The rise of pessimistic conservatives

Having politically learned the philosophy of Ronald Reagan, I have a hard time seeing “pessimist” and “conservative” in the same sentence, but that group is growing rapidly. The most interesting thing about this group is that they claim that Ronald Reagan is their philosophical ancestor. I think the former president would roll over in his grave if he knew that those who claim his mantle have become xenophobic about immigration and free trade. But those are the exact positions that many on the right are proclaiming.

Pat Buchanan was the first conservative to jump on this bandwagon back in 1992 when he ran as an alternative to Bush I and in direct opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement. At the time, only far-left, pro-Labor candidates (remember Dick Gephardt) espoused such positions. Slowly but surely, it is becoming conservative dogma. In another decade or two, I’m afraid, it will be on the same level with common Republican beliefs as tax cuts in general. Unfortunately, undermining free trade has a very different result than cutting taxes.

The reason people oppose free trade is because other countries (with whom we trade) don’t practice it and it results in the “export” of jobs. There is no doubt that other countries are protectionist, but those countries suffer from extremely high prices and fewer options than we enjoy. Are you ready to pay multiples more for the kind of goods we buy from China to artificially prop up the prices of goods from more friendly countries? Punishing our trading partners with tariffs or quotas punishes our consumers more than it harms competitive nations and leads to a reduction in the quality of the goods we produce while “enjoying” such “protection.” Are people advocating eliminating free trade because “jobs” are exported to these countries? What jobs? Unemployment in this country is 4.5 percent, which most economists consider to be near zero (four percent is the real number) when voluntary unemployment, illegal activity, seasonal unemployment, etc. are taken into account. Protectionism will not only fail to protect jobs, it will destroy them; because many jobs (sales, marketing, legal, import, etc.) are created by trade in this country. In the end, attacking free trade will attack our prosperity and our jobs.

On immigration, I understand the concern of conservatives who want to protect our country, but their populist vision does nothing to help the problems that arise from it. The problem is that the system doesn’t offer people who want to contribute to this nation of immigrants much hope of doing so legally. Rather, they force people underground and allow those of us who have been here the longest to act holier than you and call them criminals. I, in particular, find this offensive. My mother was born and raised in England, she met my father during World War II and she came to this country, and finally she gave birth to me. I know that I am the son of an immigrant. I just happen to be one of those our country finds attractive. You are also a descendant of immigrants unless you are Native American. It is by luck that I am a citizen of the greatest country in the world, not by any effort on my part. We must offer opportunities to others, but they must make sense. Here are some ideas:

* Require people to be in this country for an extended period (minimum of ten years) before they are allowed to become citizens. This, in my opinion, should be the case regardless of its origin.

* Require people to learn English before they can become US citizens.

* Provide an accelerated program for those from foreign countries who wish to serve in our armed forces. More than 60,000 people serve in the US military from foreign countries. That kind of sacrifice deserves special consideration. We should consider expanding this program, especially during these times.

* Allow long-term separate status for people who never get citizenship, but work, send some money home, and eventually go back there. That is the desire of many, if not most.

* Cut welfare programs for immigrants, imposing severe restrictions.

* Move away from an income tax and toward a consumption tax, to make sure everyone pays for the blessings of freedom with every purchase they make.

These are just some of the things we can do to keep valuable labor important to this country (again, with unemployment at 4.5 percent, there are plenty of jobs Americans don’t want to do) here, without compromising our security. . In fact, it will give us more security than ever to know who these people are, where they live and what they are doing here. America is a nation of immigrants. Reforms like this will make them legal.