Right to Protest

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/08/saudi-arabia-stop-stifling-peaceful-dissent

20 people arrested for a peaceful protest?  The first amendment in the United States has often been taken for granted, but the right to peacefully protest and question the government is a core human right that is often exercised here.  Saudi Arabia has taken away the only way for its citizens to be involved and keep its government accountable.  Without the right to question the people in charge, how can one feel like a citizen at all?

 

Peaceful protest is a right, not a privilege.

Middle Eastern Women Revolutionizing

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/08/women-of-the-middle-east-uprising/

Came across this on CNN.com today.  Countries cannot and will not develop and expand without utilizing the full potential of their work-force and talent. It happened in America, and it’s happened to every developed nation.  When women are allowed to participate in society, it makes the entire nation as well the world better off.

Winston Churchill

“If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at forty you have no brain.”

Although Churchill wasn’t the first to say this, his version is the most widely recognized in modern times.  As a twenty year old conservative, I would hope to challenge this phrase which I have come to believe to be a wild misconception.  Putting aside my opinions for a second, I have met so many young conservatives that have carried the biggest hearts I have ever seen.  Just because they are young and disagree with government funded programs such as universal health-care, certain welfare programs, etc. doesn’t mean they do not believe these people in need should not be reached out to and helped.  They just believe the government should not be the medium to do it.  It is community service projects, philanthropic events, and other citizen-run organizations that are the true solution to America’s problems. Sure the American government will display statistics showing all the condemned houses they have reconstructed, all the playgrounds they have built in inner-cities, all the after-school programs they have funded, and I’m sure we would be impressed with the numbers.  But imagine if all that money went to private programs where the people in charge truly cared about the changes they are making, not some government official sitting in an office deciding what section of a city to allocate money towards.  These people who dedicate their lives to making society better are the ones we want in charge of these projects, and I’m sure their numbers will be much more impressive.  There is nothing wrong with being young and believing this, in fact I think it proves that you have a much more of an open mind and independent attitude at a younger age rather than believing and expecting the government to solve all your problems.

And to further contest Churchill’s quote, some of the most brilliant people I’ve come across over the age of forty have been liberals.

The Conservative Humanitarian

Wikipedia (the first source that comes up on a Google search) defines ‘humanitarianism’ as “…an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings… no distinction is to be made in the face of human suffering or abuse on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, tribal, caste, religious or national divisions.”

In the United States today, there is a common misconception that Republicans are less capable of this type of compassion because of their historical opposition to certain government programs and institutions that are used in aiding some of the less fortunate.  I created this blog to share my experiences, but to also attempt to redefine the modern conservative.  It’s time to move away from the anti–altruistic stereotypes and back towards the idea of compassionate conservatism.  While the success and development of the world’s people does rely partly on sound governments and institutions, real aid and improvement can come only from the people themselves.

Thank you for visiting my blog, and I hope you enjoy.