Am I Becoming a Conservative? You Tell Me!

Part I: Let’s Look at My Rap Sheet 

Some friends and family members that read this blog tell me I’m becoming noticeably more conservative. I don’t mind the label. In fact, I like to think that I am properly conservative when common sense and caution are at play.

(Who was it that said: “If you are not a liberal when you are young, you have no heart. But if you are not a conservative when you are older, you have no brain.”)

But I also know that my political sentiments, social instincts, and moral beliefs haven’t changed since my younger days. So, why is it that others see me as moving towards conservatism?

One possibility is that I’m now addressing issues I’ve never written about before. And the ideas and opinions I’m proposing are more conservative than those I’ve expressed about other topics.

For example, I’ve written a lot about charity over the years. (Including a book titled The Challenge of Charity that I’ve been trying to finish). And my view of charity is that it is a moral duty. Equally as important as the moral duty to provide for the welfare of oneself and one’s family.

I’ve also written a lot about affirmative action. I believe it is not only a good idea and a moral duty – both in education and employment – but also a social necessity if we want to improve the quality of life in the US for our children and grandchildren.

Perhaps people have been filing those ideas into the liberal folder.

Or perhaps they have read my thoughts on the US criminal justice system. I believe it is broken. That we have too many people in jail, including many that never committed the crimes they were convicted of.

Perhaps the people that think I’m becoming more conservative think that I’ve abandoned those views.

I haven’t. I’ve had those views for as long as I can remember.

I also believe that…

* Women should get equal pay for equal work.

* Homosexual couples should have marital and estate planning rights.

* Black lives matter.

* Young Black men are more likely to be profiled as criminal suspects than young White men.

* Black children in the US have the odds of success greatly stacked against them.

The point of all this is not to put a label on my thinking. I have ideas and opinions that, from a distance, could be categorized as liberal, just as I have some that, from a distance, could be categorized as conservative.

The labels are the problem. They convey nothing that is complex.

I’m going to write a series of short essays on political, social, and economic topics that have become hot potatoes in recent years. I’m going to begin each one by expressing an opinion I have that might surprise my liberal-leaning friends. Then I’m going to go a little deeper.

On Friday, I’ll start by tackling the question of illegal immigration into the US. This has been a huge, hot issue ever since Trump announced that he was running for president in 2016.

As I’ll explain, I believe that immigration is good for the US and we need more of it. I believe more immigration will help America stay rich, both economically and culturally.

I also believe that our current immigration policy and protocols threaten to destroy us.