Why Morals Should Matter to Conservatives

Posted: Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

It's always surprising to me when I hear people calling themselves "conservatives" or tea party members, but they say only care about "economic issues, " not "social issues."

First of all, as I've explained before, all political issues are "social issues" because they are about people. I suspect what these folks really mean is that they are not concerned about "moral issues." But once again, all political issues, whether you're talking about taxes or welfare or socialized medicine, are "moral issues" - because there is always a right way of doing things and a wrong way of doing things. Morality is about right and wrong. Aren't those of us opposed to socialized medicine or confiscatory tax policy against those things because they are immoral? A better label for these so-called "economic conservatives" would be "materialists" - in that their concerns are limited to the material world. However, the real irony is that what we think of as mere "social issues" - like abortion and same-sex marriage - have very real consequences, even on our economy. The Founding Fathers recognized that the spiritual and moral condition of a country has a direct bearing on its ability to be a prosperous and selfgoverning nation. We need to understand that as well today. But let's get even more specific with a look at the mother of all "social issues" - abortion. Largely because of the impact of Roe v. Wade over the last 37 years and into the future, we as a nation are about to see the ugly economic ramifications of wholesale population manipulation. The baby boomer generation is giving way to the baby busters generation. With that transition - which is taking place now but will begin to escalate in another year or two - comes the end of the good economic times we have generally experienced for 30 years. It's over. While consumer spending has been driven by some 76 million baby boomers hitting their prime producing years, it will now have to be carried by 41 million born between 1964 and 1977. It's all downhill from here until around 2023 when the baby boomers' kids come of age. But there's more than consumer spending at stake. We've all heard about the looming crisis of Social Security and Medicare insolvency. What do you think is causing that? Same phenomenon. If you don't take this seriously, it's about time you should. Right now, the national debt is past $12 trillion - that's $177, 575 for every man, woman and child in America. But when you project ahead to include the future liabilities Social Security and Medicare, you're talking about $88 trillion, more than $347, 564 per person.

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