At its core, conservatism is about preserving the proven traditions, values, and institutions that have sustained human flourishing across generations. As Edmund Burke, the father of modern conservatism, observed, society is a partnership:
“not only between those who are living, but between those who are dead, and those who are to be born.”
Conservatives seek prudent change that conserves what is good—rooted in hard work, personal responsibility, self-reliance, and equal justice under the law—rather than radical upheaval.
True conservatives believe that if individuals apply themselves, respect the rights of others, and play by the rules, they should be free to succeed or fail on their own merits. We affirm equality of opportunity, not engineered equality of outcome. Government’s proper role is not to pick winners and losers through subsidies, mandates, or redistribution, but to act as an impartial referee. It must maintain guardrails that protect the life, liberty, and property of responsible citizens from force, fraud, or cronyism.
The Founding Fathers understood this deeply. James Madison wrote:
“government is instituted to protect property of every sort,”
while John Adams warned:
“property must be secured, or liberty cannot exist.”
Thomas Jefferson championed:
“a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits.”
In short, conservatives affirm these rights as inherent—God-given or rooted in human nature—and view legitimate government as existing first and foremost to secure them, not to expand its own power at the expense of the people. Ronald Reagan captured this spirit when he declared:
“As government expands, liberty contracts,”
and
“Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
Where Both Major Parties—and Libertarians—Fall Short
While Republicans often invoke conservative rhetoric, the party has too frequently become a vehicle for corporate welfare and cronyism. This is painfully evident right here in Missouri. In Jefferson City, Republican leaders have repeatedly advanced policies that favor politically connected big businesses and special interests over the small family farms, Main Street shops, and rural entrepreneurs who power north central Missouri.
Pushes for massive state subsidies for professional sports stadiums in Kansas City and St. Louis exemplify this betrayal. Taxpayers across the state—including in Chariton, Linn, and surrounding counties—are asked to foot the bill for wealthy team owners while local roads crumble and small businesses struggle under regulatory burdens. Similarly, efforts to eliminate the state income tax while dramatically expanding the sales tax (including on services and other essentials) shift the burden onto working families and small enterprises that consume more of their income locally. Critics rightly call this an “Everything Tax” that punishes Main Street far more than Wall Street.
These actions contradict conservative principles. Instead of protecting property and promoting genuine free enterprise, Jefferson City Republicans too often engage in the same cronyism they criticize in Washington—picking winners through targeted tax breaks, spending programs, and regulatory favoritism that disadvantage smaller competitors. Small businesses, which make up the vast majority of employers in rural Missouri, pay the price through higher effective costs and less competitive playing fields.
Democrats have largely abandoned the working class for a growing client state. Their approach prioritizes expansive welfare programs—often with weak or ineffective work requirements—over the taxpayers, small business owners, and middle-class families who fund them. Federal welfare spending now exceeds $1.2 trillion annually, with more than 80 programs creating layered dependency. Data from the Congressional Budget Office reveals a troubling shift: In 1979, families below the poverty line earned about 60% of their income from work; by 2021, that had plummeted to around 25%. This entrenches poverty rather than alleviating it, punishing success through high taxes and regulation while fostering reliance on government transfers.
Libertarians offer valuable warnings about overreach but often take individualism to an unworkable extreme. Their near-total free-for-all vision underestimates government’s essential role in protecting citizens from predation, enforcing contracts, and preserving the basic order that allows liberty to flourish. History and human nature show that without reasonable structure, freedom devolves into chaos that invites stronger tyranny. Burke’s emphasis on ordered liberty and the Founders’ balanced republic remind us that pure libertarianism ignores the wisdom of accumulated tradition.
Most Americans—Including Most Missourians—Are Conservative—Even If They Don’t Realize It
The encouraging reality is that most Americans, and especially Missourians in north central Missouri, instinctively embrace conservative principles. They want to keep what they earn, raise their children by their own values, live in safe communities, and pass on a better country—and state—than the one they inherited. They believe in merit, accountability, fairness, and the dignity of work.
Small businesses embody this spirit: They represent 99.9% of all U.S. businesses and employ nearly 46% of the private workforce, driving much of the nation’s job creation and innovation. In rural Missouri, this reality is even more pronounced, where family farms and local enterprises form the economic and cultural backbone.
The disconnect comes from decades of sophisticated marketing, media, academia, and partisan identity politics. People have been sold lies—sometimes cloaked in compassion, sometimes in false patriotism—that obscure their fundamental conservative instincts. They’ve been divided into camps that prioritize party loyalty over principle.
Reclaiming conservatism is not about blind allegiance to any party. It is a return to first principles: limited government, individual dignity, ordered liberty, respect for tradition, and the accumulated wisdom of our forebears. Missouri Republicans in Jefferson City must be held accountable when they stray into big-government cronyism or override the will of voters on issues like work requirements and local control. In an era of rapid change, institutional erosion, and cultural upheaval, these ideas are not relics—they are vital. As Reagan reminded us, and as the Founders embodied, freedom thrives when government is restrained and citizens are empowered.
The path forward lies in rediscovering what most Missourians already know in their bones: Conservatism works because it aligns with human nature and the lessons of history. It is time to choose principles over partisanship—especially in our own state capital.
