Excerpts from a letter to the Republican leadership from Mr. Richard D. Cushing
Dear Madam or Sir:
I am writing to you because you are involved in Republican party leadership and I trust that you are both awed and dismayed by the direction in which and speed with which this present Congress and the Obama administration are taking the United States. If you are like me, you probably did not think that there could be such a huge and rapid shift toward socialism by any single administration or Congress elected by U.S. citizens. ∴ Not many weeks ago I was sitting in my office entirely disheartened by the actions of the Bush administration and its own proclivity to discard the restrictions of the U.S. Constitution in the midst of the so-called "economic crisis." Then, along came the Obama administration accompanied by an entirely unleashed Democrat-controlled Congress and WOW! What more can be said? ∴ I am fully persuaded, however, that there is a way back from where we are being led. We do not have to fully succumb forever to being what the radical left wants this nation to be. ∴ Please read the attached article which, I believe, sketches out a pattern for recovery of limited government, free markets, and a return to a sound monetary policy. The road will not be an easy road, but I am fully persuaded there is a way.
Too Late for Conservatism
By RD Cushing
Mar 27, 2009
The true meaning of "conservatism" is to preserve or keep from change - especially degrading change. However, we may have reached a point in US politics where "conservatism" must become the real "liberalism," as the term is used in Europe. We must struggle, not to "conserve," but to restore what has been lost. This article describes a road back.
In the strictest sense of the word “conservative” connotes that which tends to conserve or preserve a present state or condition. If it is or was the intent of political conservatives in the United States to preserve our federal government as limited in scope and held within any semblance of the boundaries established by our Constitution, then we – and those who have gone before us – have failed at that aim. We live, today, in a post-conservative nation. The question is no longer, “How may we preserve our nation as the founding fathers entrusted it to us?”
The question has become, “Have we any hope of returning and restoring our nation to something akin to its original greatness, and once again setting boundaries on a federal government that has far transgressed its intended Constitutional limits?”
Until a few weeks ago, I would have said, “There is little hope.” The so-called Economic Stimulus Packaged passed in a flurry of political activity, obscurity and haste on Friday, 13 February 2009 (perhaps Friday the 13th being prophetic in this instance). The haste was purposeful as it was the specific intent of the Democrat-controlled Congress to keep the general public from closely inspecting the contents of legislation. (Indeed, we have since learned that even the Democrats had no idea all that was in the legislation.) The Democrats sought to hide from public scrutiny all of the matters being thrust upon the U.S. citizenry by those who dare yet to call themselves “public servants.” This attitude alone ought to stir public sentiment against such conspirators; for if they were doing well, what fear have they from public knowledge of their deeds?
However, my hope is been – at least to some degree – resurrected by having come upon the book Renaissance – The Rebirth of Liberty in the Heart of Europe (Václav Klaus, Washington, DC – Cato Institute, 1997). It seems almost surreal that the U.S., having been a “city set on a hill” for so many over the last more than 200 years, should in these last days take lessons in liberty from a formerly communist nation – the Czech Republic. Renaissance, however, is a compilation of speeches and other writings of Václav Klaus, the first prime minister and now the second president of the Czech Republic. In this book is the telling of how the former Czechoslovakia successfully made the transition from communism (socialism) to a democratic free market state without bloodshed – the so-called “Velvet Revolution.”
If a former Soviet state can make such a peaceful, yet effective, recovery from socialism, then there is hope also for the United States to recover what has been surrendered to socialism over the last century incrementally and over the last several months en masse. That is, of course, if there are men and women yet in this nation with the courage and conviction to undertake such an effort. It will not be easy.
Turning fish soup into an aquarium
Tom G. Palmer, who authored the forward for Renaissance, tells of a saying used to describe the unwinding of the devastation wrought by socialism under the former communist regime: “It is easier to turn an aquarium into fish soup, than to turn fish soup into an aquarium.” So, too, will we find it a dramatic challenge here in the U.S. – though we have not gone so far, yet – to unwind our socialist and protectionist politics and economics in the hope of restoring our free republic and our free market.
What will it take? Václav Klaus tells us that resurrecting a free market, creating a constitutionally limited government while building political pluralism, and establishing a sound monetary policy after the collapse of communism in the former Czechoslovakia required three things:
- Men and women leading in the political sphere having a sound mind and filled with integrity, boldness and courage.
- To be successful, these leaders must formulate and “sell” to the citizens of the country a positive vision for the future.
- The leaders that emerge must recognize, in advance, the hazards – social, economic and political – of undertaking systemic transformation, and they must be prepared to face the challenges head-on.
Though Klaus makes no mention of Ronald Reagan in the early portion of Renaissance, I could not help but recall Reagan’s steadfastness in the face of a clearly declining Soviet state. More importantly, however, I could not help but recall the steadfastness of Reagan in the face of a constant flood of bad economic news as he – almost single-handedly and by the sheer force of his personal fortitude – brought the U.S. out of the economic doldrums triggered mostly by bad policy in Washington through the Jimmy Carter administration.
I was reminded of Reagan again when Klaus described what it takes to create and sustain a systemic transition such as the one he oversaw in the emerging Czech Republic. Klaus reminds us that the accomplishment is not simply a matter of applying the right principles of “economics” or “political science.” The travail that must come to pass will have real effects on real people. The process will create “new gainers and losers” and will disrupt the political, social and economic equilibrium. Reagan saw and empathized with the common man suffering the effects in his or her day-to-day life, and he articulated his sympathies when he repeatedly took his message “to the people,” as the media used to describe his going on-air to speak with the nation.
But Reagan had what Klaus says is the first and critical prerequisite to taking a nation through such trying times – Reagan had a “vision” of what the nation could look like on the other side of the travail. Klaus says, “To be successful, political leaders must formulate and ‘sell’ to the citizens of the country a positive vision of a future society.”
It will take a clear controlling vision
What launched this great nation? What brought our nation to birth out of a world dominated by kings and princes on the one hand, or by serfs and peasants on the other? What sustained the people through the travail of our war for independence with all its great suffering and loss? For what were our founding fathers willing to pledge “their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor”?
The answer is simple: What carried the people – what sustained them – was a group of men who came together as one; men who established and articulated for the general citizenry a clear and controlling vision of a bright future of liberty for all and opportunity for prosperity. These honorable men articulated for us all a vision for the future of a free nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Yes, we are not flawless now, and they were not flawless then. The warts of hypocrisy were present even amongst those who signed their names to our precious Declaration of Independence and our timeless Constitution. But, despite their personal shortcomings, the men stood together as one and – to a greater or lesser degree, with greater or lesser success – managed to articulate a vision of the future that was positive, uplifting and inspiring to the hearts of the men and women.
So today, if the United States is ever to make its way back from a rapidly expanding national socialism and increasingly Marxist programs to the ground of free markets and limited government, it will take men and women to rise up – those who have a clear controlling vision. The men and women holding to this clear vision must also – like Reagan and like our forefathers – be able to clearly articulate this vision as a positive hope for a future of every American citizen.
In Renaissance, Klaus puts it this way: The vision “must be positive…; it must be straightforward (not fuzzy); it must motivate; [and] it must speak to the hearts of men and women….” Reagan is gone, but still there must be those alive today who will rise up with a clear vision, clearly articulated, speaking hope to the hearts of men and women across this nation once again.
Formulating the vision is not difficult, but it will take leaders who are willing to understand and follow proven and time-honor principles. The principles have been laid out clearly long, long ago by such men as Adam Smith and these same principles were reiterated in the 20th century by men like Hayek and Mises. It was, in fact, these very principles that have delivered into our hands – for our safe-keeping, if we will undertake it – the prosperity and greatness of these United States of America.
Remember, it was free market principles that have given to us advances in technology and science and a standard of living that makes the U.S. the envy of the world. Indeed, it is the principles of the free market at work that still today provide President Obama with the finely tailored suits he wears in his frequent appearances on television – and his limousine and the aircraft and helicopter in which he rides. No Marxist or socialist economy has ever – or ever could – deliver such a wide array of quality goods at such reasonable prices.
It will take leaders who recognize the hazards
It will take leaders – and here I emphasize the word “leaders,” as opposed to “politicians” – who not only understand the time-honored principles that have made this nation great, but who also understand the real-world pain that must be endured by its citizens for our nation to be restored to these first principles. It will take a revolution, but (hopefully) not one in which the pain is inflicted by sword or rifle; but a revolution nonetheless.
Bold and inspiring leaders must emerge to carry the message of the controlling vision to the people. “Leadership” will be an essential quality – similar to that leadership displayed in the 1990’s when Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, John Boehner and others presented the “Contract with America” and reintroduced an age of national fiscal responsibility, the reassertion of personal responsibility, a national commitment to safety and security, common sense legal reforms and more. This essential leadership will be demanded in order to generate sufficient political and social cohesion to get the plan moving and to keep it on course.
This new revolution will require some “shock therapy” to enable the nation to recover from the damage being inflicted by this present administration. Attempts at small “reforms” will inevitably lead to a vicious cycle of small, partial and overcautious actions with almost certainly more negative impact than positive results. If this is, indeed, the path taken, then whatever political capital may have been garnered by setting forth a positive vision and by action from bold leadership will most certainly evaporate into a cesspool of economic, political and social disintegration.
The revolutionary leadership must:
- Keep moving forward – do not stop
- Do not set improper expectations – don’t minimize, cover up or lie about the pain
- Obtain visible results from strong actions – not risking failure through half-measures, hesitation or lack of courage
- No roadmap – Because a free market is defined by the fact that every individual acts independently seeking personal “happiness” (i.e., welfare – not to be confused with “entitlements”), there will be no “roadmap” that can be offered by the leadership to the liberal media, “talking heads,” or challengers on the other side of the aisle. Instead, the leadership must demonstrate themselves to be genuine leaders by boldly asserting and articulating the “vision” in a clear way in lieu of a “roadmap."
- No quick fix – While the leadership must be careful to not set improper expectations, even the proper expectations will be seized upon by the opposition. Aggressive social and political demagoguery organized by left-leaning parties, organizations and media outlets will seek to engender class hatred, distrust and otherwise to undermine the transformation efforts. In such cases, it will be up to the leadership to undertake a patient explanatory crusade in order to once again rally public support of the vision.
- New winners and losers – The dismantling of various forms of price controls and market over-regulation, trade liberalization, the readjustments necessary in the money supply, and the changes in taxes and entitlements will – as stated above – create entirely new groups of “winners” and “losers.” It is likely that some short-term concessions may be necessary to reduce the volume of pain borne by any one group during the transformation. These concessions should, reasonably, take the form of transition programs granting special tax treatment or (rarely) subsidies to smooth market-driven transitions.
In the midst of the demagoguery of the partisans across the aisle, the new revolutionary leadership must reinvigorate the clear controlling vision of our universal bright future. The principles of limited government, free markets and a sound monetary policy are what will provide the best and surest welfare, largest opportunity and most hope for happiness for all – rich or poor, black or white, of any creed or gender.
Recall how Ronald Reagan reminded us all: “The experts tell us there are no simple answers to our difficulties. They are wrong. There are simple answers, just not easy ones.”
Please let me know what I might be able to do to aid in building up a grassroots movement to move us toward recovery of principle in our American politics. ∴ Thank you for listening and taking time to read the article.
Richard D. Cushing
c: 612.805.6029 | f: 815.327.9518
rcushing@ceoexpress.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rdcushing
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