LET US HAVE A HEART TO HEART ABOUT WHO WE ARE

I am an Individualist and a Conservative.  I know who I am, why I hold these beliefs, and I am not offended when somebody refers to me as an individualist or a conservative.  Others are collectivists and progressives.  Yet, when we refer to them as such, they become offended and accuse us of referring to them in derogatory terms.  My question is why???  The only plausible answer I can conjure is that the legitimate terms that define the aspects of collectivism are not politically popular or considered to be politically correct.  The collectivists have stated that to refer to groups based on accurate descriptive terms, such as illegal immigrants, is hateful and wrong.  How do people have honest and meaningful discussions if we refuse to speak in honest and descriptive terms?
 
Again, I am an Individualist.  Individualism is the idea that the individual’s life belongs to him and that he has an inalienable right to live it as he sees fit, to act on his own judgment, to keep and use the product of his effort, and to pursue the values of his choosing. It’s the idea that the individual is sovereign, an end in himself, and the fundamental unit of moral concern. This is the ideal that the American Founders set forth and sought to establish when they drafted the Declaration and the Constitution and created a country in which the individual’s rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness were to be recognized and protected.
 
I am a Conservative.  As a Conservative I believe in LIMITED GOVERNMENT.  I believe that less government is always better government.  We the people gave the government enumerated rights in the Constitution and in the 10th amendment said anything else was to be reserved for the people and the states.  I believe the Federal government is always a threat to freedom and liberty of the people.  This is why we insisted on having the Bill of Rights as a part of the Constitution that places direct limitations on the power of the Federal government. 
 
As a Conservative I do not believe any government has the right to confiscate my personal assets through taxation or any other method.  I oppose an income tax and believe a progressive tax is especially an affront to my individual liberty.  The Federal government was never given any authority over any form of education, my health care, the work force, certainly how I implement my belief in God, and so many other liberties.
 
As a Conservative, I believe that we the people have been given natural rights by God and that the proper role of government is only to protect those natural rights commonly referred to but not limited to life, liberty, and property. 
 
As an individualist I believe that as MLK said, all people should be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin.  I agree with MLK that when we group individuals into defined and special groups because of the color of their skin we are racists of the worst kind.  Any and all should be held to the same standards and treated equally with skin color being ignored.  Programs that give special privileges or place greater responsibilities on groups because of the color of their skin are discriminatory and never sanctioned by our nations foundation of natural rights.
 
As an Individualist and Conservative I believe in capitalism, competition, unlimited opportunity, and rule of law.  I oppose any and all federal government entitlement programs.  I understand that any entitlement program under the false claim of equality is a limitation on liberty. 
 
Yes, you can call me an individualist or a conservative, because that is who and what I am.
 
Collectivism is the idea that the individual’s life belongs not to him but to the group or society of which he is merely a part, that he has no rights, and that he must sacrifice his values and goals for the group’s “greater good.” According to collectivism, the group or society is the basic unit of moral concern, and the individual is of value only insofar as he serves the group. As one advocate of this idea puts it: “Man has no rights except those which society permits him to enjoy. From the day of his birth until the day of his death society allows him to enjoy certain so-called rights and deprives him of others.
 
Collectivist is an all-encompassing term that includes Marxism, Communism, Socialism, Progressive and in the United States today Democrat.  Collectivists oppose virtually everything in which I believe.  They support big government with government controlling and dictating virtually every aspect of the life of the citizen including education, health, and the economy.   The collectivist supports entitlements and believes that natural rights should be under the total purview of the government.  Collectivists believe that to support their entitlement program all assets are the governments and it is the right of the government to determine what the individual can or cannot have.  They refer to this as fair and just.
 
Collectivists disagree with MLK.  They believe it is the role of government to pick winners and losers and determine which groups, based mostly on color of skin, is to be rewarded and who is to be punished.  They refer to this as social justice. 
 
The collectivist believes that capitalism is evil, greedy, and unfair because it promotes competition.  The collectivist believes that the achiever or successful person has become so because they have gained at the expense of others.  The collectivist believes that the individual is not responsible for their own actions but has failed or succeeded because of society and not their own choices.   The collectivist believes in the supremacy of the state, that the individual is only recognized as a part of the group, and the group has the right and the responsibility to define the limits of the individual based on how they define as the good of the community, the group, or the state.
 
Within the definition of collectivist is included the ideologies of Marxism, Communism, Socialism, Progressives, and today's Democrat.  Just as Rosa Luxemberg, Trotsky, and Lenin had differences, they were all collectivists.  Yet today, some of those who strongly advocate for the collectivist ideology take umbrage to being referred to as a Marxist, Communist, Socialist, Progressive and yes even Democrat.  When I use these terms, I am not using them in a pejorative manner but rather in a descriptive manner.  I take no umbrage whatsoever when referred to as an individualist or a conservative.  That is what I am.  I regret that collectivists would believe that by using the terms that describe their belief I am being insulting or divisive.  I can only surmise they would take this attitude because they wish to conceal their beliefs or they understand that their beliefs, historically, have always failed bringing financial and social collapse to the societies that adopted them.
 
It is not my intent to belittle anybody for having different views from me.  It is my intent to provide a setting in which these differences can be openly and honestly discussed, not debated or argued, but discussed.  I believe in the First Amendment that protects freedom of speech.  It is my belief that any attempt to curtail or abridge that right in any way is detrimental to freedom and liberty.  With any who feel I have disparaged you, please understand I respect your right to your beliefs and simply desire to set a civilized stage on which to openly and honestly discuss these critical issues.