservative movement champions this imperialist viewpoint.
I am a monarchist because I believe in the Kingship of Christ. Jesus Christ is my only king. Unlike the Israelites, I want God for my king. Unlike the neoconservatives, I think we should withdraw from meddling in international affairs. I do not believe in Empire America. I think the USA was better off when it minded its own business. Today, we are on the verge of bankruptcy and war because of this neoconservative garbage. Everything God said about the king in the Bible remains true even today.
4. Religion
The Founders believe that there could be no liberty without self-government. Without religion, virtue, and morality, your nation will descend into anarchy followed by tyranny. If you fear going out at night because of the criminal element, you grasp the concept. Our country has become estranged from God, and we are suffering the consequences.
Religion makes people better which leads to people having the freedom to do the good. This is opposed to those silly libertarian notions that freedom is the ability to do as you please so long as no one gets hurt. For some reason, this libertarian garbage is ending up with a lot of hurt people.
We need religion to be free. We cannot be free without it. Abstract libertarian notions of freedom will not suffice. The laws of the land should reflect the laws of God. Without God, life in this country is rapidly declining. This is why a guy like Putin acknowledges the need for religion's role in building a strong society. He is no saint, but he can see reality. Atheism didn't do any favors for Russia.
Conclusion
I am in the minority with these viewpoints except I have God and reality on my side. Libertarianism, socialism, and neoconservatism are idiotic. They are out of touch with reality and common sense. Sensibility demands a return to Christianity and embracing paleoconservativism. There is no perfection in this world. But there is a better world that we can have that beats the nightmare of the perfectionists. This is the world I want to live in until my particular judgment and the Second Coming.
