Danedri Herbert: Thinking for yourself is a conservative value

Yes Virginia, there are black conservatives. There are conservative women and conservative young people, too.

I can see how someone might draw the conclusion that Republicans are all old white men. Polling somewhat supports the theory.

Although there was a Republican wave during the 2014 midterm elections, a narrow majority of women and young voters chose Democrats. Black voters overwhelmingly voted for Democrats, with 90 percent saying they voted for the Democrats.

Those numbers may explain why people are always asking me how I, as a young, black woman, can be a conservative. Being conservative simply isn’t cool, but my reasons for being so remain the same: I’m a conservative because I can think for myself.

I’m conservative — both socially and fiscally. I want politicians out of my pocketbook as badly as liberals want politicians “out of their bedrooms.”

Politicians in Washington and Topeka and even little ol’ Johnson County have far more power than they should, in part, because of our heinous tax system. Pols can reward their friends and businesses with tax breaks and tax incentives. They can purchase overpriced property using public monies as a vanity project. I give you Johnson County’s purchase and plans to turn King Louie into a museum as a local example.

At the federal level, politicians’ ability to grant financial favors flies out the window with a fair or flat tax, in which everyone pays the same rate with absolutely no incentives or breaks. It also limits the motivation for an awful lot of lobbyists.

That is a conservative value.

People should get to keep the money they earn. Period. I’m vehemently opposed to all forms of wealth redistribution. There is no reason some bureaucrat should get to decide when someone is earning too much.

The free market should decide what behaviors and persons are rewarded. A free society and a capitalistic society are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. That is a conservative value.

And yes, I’m opposed to abortion, but I’d call myself pro-choice. I believe the majority of people should make the choice before they have sex. We know what causes pregnancy. It’s not a disease, and abortion isn’t a cure.

Protecting human life in all its forms — from the unborn to the disabled to gifted athletes — is a conservative value.

The stories about conservatives being evil and wanting the poor to suffer are untrue. Conservatives, and Christians in particular, want to lift people up. It’s overused, but we want to give people a hand up rather than a hand out.

Giving alone doesn’t lift people out of poverty. Hard work and dedication on the part of the poor in addition to the help of others does the trick. The goal is to offer the help, not create a society of people in bondage dependent on government programs and intervention.

That’s a conservative value.

Most conservatives believe in a power greater than themselves. It’s dangerous for man to believe that we have all the answers.

We don’t. We can only pray for God’s wisdom. That’s a conservative value as well.

It’s a pity that the stereotype of Republicans being the party of old, white men continues to exist, especially when the Republican field of presidential candidates includes a woman, a black man and two Hispanic men. The Democratic candidates are much less diverse.

Conservative values are good for men and women of all ages and races. Won’t you join us?

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Danedri Herbert: Thinking for yourself is a conservative value."