THE BIG F
Faith, family and free trade � what ever happened to freedom?
BY GEORGE HARRIS
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George Harris is publisher of Liberty Watch: The Magazine. He is also a political activist and successful Southern Nevadan businessman. Reach Harris at [email protected]
Other stories by George Harris
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Last month, I attended the inaugural gathering of the Nevada chapter of the National Republican Hispanic Assembly, a grassroots organization that encourages Hispanics to engage with politics and vote for candidates other than the tax-happy Democrats. The NRHA is another great example of how the conservative movement continues to grow in the Silver State, and how, by reaching out to different parts of the community, such groups can help foster the empowering notion that limited government makes us all happier as individuals.
But that doesn�t mean there isn�t room for improvement. At the event, I kept hearing that Mexican-Americans and the Republican party are a match made in heaven, since both emphasize �faith, family and free trade.� (You know, the three big F�s.)
But without freedom, we won�t have any of the others.
I�ll gladly take free trade � that is, the real kind of free trade that isn�t manipulated or inhibited by government handouts, er, subsidies. However, faith and family have become a kind of code in social-conservative circles. When social conservatives talk about faith and family, what they really mean is that they would like the government to intrude upon these very personal and private matters by passing even more laws and legislation. (You know, in the same way that a law banning smoking in restaurants was designed to �protect the children.�)
This is the exact wrong way to think about the Republican party and its future here in Nevada. With the teachers unions pushing for an increase in taxes on gaming companies, which will only translate into fewer jobs and less economic growth, can�t we all agree that what Mexican-Americans (or any hyphenated American) and the GOP should have in common is a strong desire for limited government? After all, if there is one thing that discourages Hispanics from starting their own companies or landing good casino jobs, it�s the increasing regulation, red tape and higher taxes on businesses that shouldn�t be punished for making profits and creating even more job opportunities.
But time and time again, the fundamental conservative platform of smaller government gets overrun by issues of lesser significance. Don�t play the game of handing over even more authority and power to the government in the hope that it will serve your ideological agenda. It will never work, because government only has one agenda: more control, more power, more authority. This, of course, leads to increased taxation and fewer individual freedoms.
Maybe it�s the old Libertarian in me creeping back into the foreground, but doesn�t it make better sense to curtail government power so that we have the necessary freedom to express our faith and care for our families? Freedom should be the one and only F that the GOP should present to people from the diverse communities of Nevada. The Republican party should not cater to a socially conservative segment of the population just because it�s easy to do so. The GOP should provide the philosophical and intellectual ideas that benefit all Americans rather than chase after certain concepts that many Republicans can�t agree on.
None of this is meant to take away from the significance of a group like the NRHA. Hispanic participation in the 2008 election is crucial to ensuring that Nevada stays red and doesn�t revert to a blue, tax-saturated wasteland. And the NRHA will play a crucial role in ensuring that elections swing in the GOP�s favor. However, the conservative community needs to be reminded that only by diminishing government will we give the best and most cherished blessing in life: freedom.
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