A generation of conservatives rising

Since spring semester ended last month, one of the things I’ve been trying to reconcile is my professed ideology with the pragmatic side of my brain.

As a result of the reflection, I think I have come to somewhat of a realization between what I see as a young conservative and my knowledge of the traditional conservatives that comprise the movement right now.

Let me begin by characterizing the schools of thought that are generally categorized within the traditional conservative movement: fiscal, social and neo.

A fiscal conservative is an individual who values policies that restrict the growth of government spending and generally are opposed to deficits. These individuals can also often be characterized as advocates for free markets and limited government intervention in the economy.

The second type is the social conservative, who is one that traditionally holds deeply religious values. They often are in support of marriage between a man and a woman and are generally pro-life.

The last of the three is the neoconservative, who values a strong national defense and is often characterized as supporting American economic and military power to spread
democracy.

I think it is more than fair to characterize someone like former President George W. Bush  as a neoconservative.

I would have to say an overwhelming majority of traditional conservatives have values that overlap with all three characterizations above with the exception of a short few.

However, I would say that my general observations of self-identified conservatives within our generation would dictate otherwise.

I truly see a shifting of the winds in terms of what young conservatives place value on the most.

For me, it is pretty apparent that our generation is going to be inheriting an immoral amount of debt thanks to the lack of responsibility in Washington from both sides.
As a result, I see our generation of conservatives being one of fiscal hawks that place the most emphasis on sustainable public finances and as advocates of the free market.

I’ve also noticed that the social issues for our generation have
become less of an important topic. The two salient issues without question for our generation are gay rights and abortion.

From my observations, I firmly believe that a day is coming when our gay brothers and sisters will finally be forwarded the equality they fight for every day.

And lastly, I think, in our generation of conservatives, we are finding fewer neocons. I think the issue stems not from a desire for isolationism, but  the realization that we can no longer afford to be the world’s protectorate.

In my own opinion, I think for America to be strong in the future, we have no choice but to be the leader in global affairs.

We must have the agility and swiftness to respond to global threats both diplomatically and militarily when the time calls.

But we also must consider the size and scope of our presence.

It will be a very difficult task in the coming future to balance the global presence of our military with our ability to afford it.

In the era of encumbering budget deficits, our global military presence gets quite expensive.

We must be cautious to ensure that we win the fights we are fighting while beginning to think about a long-term strategy for a draw-down while maintaining regional security, too.

In closing, I do not profess to speak on behalf of all the conservatives of our generation and do not want to discount convictions that are different from my own observations.

I merely feel like this is the way the winds may be shifting and hopefully you will join us to fight the good fight.

­— cjcaudil@indiana.edu