Conservatism at its core

Here are the basic tenants of conservatism in bold.
I believe that conservatism is generally defined by as little government intervention in our lives as possible.
Our Declaration of Independence prescribes that each citizen has certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Right to Life: Abortion laws obviously restrict a person's life and have been incorrectly inserted into our legislative system. To restate, you can't enjoy any American freedoms or rights if you don't make it out of the womb!
A strong national defense helps ensure life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness
Private property rights provide incentive for citizens to pursue happiness, work, and live freely
Low taxes and free markets help ensure a thriving, capitalist economy (Additionally, capitalism doesn't discriminate on the basis of skin color, age, gender, or other handicap)
Strong belief in the first and second amendments (Right to free speech, religion, press, bear arms)
Belief in self reliance, personal responsibility, and the potential within every American life. We are all capable of so much more than we usually imagine. If we just push ourselves, we can accomplish greatness.
There are others issues like the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman, immigration, and support of strict constructionism judges which are important.
In closing, I think the 10th amendment of the Bill of Rights is often forgotten. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

This tells me that a federal government that has taken over our income (IRS), our property (eminent domain laws, tax assessors, and closing paperwork), our retirement (Social Security), our health care (Medicare, Medicaid and now nationalized health care), our private industries like automobile manufacturers, banking, mortgage, and insurance, etc. is way, way too big and powerful. This huge bureaucracy called the federal government is still growing and has already violated this 10th amendment to the US Constitution.

In short, get out of the way, big brother, and allow Americans to live our lives in happiness and freedom!

My thoughts from the 20-year reunion ...

My 20-year high school reunion that I attended this past weekend was very enjoyable. The only negative thing that I could say was that it wasn't very well attended. By my count, only about 60-65 classmates from a graduating class of 247 attended. However, everybody there seemed to have a good time. Most people were more interested in where you lived, marital status, and how many kids that you have rather than what line of business you were in or where you work. Then, they were eager to reminisce about funny stories and days of the past. Overall, I thought most people had taken care of themselves and looked good, although, there was a few that "let themselves go". As a good friend of mine just mentioned to me, it was not as "clique-ish" as the 10-year reunion. My guess is as we all get older those barriers and imaginary walls that divide people in high school instinctively break down. The fact that a person smokes, drinks, dresses a certain way, is athletic, smart, funny, or popular seems not to matter at age 38 like it did at age 18. People are naturally more aware of who they are as they age.

What really hit me was the words "we will all go in different directions from here" that are always spoken at a high-school graduation, really rang true. After graduation, people literally scatter throughout the country and world. They have completely different experiences, some get married and maybe divorced, have kids or not, travel the globe, and develop expertise in different areas of their life.

In summary, one thing remained true. The personalities and activities that defined them in high school still manifest themselves in their lives in the late 30's. Despite everyone trying to be on their best behavior at an event like a high school reunion, those innate characteristics and personality traits continue to define us as we age and approach the age of 40. Even over 20 years time, people don't change much.