Christopher J. Arndt fights a never ending battle for truth and justice...


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the Next Conservative Idol

One of the booths at CPAC is this "Conservative Idol" exhibition/competition. There's a soundproof booth and a video camera and self-volunteered contestant introduces himself a videatapes a statement, one demonstrating conservatism and ideology and hopefully an impressive one. The best evidentitly gets a title of sorts and can "win" the contest.

I participated yesterday. I gave this lame but overly common disatribe about taxes. It was true but everyone, right-thinking anyway, has about the same beef against taxes and high taxes; my bit must have been so ordinary.

What should I have introduced? I recalled and knew just hours later.

It's all about power and responsiblity. It's a crucial duality. It's also the elaboration which bring truths to the old comic book adage that With Great Power Comes Great Responsibilty.

Having great power requires great responsibility in order to wield it properly. If one has great responsibility great power is neccessary in order to honor the responsibility ans, ultimatley to be effective. You need responsibility to handle power and you need power to fullfill responsibility.

That is the key to gun control and gun rights. Charged with protecting yourself and/or your family you must have the power to protect. The power literally is the ability, whether by personal drive or through firepower.

The same is true with taxes. Capital is a source of power and that power is neccessary, crucial, to manage and live life and to provide for family. Responsibilities are honored by the expenditure of capital. This is the sort of capital that is especially finite. It is not grown as it is not unlimited on this earth it can only be distributed.

The liberal super-fantasy of/within a nanny-state is that the government has the responsibility for protecting us (gun control; only the police may have guns) and caring for us (welfare; healthcare; the government must provide for the sick, the poor, the impoverished, the infirm). High taxes, legal plunder, and the re-distribution of the earned wealth of the citizens towards that falling into direct control of/by the State/government takes power from citizens in order to enable the responsibility of the government that liberals believe that the government should have. Liberals believe that only the government should wield some of this power that is clearly finite so taxes remanin high. Responsible individuals are neutered to feed the ideal and monster of the nanny-state. Capital is clearly finite. Depriving people of the weapons and power to neccessary to protect themselves forces them to rely on a force which isn't quite capable of providing what it promises. Arming the government in these many ways is disarming ourselves.

It is about power and responsibility. In Washington, DC a man is still responsible for taking care of his family, but the ban on firearms limits his power to do so. Government in nature is supposed to be anatagonistic to the citizens and citizens are supposed to be against government. If the nature of that relationship does not change but the powers of the citizens does, then how are the citizens supposed to honor their own respective responsibilies?

One of the essences of Conservatism is allowing citizens what is theirs in order to facilitate their own respective responsible living.

A truncated version of that is what I should have said.

I seriously doubt that I'll post again from CPAC 2005. In fact, it's just wrapping up. Likely it'll be another post from hom.

posted by Chris Arndt at 2/19/2005 02:34:00 PM | |

at CPAC 2005

I'm broadcasting fron the Conservative Political Activist Convention in Washington, DC. I've had a chance (and I took it) for a picture of Michael Medved, a wasted photo of that villain Al Franken, and I got David Horowitz's autograph in a brand-new, priced at five-dollars (what a deal) copy of The Anti-Chomsky Reader. I'm not an autograph collector by practice but I have been desiring a copy of the Reader for quite some time now. I'm a Chomsky fanatic, as in I'm obsessed with the truth about the lefty political philisopher and utter socialist.

Washington is beautiful. I saw Dan Flynn again and have been checking out many wonderful booths, including that of MEMRI, the Leadership Institute, and others. I also entered into the Conservative Idol contest. Look for me.

I doubt I'll post again from here.

posted by Chris Arndt at 2/18/2005 12:46:00 PM | |

the "Pajamadeen"?

I'll have you all know that I'm usually wearing less while blogging.

posted by Chris Arndt at 2/10/2005 01:24:00 PM | |