Posted by
Phil Consuegra on Friday, January 08, 2010 10:15:57 PM
My apologies for my dormancy in the past year. With that, I offer this:
Over the last year, I’ve been sitting back and watching a debate unfold before my eyes: What does it mean to be a conservative? A Republican? An American? A young conservative? A young Republican? A young American?
After a full year of listening from the sidelines, I feel as though it’s my turn to explain myself. Many of you out there have asked me my opinion on so many things, most of all the current state of conservatives in America. I hope I don’t disappoint with this small manifesto.
We’ll start off here: I am twenty-five years old. I have a college degree. I am pursuing a graduate degree. I have my own job through my own hard work and because I have been able to weather some storms. I got here because I listened to my parents (even though they may not know that), I made good friends, and I trusted myself. I love sports, my job, and traveling. I love playing golf, good food, good spirits, and good friends.
I am a conservative because I know the value of hard work. I am a conservative because I believe that people have equal opportunity to succeed in the country, no matter how much some of our leaders may deny it. I am a conservative because I believe it is anti-American for government to forcibly take people’s hard earned money away from them. I am a conservative because I believe private citizens can make better decisions with their money than the government can. I am a conservative because I believe in personal responsibility, that decisions have consequences, and that you have just as much a right to fail as you do to succeed.
I am a conservative because I want the students I teach to have the same opportunity that I had to forge their own path in this world. I am a conservative because I believe that you shouldn’t be punished for success and rewarded for idleness. I am a conservative because I know that unless we protect America first, there will be no America to protect next. I am a conservative because I am not naïve enough to believe that those who despise us will stop just because we want to “talk” and “understand”. I am a conservative because I believe we shouldn’t have to apologize to other countries for being American. I am a conservative because I believe that certain traditions are important, that there is a God watching over us, and that government must have a moral compass in order to legitimately lead.
I am a conservative because I am a product of the American dream. I am a conservative because my family knows the alternative to the freedoms and liberties we have here in the United States. I am a conservative because my grandfather made a choice forty-nine years ago to start from scratch in a strange country that opened its arms to my family, and still does to this day. I am a conservative because this is the only nation where a middle-aged tomato picker in Pompano Beach can become a college professor outside of Chicago, all because of diligence, desire, and focus. I am a conservative because I believe my younger cousins, newly arrived in the United States just weeks ago, should have an opportunity to earn a better life for themselves here than they would have been given in Cuba. I am a conservative because members of my family have put their lives on the line to protect my ability to openly and vocally be one, and to protect others’ ability to disagree.
I am a conservative, and I am young. I am a conservative, and I am concerned. I am a conservative, and I am energized. I am a conservative, and you are more than welcome to join me.