by Tyler Slawson
Contributing writer
A few years ago, a college professor said that he was going to show his class how socialism is a failed system.
To demonstrate, he said that the students were going to all get the same grade. The grade would depend on the average made by the entire class.
The students believed socialism was a fine idea and were confident they would do great.
The first test came and went with the average student’s test grade being a B. Those who studied hard were frustrated. Those who either didn’t study or did little of it were cool with it.
The next test came along, and the average was a D. The students all decided that since their hard work had not gotten them anywhere, they didn’t study as much. Therefore, the average was significantly lower.
The third test proclaimed an average of an F. What occurred for the remainder of the course was a group of disgruntled students upset and bickering at one another. All students ended up failing the course.
The belief of conservatism stems from its name. We believe in spending our money conservatively and within our means.
We believe that government should stay out of our personal lives. The government’s purpose is to protect us and our freedoms from foreign powers.
We believe in the Constitution, which set forth the Bill of Rights and a free market society.
Conservatives highly respect the role of the family. The family is the foundation of America.
The family has the rights and freedoms to pursue whatever avenues they want in life. They can choose to be in a variety of industries, whether it be education, agriculture or tourism, among others.
You hear all of the time about multigenerational businesses where the business has been handed down from one generation to another. Newman Furniture in downtown Durant is currently in its fourth or fifth generation of family ownership.
But Americans deserve the right to run their businesses as they please without the government placing heavy stipulations and ridiculous restraints on them.
You can look at the Census website on employment numbers and see the numbers decrease, on the amount of people employed nationwide, as you go from small businesses to large corporations. I am employed by a local store where I am one of four employees including the manager.
We believe that every American has the right to earn a living. Therefore, if you are unhappy with your income, you can get up and go work to make it better.
My mother works three different jobs so that we can have a little extra. For several years, I worked two on top of school, so that I could have a little extra.
We aren’t in China or India, where you are born in a caste system and can never advance your caste. We have the right to work hard and be rewarded for doing so.
The government has no right to take money from you to give to someone else who chooses not to work.
I once heard a story about a bank teller who did such a good job that when she put in her two weeks’ notice, her employer wanted to match whatever the competition was going to pay her.
But she said she wasn’t going to another bank. Instead, she was told that she could apply for this program and collect this check, do this over here to collect this check and so on.
This occurred in our Congressional District.
Conservatives like the freedom to practice a faith or religion of their choosing. They like the power to run their own business.
And they like the government to protect us from foreign attack, which was government’s primary purpose. Government should help people, not hurt them.