Why should anyone read another diary on Red State? What do I have to contribute that is in any way worth your time and attention? The right ideas are already out there in copious amounts, so why should you bother? I ask that you only suffer through five paragraphs to find that reason.

Conservatism is largely made up of a constellation of values. For the most part, we have grown up with those values, observing our parents, grandparents, and others close to us, quietly living their lives guided by those values. We see our families, friends, and our communities simply doing what we consider simply to be the right things. We don’t think to ask why they are fair, independant, respectful, self-reliant, charitable, patriotic, and dedicated to their families, and their communities. The joy and satisfaction of such a life are on display every day. That which is self-evident doesn’t really require careful examination or explanation, does it?

Therein lies our basic problem as conservatives: we find it difficult to articulate what we have learned by immersion and example in a context accessable to those who have lived their entire lives outside that context. A life, however well lived, is only a good example to those who know us. To those for which our values are unfamiliar, and heard through the clatter of media misrepresentation, our values are seen as irrelevant or obselete – perhaps only for old white men, they may think.

The majority of conservatives seem to have no answer to this for two reasons:

1. They have never examined their own belief systems to explain why they work, and
2. They seldom to articulate those beliefs outside of the context of the Judeo-Christian religious tradition or the protestant work ethic (which is not to claim that there are not excellent conservatives completely outside that experience).

Consequently, we unintentionally represent ourselves as a culture, rather than a group of people intentionally living their lives based on a set of carefully considered ideas. We do very little to encourage others to consider conservatism on the basis of the ideas themselves. Should we then be surprised when few are won over to our side on the merits of our ideas?

There is only one thing I can do to try to remedy the situation, I can endeavor to view the world through a lens that views conservatism as a living, and considered realm, and articulate what I see, with the goal of denying the socialist, race-baiting, victim-class creating, fear mongering loser of his most coveted of possessions: the uninformed mind. I need your help, as this is only done one mind at a time.