On the Conservative Movement...

One of the more interesting political lessons I have learned in life came in the form of a term paper for a Political Science class.  The paper began as a comparison of political party platforms over the past 100 years.  It turned into a study of something very different from my original intent.  It morphed into a study in how the Republican Party has suppressed the Conservative movement in America for well over 100 years.

My first discovery was that of a little known third party called the Prohibition Party.  Sure, you’ve heard of Prohibition…and the repeal of Prohibition, but what most Americans are completely unaware of is that there was actually a long-standing political party called the Prohibition Party that went far beyond just the alcohol issue.  During its modest rise, it was the voice of what Liberals today would call “the Righteous Wing”.

The Prohibition Party was the first party to call for the abolition of slavery in its party platform.  The Prohibition Party was the first party to call for women’s suffrage.  They were on what we today would call the right side of any number of social issues.  Unfortunately, the Prohibition Party was also the first party to call for an income tax.  To their credit, they soon recognized the error of their ways and became the first party to call for a repeal of the income tax.

The Prohibition Party was, essentially, the conservative right wing movement of the mid 1800’s to early 1900’s, though it still exists marginally to this day.  They were and are distinctly Christian in tone and, much like the current Constitution Party, every Prohibition Party platform has begun with an acknowledgement of God and His blessings.

What I discovered about their political platforms…and those of the Republicans…was that virtually every single significant plank of every single platform of the Prohibition Party showed up four years later as planks in the platform of the Republican Party.  It was a fascinating "coincidence".

Understand that this was the very era during which the Republican Party was infamous as being the party of big business (which holds true to this day despite the best efforts of Conservatives).  But…in order to bring more voters under its tent, the Republicans essentially absorbed the social conservative movement, undermining their independent efforts by commandeering their positions on social issues…and all other issues just for good measure.  “After all”, as the Republican reasoning went, “it isn’t like it matters what we put in our platforms.  Platforms are just words and promises that we have no intention of keeping anyway!”  As with the Democrats of today, their philosophy was, "SAY ANYthing to gain power, then you can DO anything you wish."

There is a tendency among well-meaning folks to believe that we should always work together to bring about “change from within”.  We have seen this attitude reflected in the modern conservative movement over the past 30 years as they have worked to change the Republican Party from within during the Reagan era and beyond.  At times they’ve even been "allowed" some impact.

What these neo-conservative folks need to realize, however, is that…it’s not going to happen!  This has been the Republican political tactic for well over 100 years and they have gotten exceedingly good at “appealing” to the moral majority…at “appearing” socially or even fiscally conservative…only to go to Washington and end up “supposedly compromising” and voting with moderates or even liberals.

The very point of this article is to point out that the Republican Party is still today (and will be tomorrow) the party of Big Business.  It is in their interest, just as it is in the interest of the Socialists (I mean, the Democrats), to kill all competition in the form of small business opportunity.  It is a necessary and pragmatic evil to them that they must tolerate those “naïve conservatives” in order to gain power.

As we have watched the collective merger of corporate America, it is almost as though the anti-trust laws don’t even exist anymore.  Both parties clearly favor (in practice) drowning any would be entrepreneurs in red tape and regulations, though out of differing motives of which I will write elsewhere.  (And...don't even get me started on the social issue side.)

I thoroughly enjoyed (and was completely disgusted by) the story out of Georgia about three young girls who had their lemonade stand shut down by police because they failed to secure the necessary business license, peddler’s permit, and food permit…along with paying the accompanying fees of $50 per day.  Can anyone seriously say with a straight face that our nation has a free market economy anymore?  Is this REALLY the kind of nation we want for our children?

It is time for a FOuRTH Party!  Not just “yet another third party”… Not just another party of protest… Not just another party centered around some rich, charismatic personality…  Certainly not just another party of some “lesser evil”…  And, frankly, not some religiously or ideologically narrow single-issue party appealing only to some fractional segment of our free society.  All such attempts represent errors of third parties past!  It's time for the FOuRTH Party!

It is time for a true political alternative that stands for what’s right and true for ALL Americans...a government that acts only upon what we can more or less all agree upon.  It is time for a political alternative that uses social media and new more-open ways of conducting party business so that every person literally does have a voice in the process.  We have the technology to change the face of politics in America, and it is time for people to connect with people and circumvent entirely the back-room dealing, old guard, dysfunctional parties of days gone by.

Welcome to the FOuRTH Party!  YOU ARE at the heart of the foURth party!

Our Mission...

^the  FOuRTH Party

     “We are DONE with the EVIL

   of choosing the lesser of two evils!” 

This is the battle cry that inspires the FOuRTH Party.  We are the party of “moving forward toward the hard solutions”, the party of “going FOuRTH”, making the best aspects of our rich heritage available to all citizens.  If you’re a social and fiscal conservative who has been disenfranchised by the existing political leadership and…if you use social media, then you ARE (or can be) an active part of the FOuRTH Party.

Background:

The two-party system has failed to provide sound leadership for our country.  Neither Democrats nor Republicans seem capable of pledging their political lives, political fortunes, or political honor to the worthy cause of preserving or restoring the liberties that our Founding Fathers (and others after them) gave their Lives, their Fortunes, and their Sacred Honor to establish.

Both Democrats and Republicans have made it abundantly clear that they do, however, believe in slavery, as they enslave our children’s children to massive debt held by the Chinese and others through reckless and irresponsible spending which they have used in the “buying” of votes and influence.  Those to whom you owe a debt are your masters.

The best known third party (the Libertarian Party) may stand for fiscal restraint and limited government, but they are a poor fit for the socially-conservative ideology of mainstream America.  Other third parties tend to be too narrow in scope or inclusivity to be viable alternatives to the two major parties.  Hence, the need for the FOuRTH Party…

We’re used to hearing about the “political spectrum”, but the real political picture is far more complex than a simple “Left-Right” scale.  Even the two-axis table below is far too simplistic, but the FOuRTH Party occupies the fourth quadrant of that political table.  We are both, fiscally and socially conservative, as is much of our country.

Political    Ideologies	Socially    Liberal	Socially    Conservative
Fiscally    Liberal	Democrats	Republicans*
Fiscally    Conservative	Libertarians	FOuRTH Party

*In trying to be “all things to all people”, Republicans

      don’t fit into any category very well, but they are

      (ultimately) still the party of big business which

      “tolerates” influences from social conservatives.

The FOuRTH Party is a new and different kind of political party built upon the communication technology of the 21^st century.  And yet…

The FOuRTH Party is also an old and traditional kind of party built upon the ideology that made America great.

The FOuRTH Party is a solutions-based organization.  Instead of merely pointing a finger and assigning blame, we believe that true leadership involves asking the question:  “How do we go FOuRTH from here?” (…which inspired the unusual capitalization of our party name.)

To understand American politics, one simply must understand that the Democratic Party is all about socialism and creating a tipping point of voters dependent upon the government for a significant portion of their income (through government jobs and entitlement programs) which creates a de facto socialist state before the general public becomes fully aware of their motives.

The Republican Party, however, has always been the party of big business and, although they tolerate and try to bring social conservatives under the umbrella, their real aim is to create a national version of the old “company town” where the company owns the town and pays you in a currency that is worthless outside of the town, money that ultimately ends up back in the company’s pocket.

Until we understand these two evils of socialism and unrestrained capitalistic greed, we cannot understand the forces that play us against each other and thrive upon our foolishness and ignorance.

We are not just another third party.  We are, indeed, the FOuRTH Party!  Get involved, stay tuned, and stay connected for future posts on various FOuRTH Party platform planks and positions.