Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
From Virginia Citizen (February 1992)
As Virginians, we face a challenge equal to any challenge in our history: How can we solve severe and persistent social and economic problems, such as crime, homelessness, school dropouts, poverty, family disintegration, teen suicides and pregnancies, and recession, without more government?
Conservatives have been good at identifying the problems with government. Our criticisms of smothering regulation, stifling bureaucracy, growth-killing tax increases, self-perpetuating government programs, and laws and policies that discourage private initiative, erode individual responsibility and undermine community, have been on the money. (more…)
Monday, September 14th, 2009
If you want an illustration of how far we’ve come from a culture of self-reliance to one of dependency, contrast the recent newspaper profile of Lura Grubb of southwestern Virginia with the news reports about the federal government’s decision to extend Medicare coverage to the treatment of obesity. It’s not a pretty picture. (more…)
Friday, June 13th, 2008
Source: Center for Just Society
“Political moral philosophy” sounds like an oxymoron in the context of our modern, unprincipled politics. Nevertheless, a sound moral philosophy is the vital center of any political movement intent on fashioning a just society. Unfortunately, both political parties today seem to have lost their grip on whatever moral philosophy they once held to be true. Democrats have abandoned their old socialist ideals for a pragmatic approach focused on winning elections by promising new domestic programs and repeating a mantra advocating vague, undefined notions of “change.” Republicans have dropped their ideals of personal freedom and limited government in favor of winning elections by rewarding powerful special interest groups with earmarks, tax cuts, and limitations on liability for wrongdoing.
The dominant principle of moral philosophy guiding both major political parties seems to be reelection. (more…)
